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Journal Entry 1 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Friday, September 02, 2011
 The Tiger's Wife is narrated by Natalia, a young doctor in an unnamed Balkan country, following the wars that devastated that region. While on a mercy mission to visit an orphanage across the newly formed border with her best friend and fellow doctor, Zora, she finds out that her beloved grandfather has died. The book revolves around her dealing with her grandfather's death; the earlier relationship between them when she was a child and a teenager; and stories that her grandfather told her about his childhood in the lead-up to the Second World War. In particular, the story of an escaped zoo tiger roaming the Balkans, and the eponymous tiger's wife.
My favourite story within all these stories was the one of the Deathless Man, a man who cannot die, who Natalia's grandfather first met as a young doctor himself. The Deathless Man has a great story to tell, and is quite an charming and interesting character to spend time with. And I did like when we dipped into other characters' backstories (the interlinking of the deathless man & Luka's backstory was a high point, in particular).
It all sounds good on the surface, but I never got into the swing of the story. My main objection was that the narrator didn't ring true: she just came across as one-dimensional, and she didn't remind me in the slightest of any doctors I know. She was the weakest point of the book for me, I never believed her as a real character once (why doesn't she just tell Zora that her grandfather has died??). Zora was more believable and interesting, but didn't get enough time in the book. I know the story isn't about Natalia, it's about her telling the story of the tiger's wife as told to her by her grandfather, but if you don't believe your narrator is a real person, you're in trouble.
And while I may not always understand what's happening in a magical realism story, I do expect to *believe* what's happening. And, nope, I didn't. Especially towards the end, where characters just seemed to die randomly. And the jumping around in time didn't work for me, I couldn't keep the timeline straight in my head (although that's usually not a problem). Plus, there were some sentences that I read and re-read and they never ever made sense. And Shere Khan is neither as glossy or as threatening in The Jungle Book as he is meant to be in this book.
I think maybe with a bit more understanding of Balkan history, the background and history would have made a bit more sense and would have helped with my enjoyment of this book. But I've read other fiction books knowing nothing about the history of the region involved, and gone away having learnt something, and appreciating that learning. At the end of The Tiger's Wife, I know no more about the history of the Balkans than I did when I started.
It was a sense of frustration, rather than relief, when I got to the end, because this could have been so much more fun to read.
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Journal Entry 2 by tqd at Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Released 8 mos ago (9/2/2011 UTC) at Sydney, New South Wales Australia CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I passed this one onto a workmate. She may return it, she may pass it on to another reader.
Happy hunting/reading!
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Journal Entry 3 by tqd at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Released 1 mo ago (4/10/2012 UTC) at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Releasing at bookdrinks tonight.
Happy hunting/reading!
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The Tiger's Wife
