BOOKS FROM INDONESIAMan Tiger : A Novel
Tags:
Male author
Description:
An unforgettable tale of literary magical realism from a critically acclaimed Indonesian writer who has been compared to Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Mark Twain Longlisted for the International Man Booker, this “supernatural tale of murder and desire fascinatingly subverts the crime fiction genre” as it tells the story of a half-man, half-magical female white tiger (Huffington Post). A wry, affecting tale set in a small town on the Indonesian coast, Man Tiger tells the story of two interlinked and tormented families and of Margio, a young man ordinary in all particulars except that he conceals within himself a supernatural female white tiger. The inequities and betrayals of family life coalesce around and torment this magical being. An explosive act of violence follows, and its mysterious cause is unraveled as events progress toward a heartbreaking revelation. Lyrical and bawdy, experimental and political, this extraordinary novel announces the arrival of a powerful new voice on the global literary stage.
Reviews:
(6 months ago) |
23 Mar, 2025
99.9% Man, 0.01% Tiger.
This was a moving story about a family struggling to find happiness, but I found the inclusion of the tiger obscure as there is no real explanation of its origin or purpose. In fact, the amount of space devoted to the existence of a female white tiger within a man is about ¾ of a page. I think the tiger is meant to represent the main character’s rage at the treatment of women within his life, but so little time is devoted to the tiger that the point and feelings would be just as clear without its inclusion. Still a pretty good story though.
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