Man Tiger

A Novel

Paperback, 192 pages

English language

Published September 2015 by Verso.

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4 stars (1 review)

An extraordinarily beautiful, sly, ribald, and compulsively readable novel

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.

1 edition

A gut reaction to Man Tiger

4 stars

After a very gory first chapter, Man Tiger settles into a family history that juxtaposes surrealism and the bleak reality of a muddy Indonesian village, in a house where relative poverty and domestic violence are an everyday issue. The narration proceed in meandering ways, with side characters and stories that would deserve their own books, until the hit-you-in-the-stomach finale. Man tiger is a sort of hyper-realistic metaphor for the kind of deep anger and frustration that can bring a man (sic) to kill.

Subjects

  • Indonesia