Saxton Reads! & Reviews

**** CarolK

 The tiger : a true story of vengeance and survival / John Vaillant.

This is the second book I've read recently that left me with a song humming in my head. This may seem a bit strange to some, yet when I told my husband about The Tiger by Vaillant, he exclaimed, "wasn't there a song called "Hold that Tiger!". Honestly, that song kept going through my head as I read in wide eyed, couldn't put it down, horror, about the hunt for this, what I could only think of as, serial killer tiger. 

I knew at the get-go that this book would be brutal. It's no secret that it's about the hunt for a man eating tiger in a village in Russia's far east in the late 90's.. That real men die of course, is hard to read. There is so much more here though. Vaillant paints a captivating picture of rural life in Sobolonye, a small mining town in Primorye Territory where the tiger attacks take place. He gives a balanced account of the hunters and the hunted, making it a struggle to condemn or condone the illegal hunting of tigers or the killer tiger, itself. Woven throughout is an informative history of Russia and it's neighbor, China and how this plays in the makeup of this region today. 

Vaillant is respectful in how he portrays the men who are savagely killed and gives voice to their families and the villagers so we, too, mourn their loss. The first, Vladimir Markov, is a man best known for keeping bees. He is described as "compact and solidly built" and with "high cheekbones, melancholy-looking eyes, and an athlete's chin". He was funny and charismatic and people liked him. Four children and a wife to care for may be what prompted Markov's hunt for the tiger; probably not for meat but to sell for an incredible price. 

Vaillant recounts many stories, legend and fact, about the intelligence and vengefulness of tigers. I came away with a new understanding of this magnificent animal. 

Each chapter begins with a quote, some words about tigers. These are more relevant to the story than my Hold that Tiger! song and add depth to the story. One makes reference to a line from Moby Dick by Captain Ahab. The sperm whale of this classic has much in common with the ferocious tigers in Vaillant's book. If only The Tiger were fiction too. 

This quote was one of my favorites: 

Mountains are the more beautiful
After the sun gone down
And it is
Twilight. Boy,
Watch out for tigers, now.
Let's not
Wander about in the field.

...Yun Son-Do (1587-1771), "Sunset"

capturing my sentiments in the end. I won't soon be wandering those fields.