HuffPost Book Club: The Tiger's Wife By Tea Obreht, Part 1 Of 3

Hi HuffPost Book Club readers! We're here to discuss chapters 1-4 of Tea Obreht's 'The Tiger's Wife.'

For chapters 5-8, meet us over here!

To add to this discussion, please comment below or on our Facebook page, or you can tweet to us with the #hpbookclub hashtag. We want to hear from you.

A little about who you'll be hearing from...

Andrew Losowsky, Books Editor
I'm British, so anything you think I've spelled wrong, is actually just spelled older. I look for stories to take my brain into new spaces, and I'll be particularly discussing the facts as we think we know them, and the clues I think we're being given by the story. Let me know if you think I'm wrong!

Zoë Triska, Associate Books Editor
I was a Literature major so I can't help analyzing every single thing (from the syntax and language to metaphors, similes, you name it). I (reluctantly) admit that I'm one of those people who Googles phrases, places, names every couple of pages when I'm reading. There are constantly things that stump me, though so I'd love to hear your thoughts on the significance of words, places, phrases, events that take place in the book.

Madeleine Crum, Assistant Books Editor
I like looking at language particularities, but in case you think that's a snooze (you wouldn't be alone), I'm also interested in reading what critics say about books and whether their reviews are spot on or way off. Let's talk about it.

Annemarie Dooling, Community Editor
Quotes, locations and descriptions speak to me the same way characters do. I love dissecting the same details that tell us more about the story than the actual prose. If you read the same books over and over and over again the same way you visit an out-of-town friend, we're going to get along just fine.

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@ ABookNut : Dreamt about zoo animals in a hotel lobby. (Giraffe was very sweet). #readingtigerswife #hpbookclub

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What does The Deathless Man mean to you?

Add to our 'Deathless Man' slideshow here.

(BTW: I couldn't *not* think of Houdini, anyone else? - Annemarie)

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@ saumyasharma19 : "Pain and fear are immediate, and when they're gone, we're left with the concept, but not the true memory." - The Tiger's Wife #hpbookclub

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Is "The Tigers Wife" a story for kids?

This reviewer at The Observer was not a fan of "The Tiger's Wife," deeming it "a chapter book," and "not for adults." I couldn't disagree more.

Her reasoning is that Natalia's "clear-cut quests" and "earnest determination to seek the truth," her "blandly appealing intelligence" are an attempt to impress more seasoned readers and writers. Obreht is only 26, after all.

"The novel is built around uncomplicated family love and a healthy dose of serious history," the reviewer writes. "Dogs and ponies are chapter-book stalwarts… "The Tiger's Wife" depends on a childlike sense that belief in the unbelievable is heroic and that secrets are sacred."

While this book certainly addresses the issues of secrets and faith, I don't think it gives favor to them. Sure, Natalia's grandfather's insistence that she not tell her friends about the elephant sighting is admirable, but there seems to be more to this theme than the air of mystery that accompanies secrecy. In Chapter 4, when Luka and Jovo tell the story of the blacksmith's death to the town, they lie and embellish. This is a nod to the inaccuracies of storytelling and folklore, the meaning that can be lost when things are shared.

Natalia also constantly refers to herself and her grandfather as "self righteous." She recognizes and calls attention to their stubborn beliefs, their reckless actions when encountering The Deathless Man, and other flaws. This does not seem like childlike narration to me.

One aspect of this review I do agree with is this: "As for death, Ms. Obreht mostly reduces it to spookiness. There’s a campfire quality to the story of the deathless man."

So what do you think? Is "The Tiger's Wife" really a story for kids?

-Madeleine

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Chapter 4: "The Tiger"

Hello book clubbers! I've been enjoying "The Tiger's Wife" while reading on the subway!

So. Chapter 4 begins with a bombing that frees a tiger from a zoo in 1941.

Though badly injured from the attack, the tiger, along with a handful of other animals, escapes the zoo and begins a journey.

The theme of faith is still present in this chapter, as many villagers who witness the tiger distrust their senses: "People must have seen him, but in the wake of bombardment he was anything but a tiger to them: a joke, an insanity, a religious hallucination." This begins a discrimination against the tiger that carries on throughout the book. This blind dislike mirrors the prejudices humans have against other humans who aren't from their country.

The tiger rambles onward with no destination, "only… some vague, inborn sense of what he was looking for." Similarly, Natalia describes her path to Galina, the town her grandfather grew up in. This portion of the book allows for vivid descriptions of the countryside and local food (rose-hip jam and walnut rakija? Yum!).

Next we learn of Natalia's grandfather's upbringing. His grandmother, the town midwife, raised him to be structured and orderly--a sheepherder. But he became infatuated with reading on duty and visiting the town apothecary instead.

When the tiger arrives in her grandfather's town, the villagers view the event as an attack, a war of sorts. But Natalia's grandfather is fascinated, mostly because his reading of "The Jungle Book" has romanticized the tiger, comparing it to the complicated antagonist Shere Khan. He shares this with the deaf-mute girl, whose company he enjoys because she seems to be one of the few townspeople who sees the good in the "enemy," the tiger.

The chapter concludes with men and dogs from the town attempting to hunt down the tiger, much to Natalia's grandfather's dismay. The hunt gives interesting insight into storytelling, our tendencies to embellish, and the truth of events versus the history that exists in collective memories. This is shown in the way Luke and Jovo discuss the blacksmith's death. They dramatize the event as a valiant fight against the tiger, but in reality he took his own life out of fear.

What did you think of Chapter 4 themes? Let us know in the comments, via email at [e-mail] or on Twitter at #hpbookclub!

-Madeleine

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One reader's comments on Chapter 4

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Zoë's feelings on the book thus far (and Natalia)

Admittedly, I've only read through Chapter 3. So as a disclaimer, there's a good chance I'll change my mind later in the book.

Thus far, I really don't like Natalia. My reasons for this are completely personal. I think the main reason is because I can't relate to her at all. I find her very cold, overly skeptical, and cynical. She seems unemotional about so many things.

I understand her initial reaction to hearing about her grandfather's death. Many people don't react to horrible news emotionally due to shock. But I really can't stand how she treats so many people as inferior to herself because she finds them irrational and faith-driven. To me, she seems a very cold and distant character.

I used to think that I had to relate to and like a character to enjoy a book. I now find that that is an extremely small-minded way to look at literature. I certainly didn't relate to Raskolnikov from "Crime and Punishment," but it was a brilliant book that I very much enjoyed. I feel the same way about this book. I love all the short anecdotes about Natalia's grandfather. I love the way she recalls these memories. I love the preface of the book. Obreht takes the seemingly average and normal event of a young girl visiting the zoo with a grandparent, and makes it abnormal (with the zookeeper being attacked by the tiger). I love that Natalia's grandfather carries a worn copy of "The Jungle Book." I really just love her creation of that character in general. With all the things I love about the book so far, it doesn't really seem to matter that I can't stand the main character.

What have you thought of Natalia so far? Who's your favorite character? Least favorite character?

Let me know on Twitter or in the comments!

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Chapter 3: "The Diggers"

Chapter 3 continues with themes that are seen in the book.

To me, a prevalent theme thus far has been the issue of "science vs. faith/religion." We saw it with the story of the deathless man. Natalia's grandfather must push aside what he knows to be scientific fact to put faith in something that he cannot explain. This story "is of how he became a child again" because children find it much easier to take leaps of faith than many adults, who are often much more rooted in science and logic.

Chapter 3 brings us back to the present. At night, Natalia is restless. She continues to hear the young girl's cough. She follows the sound of the cough and finds her wrapped up in a blanket soaked in alcohol. Natalia scoffs at this "backwater method" of bringing down fever. Though she scoffs, the method appears to have worked (though only perhaps temporarily). This once again displays faith vs. science.

She leaves the house to visit the land where the diggers are working. Their work appears irregular and patternless. She is shocked to see that young, sickly boys are contributing to the digging. When she addresses this fact with their father, Duré, also a digger, he dismisses her, though she threatens to turn him in to the authorities.

Despite her wondering what the men are digging for, she never directly asks. It is finally revealed to her by Duré: "We've got a cousin in this vineyard, Doctor...Buried twelve years. During the war... Doesn't like it here, and he's making us sick. When we find him we'll be on her way."

Natalia's dismissal of the diggers' theory is a further demonstration of science vs. faith. This digging community believes that removing their cousin's body will cure their illnesses; she believes only medicine will.

-Zoë

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Cozy reading

@ saumyasharma19 : .@HuffPostBooks curled up in bed on a freezing winter morning,reading the tiger's wife on my kindle = heaven on earth!! #hpbookclub

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Comment on the soul's journey home by "andresmarin:"

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@ JanDeLaRosa : So far, the book is the narrative equivalent of an Allende novel rewritten by Emir Kusturica #hpbookclub @HuffPostBooks

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@ marinandres : Loved the descriptio­n of the forty days of the soul's journey home. #hpbookclub #thetigerswife

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Chapter Two Continued: The Deathless Man.

Tradition is another theme we see reemerging in this chapter. Here, it's continued to be carried on by the telling of fables, and the hallmark fable of chapter two, and possibly the first half of the book, is the story of the deathless man.

I found a lot of tweets and emails and comments from you all remarking how this interjection really solidified the reading for you. Without saying too much, let's focus on a few plot points from this story inside a story:

Spoiler alert! Click here to read on.

• The idea of vampires is like a fable living inside of this fable, all on its own. What do you make of the mention of them?
• The characters don't seem as shaken as one might think, for having run into a deathless man.
• Between the story of the tiger and this story, we're starting to appreciate the depth of the grandfather. Would you agree?

If you're reading along on the Kindle, like I am, you'll find a guide at the back of the book where Tea Obreht tells us that she really struggled with the set-up of the deathless man story. Interestingly enough, the elephant tale was one of my favorite parts of the book. It borders on fantasy and gets our minds prepared to begin accepting things we wouldn't normally accept. The deathless man story was, after all, the elephant in the room.

Do you feel that after following the elephant through the city streets you were more able to dig-in to the deathless man story?

One last note on this chapter before we go on reading. I ran across what must be my favorite quote of the entire book.

Is your heart a sponge or a fist?

I personally struggled with this at first: Do I want my heart to be soft, pliable and readily maleable or do I want it strong and stubborn?

How did you read this passage? Send me a tweet, or leave a comment, or email [e-mail].

- Annemarie

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@ Rtnrlfy : About halfway through 'Tiger's Wife' for #hpbookclub - not resonating with any of the characters so far. Except the tiger, that is.

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Chapter Two:

Happy Sunday book clubers. I'm coming to you live from the only place open on a Sunday night on Staten Island.

Chapter two brings us lots of reoccurring themes, but most notable would be the presence of animals. Before we dip into the spoilers, what do you feel the intention of animals is at this point in the story?

Contains spoilers! Click here to read on.

When we open this chapter we're brought into Natalia's life as a schoolchild and follow her growth in a world of war where friends disappear and rations are low, but boys are still cute and music is paramount. It's an interesting and honest portrayal; how many of us remember growing up around political conflicts and not understanding the full meaning until we were of age? And for a minute, the storyline almost followed a different book.

Ms. Dobravka and her lung were an interesting interjection from the main plot. Wikipedia tells us that part of the job of lungs is to cushion the heart and absorb any shock that comes toward it. The same could be said for Ms. Dobravka's intensity in finding a way to teach her students during wartime.

Following that we enter Natalia's home life where her grandfather once again takes center stage. A quiet moment that stands out for me is the description of his snack time sunflower seeds. In current times, this is reminiscent of artist Ai Weiwei's work for the Tate Modern. The exhibit of over one million hand painted sunflower porcelain seeds was said to represent a singular moment to "experience and contemplate the essence of his comment on mass consumption." In agreement, the peacefulness of this scene is ended when a scene with a census taker reveals a new city to us, Sarobar, which we can imagine is on the wrong side of wherever it should be.

Reader Rhonda write in with some thoughts on this:

I have just begun the 2nd chapter. It appears that this novel is set in one of the Balkan countries, possibly after the wars in the 1990's when Croatia and Bosnia-Hersegovina came to be.

On the note of location names, here's an interesting interjection.

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Great thoughts on the deathless man from our comments section:

May contain a spoiler if you haven't reached this part of the story yet...

Read More

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@ jenna_goodall : Finished Chapter 1. Good introduction to vivid characters. I'm definitely intrigued to read more! What's up with the diggers? #hpbookclub

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Update: Book Club Schedule

Hi everyone! We've had a lot of questions revolving around when we will be blogging, and when you should tune in to this blog. We purposely don't want to mandate times you need to be done with your reading and encourage you to take as long as you need to, and flip back here to read along as a guide.

However, if you'd like to keep up with Team Books, we're planning to update this page twice a week, toward the end of the week, with one chapter per update. We'll be sure to give notice in our newsletters, tweets and blogs so you know when to tune in and feel free to suggest alternate schedules or thoughts.

- Annemarie

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@ HuffPostBooks : We've had some wonderful submissions for our slideshow. Where are *you* reading as part of the #HPBookClub? http://t.co/csVOqgx4

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Chapter one

What we learn in Chapter One - and what our Books Editor, Andrew, thinks might be important

CONTAINS SPOILERS! Click here to read on

We learn about the forty days of the soul's journey home - a common belief in the Eastern Orthodox religion. (Here's a link that explains how it works according to St. John Maximovitch)

And the grandfather is already dead. He died in "an obscure town called Zdrevkov", whose name is the first confirmation we have that our story takes place somewhere in central Europe, probably the Balkans. Google Maps offers a few possibilities for that name, possibly all of them wrong. After all, the narrator can't find it on the map either. But we're likely in the right kind of area.

Our narrator, still unnamed, is "at the last service station before the border", traveling to an orphanage in Brejevina, "up the coast" with a friend and colleague who is escaping the state prosecutor, as she does not want to denounce her former boss, thus ending her career. The pair are there to deliver inoculations to an orphanage - but also to run from the lives they put on hold behind them.

Our narrator knew about her grandfather's cancer, but had kept it from her grandmother. We hear her grandfather's voice, both old fashioned and profane: "Fuck. You go looking for a gnat and you find a donkey."

We learn a lot about our narrator and her medical career, we see burgers served out of an army truck, we meet a parrot who proclaims poetry, and a vineyard filled with men digging for something, who are people looked down upon by Nada Ivan, the girls' host. Many of them are sick, and they carry mysterious, "stinking" pouches: "whoever heard of such a thing - we Catholics don't have it, the Muslims don't have it."

So who are these people? Why are their children sick? Why do their children have to beg for milk and sweets? And what are they digging for?

Are you intrigued by the mysteries so far? Where do you think it's set - and when? And what poetry is that creepy parrot reciting?

Let us know your thoughts on Chapter one below, via email at [e-mail] or on Twitter at #hpbookclub - we'll post the most thought provoking on here.

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Introduction - first few pages

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Click below to read about the introduction, including some questions to think about from our Books Editor, Andrew.

Click here to read on

The book opens in the zoo, with the memories of a four-year-old... someone. We learn a great deal from the compact descriptions, details that might prove significant. Here's a few - which do you think might be important?
- We learn that the lady at the ticket counter calls her grandfather 'Doctor' - he is clearly a man of local standing. "Even though my grandfather is not wearing his stethoscope" - he's a medical doctor, then.
- He "always" carries a copy of The Jungle Book, but he doesn't allow his granddaughter to touch it, which is a strange detail.
- "Once there was a king here, a sultan" - we are in a country where Ottoman history is likely ever present.
- The tiger's wife is mentioned, but only in passing - because the little girl thinks that is her.
- A place name: Galina.
- The girl, now grown up, works in a pathology lab.
- The tiger in the zoo attacks the dustpan keeper, during which the tiger is described in human-like ways, giving "an outraged scream"... "it's no longer worth it, and the tiger lets go."

- Her grandfather calls the man a fool, yet is compelled to try and help him.

And we open with a graphic memory involving violence, a tiger, and a little girl's grandfather.

That's a lot to take in, in three pages. Especially when the next page opens with "The forty days of the soul being on the morning after death."

What do you think of the opening? Leave your comments below, tweet using #hpbookclub or email us: [e-mail]

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And no...

It's not a book about Tiger Woods.

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What it *might* be about

Here's what some of you thought the book might be about, going on nothing but the title. Only time will tell if you're right...

Foenix Pheather:

Never having read a page I think it is about a woman who is married to a Tiger-of-a­-man. It is about her own use of imaginatio­n to escape into independen­ce.

Grey Author:

Since I know absolutely nothing about this book, save the title, I'm guessing it isn't about a tiger.

Sherlock 221B: If i have to give a guess , i think its its memoir of very famous tiger's wife of a equally famous zoo ...

Meredith Rutter:

I predict title refers to a folktale of sorts...?

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Before you begin reading...

If you haven't read any of The Tiger's Wife yet, what do you think it's about?

Those of us here who haven't read it are about to answer... but what do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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More

Read about our Book Club here.