Man Tiger

This is the third Kurniawan novel (after Beauty Is a Wound and Vengeance) I have read, although Man Tiger was written between these two works. I certainly had high expectations for the novel, and they were mostly met, but I did not feel this delivered quite as much as the others. The main reason for this—I sense—is because there is neither the wholesale creation of an entire community (like in Beauty) nor the frenetic pace and pulp violence element of Vengeance. Put another way, Man Tiger follows a much more conventional course, even if it does display the effortless brilliance of Kurniawan's style, particularly the external and non-judgmental narrator. Kurniawan gives ample evidence here of being a natural heir to Garcia Marquez. There is a sheer joy in telling stories and combining the real with the fabulous. The appearance of the eponymous tiger (is it real or just a metaphor?) is handled superbly and the ending is brilliant, creating a perfect narrative arc. 9/10.

By Eka Kurniawan