5/31/2023 0 Comments The night tiger bookAs it is, readers may not be moved by The Night Tiger. Ren, a young boy, is on the hunt for what Ji Lin has found. Ji Lin accidentally makes the find of a lifetime which puts events into place that become dangerous for some and deadly for others. Any probing self-analysis might have resulted in a more plodding novel, one that wouldn’t have been half as entertaining. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo is a beautifully written work of historical fiction that I enjoyed reading it very much. Conversely, Ji Lin relates her story in the past tense, but neither she nor the reader benefits from hindsight. Ren doesn’t know what is going to happen next, and neither does the reader. Ren’s porous sense of reality (and Choo’s smart use of the present tense) gives his passages a propulsive vitality that grips the reader’s attention. Choo’s skill in creating a dynamic, vibrant, non-Western cosmos rivals that of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Half of a Yellow Sun. To her credit, Choo manages to ots and subplots with themes of superstition, Confucianism, and the desire for personal fulfillment versus the tug of familial loyalty. Instead, what author Yangsze Choo has given readers is a darn good yarn. The Night Tiger is a galloping good read that’s blessedly free of political polemics and post-colonial self-righteousness.
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