REVIEW
It is surprising to say that I liked this book. Surprising in that the first book didn’t really work well and connect with me. To the point that I was even thinking of not reading this sequel.
The story follows Chih, a cleric who documents stories and writes the histories as told by the people of the world. Unfortunately, in their journey, they stumbled upon three tigers. In exchange for not being eaten YET, they offered to tell them a story. A story which involves the tiger’s own and it got them curious—whether the story would be faithful to the truth they believe to be or if it even suits their liking.
“Some people are just more… edible than others when you are a tiger.”
I loved this passage. I thought that it showed the corruption of people in power. How they can easily perform something and anything with little to no repercussions. It shows that the weak are always in the mercy of the powerful’s erratic behaviours.
The story within a story narrative of the book was extremely effective as well. The way the tiger’s interrupt cleric Chih at points where they think the story is different from what they believe is the truth or at parts where they are dissatisfied with the way the story goes despite being it the actual event. The interaction made it feel as the reader is part of the conversation, of the storytelling. It was as if you are sitting by a campfire listening to the cleric as they share a story.
“When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and see that it is lacking.”
In being genuine, I did find some portion of the book quite confusing. Mostly because I had unusual questions throughout my reading. But, also, strongly because of the poetic nature of the prose. Perhaps if I took a much longer time and digest the story slower, I would find the small nuances and understand what they want to tell. Yet, I also think that these mysteries are just what they are, mysteries. At some point, I even thought that perhaps there’s no real depth behind some of the parts that I was lost and I simply tried to make it more than it should be.
There is an unfathomable connection between this book and I. I see that it had myriad of gems in the story that is waiting to be explored. Additionally, I was mesmerized by the book’s candor towards its characters. They were honest with themselves and they adhere to the philosophy that they chose to live in and I highly appreciate that— no matter whether their ideology is kind or malicious.
