Moon Tiger

Rating:
Summary: A novel of self-discovery, and reflection
Review: Perception. That is the major theme that occurs throughout the novel. The way we see and interpret events may not necessarily be the way others perceive them. One woman's "History of the World" can only be based on subjective interpretation.

Claudia Hampton has lived a full, rich life. At the age of 76, she's now on her deathbed, recalling a myriad of poignant moments she had experienced in her long life. Many people have made an impact upon her life: her brother Gordon, for example, who was a mirror image of Claudia, and who shared in their borderline-incestuous relationship. Her daughter Lisa, as different from her mother as could be. Her lover of many years, Jasper, who served his purpose, but who never truly won her heart. The love of her life, Tom, who she only knew for a short period of time but loved deeply and powerfully. They all play a part in what she calls "Claudia's History of the World". The bits and pieces of her life come rapidly, with no chronological order to bind them together, and Claudia takes the time to muse over everything that has made her who she is.

MOON TIGER is extremely powerful at times and always eloquently written. The love story between Tom and Claudia is breathtaking. Selfishly, I wish it had been longer. I yearned for more character development and depth in Tom, although as readers, we know as much about him as Claudia herself did. Their romance was brief, but passionate, and it left me yearning for more right along with Claudia.

A word of warning: although the book is relatively short (at 200 pages), it feels lengthy and drawn out at times. Again, this only serves to highlight Lively's skill at writing Claudia's last experiences. Of course, being a dying woman's memoirs, the book is short on plot and long on self-discovery, and reflection.

A must-read for lovers of literary fiction - but those with a taste for more adventurous plot lines would probably not find their desired reading material in MOON TIGER.

Rating:
Summary: Devastatingly Original and Moving
Review: Possibly my favorite 20th century novel written by a woman.

If you liked The English Patient, you will love Moon Tiger.

The plot: Dying like a glowing ember on the end of a mosquito coil, an old lady in a British hospital shares with the reader her poignant memories of life as an intrepid war correspondent in Egypt.

It is beautifully written and has haunted me like few other books I have known. There is such a cinematic quality to the narrative, it is a wonder someone hasn't started producing a film version.

Buy it, read it, treasure it!

Rating:
Summary: Self-contradictory, pretentious garbage!!!
Review: The puffed-up narrator, the detestable Claudia Hampton, states an intriguing aim of providing a "kaleidoscopic" view of history. I read on, enthralled at this radical prospect. Imagine my disgust when I discover that she singularly fails to do anything of the sort, initially flitting cleverly between tenses and narrative positions, but spending the final half of the book doing the very thing she intended to avoid - chronology. And a very banal, dry, narrative chronology it is too. Awful.

Rating:
Summary: good, but felt the author was a little pompous
Review: The story was well written the story seemed very authentic, I loved the descriptions of Egypt and the war. I disliked the author's constant disparaging remarks about her poor sister in law, her daughter, etc and her attitude of superiority. It seemed uncalled far and felt like a minor annoyance to an otherwise lovely work of fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: This book is incredible on so many levels, that it almost does it a disservice to try and describe it. It's brilliant and clear like a diamond. Should be required reading.

Rating:
Summary: moon tiger as study text
Review: This book is now an A-level text for many U.K. exam boards and is wonderfully suitable for those teaching adolescents the craft of writing. Its changes in narrative position, the kaleidoscopic nature of the story as it is gradually revealed to us, the combination of old and young characters and the delightful sense of irony make it a magical book for the adolescent just beginning to realise that literature is more than linear narratives with happy-ever-after endings. Above all, it is transparently clear in style. It also makes a great accompanying-piece to Ondaatje's "The English Patient", which covers very similar themes and techniques of story-telling in a much more dense and poetic style

Rating:
Summary: Elusive, Evocative, Sensuous and Heartbreaking
Review: This book is one of those books that haunts you while you read it and long after you've finished. A gorgeously-wrought tale, told in two alternating time periods---I read it twice the same week I bought it. Like her peers, Muriel Spark and William Trevor, Ms. Lively has the ability to write humorous, quirky characters whom we are glad to spend time with. This book is romantic in the best sense. The accumulation of passion on the page is mesmerizing. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling!
Review: This book was my introduction to one of the truly great writers of our day. Penelope Lively has written ten of the best novels of the last twenty years. This is but one. I recommend it highly. When you have finished you should move on to "Passing On" and then "The Photograph."

Rating:
Summary: A very moving story
Review: This is the best book by a very good writer. Lively tells a very moving story, with her usual perfect style. One of the best 10 English novels in the past decades.

Rating:
Summary: an exploration of the unconventional
Review: This novel is a brilliant text which I'm glad we had to study for A level. With such sharp and hard hitting writing, Lively enables us to see Claudia as a vibrant young woman to her more dibilitataed state dying in a hospital bed. Riddled with unconventionality in its structure, its narrative and indeed its heroine, Moon Tiger is a lassic and thoroughly deserved the Booker Prize