Book dataTitle: Tiger Tiger: A Memoir
Author: Margaux Fragoso
ISBN(-13): 978-0374277628
I still think about Peter, the man I loved most in the world, all the time. At two in the afternoon, when he would come and pick me up and take me for rides; at five, when I would read to him, head on his chest; in the despair at seven p.m., when he would hold me and rub my belly for an hour; in the despair again at nine p.m. when we would go for a night ride, down to the Royal Cliffs Diner in Englewood Cliffs where I would buy a cup of coffee with precisely seven sugars and a lot of cream. We were friends, soul mates and lovers.
I was seven. He was fifty-one.
Nat thinks:
Goes without saying: Tiger, Tiger was a very difficult read for me. Not only because of the subject matter, but because of the way the story was told as well.
Were her parents blind and deaf and mentally impaired?
Was she blind and deaf and mentally impaired?
I have yet to read the old standard in paedophile stories - Lolita - so I have nothing to really compare Tiger, Tiger to. This is both a curse and a blessing.
Margaux - pronounced Margo - is seven years old when she meets a man named Peter at the local pool. Both Margaux and her mother are instantly charmed by this man - this man, so very different from Margaux's holier-than-thou father; this man described by Margaux as having a childlike light in his eyes that drew her immediately; this man with a ramshackle, crowded menagerie of a house like nothing she'd ever seen before.
The book charts with painful detail the course of the relationship between Margaux and Peter. Because we know, we know, we do, we know what's going to happen - the innocent childhood games Margaux played with Peter as a seven-year-old have an underlying sinister edge that is just exquisite to read. It's the sort of thing that has your toes curling with dread at the thought of what's coming - and come it does.
I won't reveal too much, for fear of ruining the whole book for you - but here's my not-very-professional opinion on a few things in particular that struck me.
-One of these things was that throughout the duration of her relationship with Peter, Margaux never truly felt like a victim. At the end of the book, there's even a short note about how paedophilia can be treated before it gets out of control - that paedophilia, is, after all, a mental affliction, and can be cured.
-I haven't read Lolita, but I have read other, similar stories, and they all share one thing in common: the main character (be it the author or a fictional character) is victimised, and the entire story trumpets the triumph of overcoming the intense emotional scars left behind by whoever abused them. Tiger, Tiger, on the other hand, does no such thing. It is what it is: a memoir. The simple, to-the-point style that prevails throughout the story paints a clear picture of every scene, and the equally straight-forward ending leaves little to be desired. It tells a story, and the story does not necessarily have a conclusion. It's a little reminiscent of a diary in that way.
-At times while reading, I'd get a little frustrated, as there seemed to be too much irrelevant info-tossing happening. As the book progressed though, the little details about the childhood games and the family life tied together to show vividly Margaux's transformation from an affectionate, happy child to a suicidal young woman.
-My favourite character from the story - if you'll forgive my calling it a story - was an unexpected one. Margaux's father truly was my favourite character, because I absolutely did not know what to think of him. His affectionate nickname for Margaux - 'Kissy', which he pronounced as 'Keesy' due to his Spanish heritage - gave him instant cuddle points. But soon it was obvious that he was obsessive-compulsive, snobbish, and decidedly holier-than-thou. His endless complaints about Margaux and her mentally unwell mother were made tolerable by the fact that despite all his threats, he never left them. I still have yet to formulate an opinion on him. He's a character that made me ponder.
What I didn't like: The ending! After all my preaching about how the story was devoid of all the I-have-now-found-hope carbon-copy nonsense, I wanted more to the ending. I understood that Peter's part in Margaux's life was over. What I wanted was some insight into her current life, the life with her husband and their child. How did she reveal this story to her husband? To her child? If it had been me, I couldn't imagine telling anyone.
Nat's rating: 4 and a half out of 5. I took points off for the ending.
Hope you enjoyed this review! I definitely enjoyed writing it. Keep checking back for book and film reviews, good music and possibly the odd normal blogspot here and there.
WANT RANDOM? follow me on tumblr at imperfectlyokay.tumblr.com
for smaller versions of blogposts, follow me on twitter: @scarychica
cheers!
Goes without saying: Tiger, Tiger was a very difficult read for me. Not only because of the subject matter, but because of the way the story was told as well.
I have yet to read the old standard in paedophile stories - Lolita - so I have nothing to really compare Tiger, Tiger to. This is both a curse and a blessing.
Margaux - pronounced Margo - is seven years old when she meets a man named Peter at the local pool. Both Margaux and her mother are instantly charmed by this man - this man, so very different from Margaux's holier-than-thou father; this man described by Margaux as having a childlike light in his eyes that drew her immediately; this man with a ramshackle, crowded menagerie of a house like nothing she'd ever seen before.
The book charts with painful detail the course of the relationship between Margaux and Peter. Because we know, we know, we do, we know what's going to happen - the innocent childhood games Margaux played with Peter as a seven-year-old have an underlying sinister edge that is just exquisite to read. It's the sort of thing that has your toes curling with dread at the thought of what's coming - and come it does.
I won't reveal too much, for fear of ruining the whole book for you - but here's my not-very-professional opinion on a few things in particular that struck me.
-One of these things was that throughout the duration of her relationship with Peter, Margaux never truly felt like a victim. At the end of the book, there's even a short note about how paedophilia can be treated before it gets out of control - that paedophilia, is, after all, a mental affliction, and can be cured.
-I haven't read Lolita, but I have read other, similar stories, and they all share one thing in common: the main character (be it the author or a fictional character) is victimised, and the entire story trumpets the triumph of overcoming the intense emotional scars left behind by whoever abused them. Tiger, Tiger, on the other hand, does no such thing. It is what it is: a memoir. The simple, to-the-point style that prevails throughout the story paints a clear picture of every scene, and the equally straight-forward ending leaves little to be desired. It tells a story, and the story does not necessarily have a conclusion. It's a little reminiscent of a diary in that way.
-At times while reading, I'd get a little frustrated, as there seemed to be too much irrelevant info-tossing happening. As the book progressed though, the little details about the childhood games and the family life tied together to show vividly Margaux's transformation from an affectionate, happy child to a suicidal young woman.
-My favourite character from the story - if you'll forgive my calling it a story - was an unexpected one. Margaux's father truly was my favourite character, because I absolutely did not know what to think of him. His affectionate nickname for Margaux - 'Kissy', which he pronounced as 'Keesy' due to his Spanish heritage - gave him instant cuddle points. But soon it was obvious that he was obsessive-compulsive, snobbish, and decidedly holier-than-thou. His endless complaints about Margaux and her mentally unwell mother were made tolerable by the fact that despite all his threats, he never left them. I still have yet to formulate an opinion on him. He's a character that made me ponder.
What I didn't like: The ending! After all my preaching about how the story was devoid of all the I-have-now-found-hope carbon-copy nonsense, I wanted more to the ending. I understood that Peter's part in Margaux's life was over. What I wanted was some insight into her current life, the life with her husband and their child. How did she reveal this story to her husband? To her child? If it had been me, I couldn't imagine telling anyone.
Nat's rating: 4 and a half out of 5. I took points off for the ending.
Hope you enjoyed this review! I definitely enjoyed writing it. Keep checking back for book and film reviews, good music and possibly the odd normal blogspot here and there.
WANT RANDOM? follow me on tumblr at imperfectlyokay.tumblr.com
for smaller versions of blogposts, follow me on twitter: @scarychica
cheers!
