The Night Tiger: The Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

Product Information

Ren is only 11 years old....a Chinese houseboy is on a mission to fulfill his formers master’s dying wish. His former master, Dr. MacFarlene, lost a finger due to an accident many years ago. Ren promised to find it and bury it with his body. The old age superstition says this ‘must’ happen in 49 Days...or his old master’s soul will wander the earth forever. Richly complex…Gorgeous…Transport[s] us into a colonial world we more often see from the view of the occupier, in this transcendent tale about twins who share no blood, mythology and superstition, sibling rivalry, loyalty, forbidden love and identity.” — San Francisco Chronicle The stripes on its brilliant coat ripple; the yellow eyes glare like lanterns. Ren can only drop his gaze. The tiger makes a deep hrff sound. Then it turns and walks away, with deliberate tread that's heavy and delicate at the same time. Where is it going?" The novel is a little bit complicated because the Author is not focused only in one thing but it has various acts which are going on but they are reasonable reactions as in the end we can connect all the dots with such intrigue and unbelievable twists! Throughout everything, there’s a murder mystery. Were you surprised that there were two killers: Koh Beng and Lydia?

Collings, Michael R.; Engebretson, David (1985). The Shorter Works of Stephen King. Starmont House. p.35. ISBN 978-0-930261-03-0. Malaya, with its mix of Malays, Chinese, and Indians, is full of spirits: a looking-glass world governed by unsettling rules. The European werewolf is a man who, when the moon is full, turns his skin inside out and become a beast. He then leaves the village and goes into the forest to kill. But for the natives here, the weretiger is not a man, but a beast who, when he chooses, put on a human skin and comes from the jungle into the village to prey on humans. It’s almost exactly the reverse situation and in some ways more disturbing”.Crisscrossing Ren’s tale are those of William Acton, a philandering surgeon who becomes Ren’s new employer, and Ji Lin, a young woman chafing under her limited horizons as a dressmaker’s apprentice. Time and again, the missing finger passes among them: surfacing, then becoming lost again, then found, then stolen, then buried, and finally reburied. What do you think are some of the key themes of this story? In what ways did this serve as a fairy tale? It’s just a normal morning when Anna's husband announces that he's leaving her for her best friend and taking their two daughters with him. In Yangsze Choo's The Night Tiger, the two main characters, Ji and Ren, are named for two of the five virtues that make up the ethical system of Confucianism. Confucianism is a spiritual/philosophical tradition born out of the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucius (who is believed to have lived circa 551-479 BCE), and it has been profoundly influential on the cultures of many Asian countries, including China, Vietnam, Japan and Korea. The five virtues come from the Confucian texts known as The Analects and The Book of Mencius (both originally published circa 475-221 BCE). They have been an integral part of the Chinese ethos for millennia, and continue to serve as moral guidelines in contemporary life.

Much of the book centers around superstitions: mythical creatures, conversations with the dead and the Five Virtues of Confucius. Let’s discuss each of these areas: Choo’s skill in creating a dynamic, vibrant, non-Western cosmos rivals that of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Half of a Yellow Sun . Both authors open their books with a houseboy who serves as an objective onlooker while his own story unfolds. Both stories employ twins who become separated, and both have as their principal character a smart young woman.stars. I may need to think some more about this one. I'm giving it a tentative 3½, rounded up to 4 because I absolutely loved that this historical mystery was steeped in Chinese and Malaysian mythology and superstition. I loved the part when Jin Li wanted to study medicine but when her parents stopped her because she's a girl I really had mixed emotions as this is an everyday problem in every society! And the parts of Jin Li working in different jobs only to cover her mother's gambling debts are so powerful and feminist, I enjoyed her as a character she is really strong and smart woman!