3.5 stars

The Amur tiger is endangered and the ones that are left are in the Far East of Russia, near the Chinese border. In 1997, a tiger attacked and killed two men, so more men were sent out to hunt and kill that tiger.

I think I had a wrong impression of what this book was about, so I ended up being a little bit disappointed. I thought this book was told from the tiger's point of view. Most of the book actually talked about the men - the poachers - who were killed by the tiger, then the last bit of the book was about one of the men who hunted the tiger, a man who usually tried to protect the tigers from the poachers. I found parts of the book slow-going. The most interesting parts of the book for me were about the tiger, and tigers in general. I also quite enjoyed the epilogue, which talked about the issues surrounding the endangered animal, and if and how it might be saved. I would have loved for there to be more focus on tigers, generally, in the book. Still enjoyed it, just a little disappointed that is wasn't what I'd expected and hoped.

There is a lot of information presented in The Tiger- perhaps too much. Vaillant wants the reader to understand the socio-economic and political background of the people in his story as well as the details of the geographic region of Eastern Russia to paint a clear picture of the actions and possible motives for the events in the book. However, he provides too much information, chopping up what is otherwise a gripping, and compelling tale of a man-eating tiger on the hunt for blood. Just as the story of the tiger hunt would pick up, there would be 3 pages of dense Russian politics and international relations.

At times it feels as if you are reading an encyclopedia entry on Russian history. Details are necessary, but not to the degree Vaillant devotes to his research of the topic. The information about tigers is fascinating and better blended into the core story of the tiger hunt.
Overall, I liked the book and it was an interesting read, but not sure if it has a wide appeal.

This was a very good read and contained more information about tigers, in general, than I thought possible in one book. It was also very descriptive of life in the far east of Russia.
The power and intelligence of the Amur tiger was very well portrayed and, while I enjoy living close to grizzly country, I'm happy that it's not tiger country. They are scary!
Anyone interested in wildlife, the need for conservation, Russia or areading a good story will, I think, enjoy The Tiger.

The Good Stuff

* One of the most brilliantly written non-fiction that I have ever read
* Factual and Informative without being dry or boring and at the same time fascinating, powerful and intriguing
* This is the first piece of non-fiction that I just didn't want to put down, I was totally riveted
* The geography is so eloquently explained that you are amazed and interested by it all
* Author does a fabulous job of making you truly understand and see the strengths of Trush. You can also see the authors fascination and respect for Trush
* The way the author describes the Tiger is almost poetic (But in a good way as you all know of my dislike of most poetry)
* Extremely thoroughly researched and impressive Bibliography
* Fascinating glimpse into the lives and world of people in the Russian Far East which I am ashamed to say I pretty much knew nothing about
* Ok at times I was totally cheering for the Tiger to win, after all we are in their territory, not the other way around -- however you can see mans point of view as well. Really makes you think

The Not so Good Stuff

* Could have left out some of the detail
* Didn't like seeing the pictures of dead Tiger's - I'm a wee bit sensitive that way

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"One of the many negative effects of perestroika and the reopening of the border between Russia and China has been a surge in tiger poaching. As the economy disintegrated and unemployment spread throughout the 1990's, professional poachers, businessmen , and ordinary citizens alike began taking advantage of the forest's wealth in all its forms."


"The Amur tiger, it could be said, takes a Stalinist approach to competition."

"The one certainty in tiger tracks is: follow them long enough and you will eventually arrive at a tiger, unless the tiger arrives at you first."

What I Learned

* The Sanskrit word for tiger *vyagghra* was Anglicized into -- hmm I wonder why
* Tigers have fabulous memories and if hurt by a human they will exact revenge (Must remember that when playing with my kitten Oreo, as I am convinced she is part Tiger)
* So many other interesting things, I really don't want to spoil it for you -- go buy the book already

Who should/shouldn't read

* Anyone with an interest in Tigers
* There is pretty much something in this for everyone. That being said there are some nasty descriptions that might upset the sensitive reader and there are some pictures of dead tigers


5 Dewey's