Author: Eka Kurniawan
Publisher: Verso Books
Publication Year: 2015
Language: English
Translator: Labodalih Sembiring
Format: Paperback
Pages: 172
A wry, affecting tale set in a small town on the Indonesian coast, Man Tiger tells the story of two interlinked and tormented families and of Margio, a young man ordinary in all particulars except that he conceals within himself a supernatural female white tiger. The inequities and betrayals of family life coalesce around and torment this magical being. An explosive act of violence follows, and its mysterious cause is unraveled as events progress toward a heartbreaking revelation.
Lyrical and bawdy, experimental and political, this extraordinary novel announces the arrival of a powerful new voice on the global literary stage.
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Man Tiger opens with the murder of Anwar Sadat, a local artist and womanizer. He was found dead with his neck being ripped apart like it was torn by a wild animal. The murderer turns out to be Margio, a young man known for his calm demeanor. The village people surprised to find that he is the one responsible for the murder of Anwar Sadat. However, when being interrogated, Margio revealed that he killed Anwar Sadat under the influence of a white tigress that lived inside of him.
At a glance, Man Tiger might be categorized as a crime novel. But unlike the usual crime novel, the murderer and a brief description of how it happened are disclosed at the beginning of the book. As the novel goes, we then discover the motive and the details of how the murder happened.
Rather than the ‘who’, Man Tiger focuses more on the ‘why’ and ‘how’. The how is not so complicated to explain. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s not that complicated. While the ‘why’ is a different story. Explaining the why takes us back to Margio’s family’s life even before his parents got married. As the story unfold, we discover the abuse, hardships, and lies that’s been shadowing over Margio’s family. Those build up the frustration that leads Margio to kill Anwar Sadat. The poverty and misery that the family suffers might come as a shock to some people, I suspect especially to western readers. Sadly, it doesn’t really surprise me. It’s disheartening but Margio’s family situation is still a common thing in Indonesia.
It’s from this book that I understand the true meaning of crime of passion. I think the white tigress within Margio is a symbol of Margio’s repressed passion, his anger and frustration. It’s when he released it that he’s able to kill Anwar Sadat.
Honestly, at first I was scared to pick up this book. I know that Eka Kurniawan is considered as a genius Indonesian writer and his books are critically acclaimed. I guess my fear comes from my experience with Indonesian literature back in middle school. Despite of Indonesian is my first language, I feel that Indonesian literature especially the classic old one is hard to understand. It feels like although we speak the same language, I couldn’t be in the same frequency with the writers. Thankfully, it’s different with Man Tiger. Maybe because it’s more contemporary than the previous one that I read.
As a note, I read the translated version of this book. In a way, it gives me a different reading experience. Like I’m seeing my life from an outsider point of view. As with other translated works, there are things that cannot be translated, but because the setting and the culture is so familiar to me I can still understand what the author means. When I was reading the book, sometimes I thought if reading this book in the original written language would be better. But then I got to the part with sexual content in it and I’m glad that I didn’t read it in Indonesian. I’m a bit surprised that this book even has that kind of vulgarity. So, warning for mature contents.
All in all, Man Tiger is an unexpected favorite to me. I guess saying that it’s a delightful read would be weird and inappropriate. But that’s what I really feel about Man Tiger. it’s been a while since I’m hooked on such a suspenseful read like this book. The fact that this book has been translated into English makes me happier that now even English readers can enjoy this book too. In conclusion, I recommend this book to you.
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