Started: Nov. 8th, 2012
Finished: Nov. 24, 2012
Pages: 344
Any review of this book calls out for a compare and contrast with The Life of Pi. After all, how many books can there be that feature a boy, a tiger, and a shipwreck? Unfortunately, I can't do the honours: I may be the only person in the history of the world who started The Life of Pi and didn't finish it. (Don't ask: I am also the only person alive who got through the 1980s without seeing E.T.)
So, I'm on my own here, and am feeling a little at sea. Jamrach's Menagerie is engaging....it follows the adventures of a Victorian boy born into the mud of the East London slums who encounters a tiger. Knowing no better, he pets the tiger on the nose and it reciprocates by taking him in its jaws and carrying him into a much different life.
So far so good.
But....when I read a literary novel I feel as if I ought to be able to figure out what it's trying to say. Instead, as far as I can tell the author was struck by a couple of historical incidents and decided to spin a tale. The end.
Nothing wrong with that. But it feels like empty reading calories.
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