The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (Vintage Departures)

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On the biological level, success doesn’t mean winning, it means surviving, and it doesn’t really matter how you get there. The object is to stay alive until the danger is past and deal with the consequences later. Nature places no value judgment about which is the superior strategy. If the coyote leaves the seemingly dead opossum alone, it will recover from its immobility and walk off unconcerned about whether it could have responded in a better way. Animals do not view freezing as a sign of inadequacy or weakness, nor should we.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr was published in 1968 and was recently turned into a stage play in London. Children's books as theater seems to be having a renaissance of sorts. My inner child is feeling miffed at missing the show. The man-eater in question did not stop at one. Investigators could see that there was purpose to this cat. Tigers do not normally prey on people. But this one went out of his way to hunt down his first victim. It is no wonder that locals consider some tigers to be more than merely human. Some are thought to be imbued with a supernatural aspect, making these already pretty scary critters even more terrifying. Vaillant tells of the investigation and its conclusions. Along the way he offers a picture of this remotest part of Russia, and many of the very colorful characters who have called it home, past and present. The area appears to have more in common with the American wild west than with a vid-phone-chatting 21st century. I liked Levine's connecting myth with real human experience. Getting in touch with trauma is not only an exercise in feeling starting with how your butt feels in your chair, somantic experience, though it has a place for the disconnected. Though it probably easily works with mindfulness, exercise and talk therapy that embraces a role for connecting with our physical body. Yoga. Related to the above, when Mr. Levine is faced with treating a survivor of quite horrific sexual assault, he grudging concedes that her memories were clearly accurate - "In Margaret's case, independent reports of the incident (including medical evidence and police involvement) substantiate the basic facts of her story" (Levine 201) - but then goes on to suggest that the accuracy of her memories does not matter and that she could have had the same reactions if her story had been "completely fabricated" or based on frightening images she viewed as a child. This is absurd. Waking the Tiger” advances Peter Levine’s hopeful theory that trauma has been badly misunderstood and mistreated in Western Culture. He uses numerous examples from the animal kingdom along with case studies of his own patients to argue that people can make a complete and healthy recovery from trauma by somatically renegotiating their traumatic experience. He emphasizes that “somatic experiencing” is not re-enactment—an approach that he is skeptical about, at best. His contention is that the tremendous energies mobilized to defend us in moments of fear and danger can become trapped within us if they are not allowed to discharge themselves or to complete their functions.Here's the review that led me to read it, by Kelly Robson, https://kellyrobson.com/my-favorite-n... Vaillant writes great descriptions of the Amur Tiger protective agents with succinct and poignant details. He was also able to build the locally legendary characters of the area's poachers, even the ones who became the tiger's prey. With forensic evidence, post-mortums of the many hunts and subsequently successful kills by the tiger of man or animal were fully enacted in engrossing action that'll put the chills up your spine. A reminder/warning though: this is not a thrill-a-minute action novel. This is a balanced non-fiction. Be prepared to spend some time, for instance, learning about Russia's Perestroika movement in the 80s or relating the detrimental buffalo slayings of the old American West to the big game hunting that nearly wiped out the tigers of Russia's Taiga. So just beware, you might learn something. Starred Review. Suspenseful and majestically narrated ... Vaillant has written a mighty elegy that leads readers into the lair of the tiger and into the heart of the Kremlin to explain how the Amur tiger went from being worshipped to being poached." - Publishers Weekly There are four components of trauma that will always be present to some degree in any traumatized person: 1. hyperarousal 2. constriction 3. dissociation 4. freezing (immobility), associated with the feeling of helplessness. Together, these components form the core of the traumatic reaction. They are the first to appear when a traumatic event occurs. It’s good for children to see a man reading stories. Just go for it because it’s so much fun – your child’s not going to be judgmental"

Some books end up etched in the memories of not just families and classes but entire generations. Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea is one of those classics. It's one of those books that you get so absorbed in and you learn all of these interesting facts that you want to share with people... for instance (I just have to share!) tigers are known for their virility and their strength - and the Sanskrit word for tiger *vyagghra* was Anglicized into "viagra" for the well-known impotency medication. Interesting, right? Well, there's more to learn inside this book!A tale with memorable characters, a beautifully described setting and moments of startling drama . . . Vaillant's research is matched by the elegance of his writing . . . Vaillant is able to empathise so fully with both human and animal protagonists that it is hard to believe he wasn't there . . . This is a remarkable story, exceptionally well told

Writing in a vigorous, evocative style . . . Vaillant paints a haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature. This book is very well illustrated, my daughter always gets captivated by how big the tiger is. It gives a strong example of sharing. The young girl did not complain to the tiger for eating or drinking instead she was offering him more. Vancouver-based American author John Vaillant’s non-fiction book The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (2010) tells the true story of a man eating tiger that killed many people in Russia. Alongside the story about this tiger, he also talks about the history of his region as well as how science has tried to deal with it. He also talks about environmental issues which threaten these animals’ existence.This book tells the story of one Amur Tiger - one who turns maneater, one with a vengeful attitude. It’s sharing the intimacy of a story – that special moment between you and them”: Helping dads to get reading The Primorye region of Russia is a vast, sparsely populated area in the east of Russia that’s about the size of Washington state. The human population there is desperately poor, but it’s rich in biodiversity. Four separate bioregions meet in this region: taiga (Siberian forest), Mongolian steppe-lands, subtropical jungles and boreal forests of the Arctic circle. Scientists have named this area the “Transbaikalian Province” because its longest river, Amur River, is also one of the world’s longest undammed rivers. Those are some of our ideas – but what about you? What do you love reading?Let us know by tweeting us @BookTrust using the hashtag #WhatToReadAfter! Key quote: "Vaillant’s tiger tale is nuanced." Note that the man-killing tiger was injured, and could no longer hunt its usual prey -- as is common in historic man-eaters. And tigers need a LOT of meat to survive a Siberian winter. You do not want to be charged by a hungry, 500 pound tiger! It's quite a story, and I recommend it with a few reservations. 3.7 stars, rounded up.

Medusa Complex”—the drama called trauma. As in the Greek myth of Medusa, the human confusion that may ensue when we stare death in the face can turn us to stone. We may literally freeze in fear, which will result in the creation of traumatic symptoms. It sounds like the teaser for a trashy thriller but this story really happened. The Tiger is the story of a rogue tiger and it's man-eating ways. Though the tiger caused a disaster, we see the father takes it easy. I think I should learn a lesson or two from that story as a grown-up that frets over everything trivial thing. To end a person's life is one thing; to eradicate him from the face of the earth is another. The latter is far more difficult to do, and yet the tiger had done it, had transported this young man beyond death to a kind of carnal oblivion."There are scenes in the beginning of this book that will give you chills. A tiger has killed a man and a group of investigators are on the scene. Vaillant describes the remnants of the victim as the group very carefully follows the trail of carnage, seeing what has been left uneaten. The tiger is probably watching. I was hooked very early on. Although the book does not sustain that high level of tingle, it is a fascinating look at the largest feline on earth, the Siberian tiger, or more specifically, the Amur tiger. I particularly liked the author’s description: “this is what you get when you pair the agility and appetites of a cat with the mass of an industrial refrigerator.” Siberians, larger than the more familiar Bengal tigers, max out at about 800 pounds. By regularly bringing down large prey like elk, moose, boar, and deer, the tiger feeds countless smaller animals, birds, and insects, not to mention the soil. Every such event sends another pulse of lifeblood through the body of the forest." Author and illustrator Rikin Parekh has just released his beautiful new book Fly, Tiger, Fly - all about a big cat who dreams of soaring through the air!