---
product_id: 18425441
title: "Man Tiger: A Novel"
brand: "eka kurniawanbenedict anderson"
price: "1231158₫"
currency: VND
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.vn/products/18425441-man-tiger-a-novel
store_origin: VN
region: Vietnam
---

# Man Tiger: A Novel

**Brand:** eka kurniawanbenedict anderson
**Price:** 1231158₫
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Man Tiger: A Novel by eka kurniawanbenedict anderson
- **How much does it cost?** 1231158₫ with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

Man Tiger: A Novel

## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Something Simmers inside the Heart of West Java
  

*by P***G on Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2015*

Man Tiger is an Indonesian book written for an Indonesian audience. This review is for the English translation of the Bahasa Indonesia Lelaki Harimu, so it’s not really written by Eka Kurniawan but translated by Labodalih Sembiring into a reasonable English facsimile of the tale that is in the original book.Why do I make this belabored point? Because Kurniawan writes not in the formal and correct language which one would find in an Indonesian grammar book, but in the colloquial vernacular Bahasa Indonesia people use in daily life and would use to tell traditional folk tales. And actually, many villagers would be speaking the indigenous language of the mountains of Java Barat, Basa Sunda, or some other local dialect.So, while this is certainly a commendable translation, English-only readers are missing some of the original tone and the circular nature of the text may seem abnormally repetitious.  How do I know that? Well, my Bahasa Indonesia is certainly not fluent, but it is good enough to know that you never get a word for word translation and you can never endow English with some of the overtly Indonesian connotation that is going on in the original text. And I read both versions at the same time, consulting the original Indonesian text when the English words seemed “too English” to me. And I have been to those mountains.Remember those scary folk tales and ghost stories told around the campfire about the ax murderer who stalks the very woods you sit in? Or the classic Yellow Ribbon Around Her Neck tale? Man Tiger is episodic ghost storytelling.  That is why Man Tiger’s story starts over repeatedly retelling the story from the view of someone else. Just as the story-telling granny mentioned in the book always had a tale to tell, the book sections are new sessions of the same tale, which eventually reaches the climax. This is why there is little dialog and why we don’t see too much of that tiger. Like the Yellow Ribbon story—the head only falls off once!  The tiger comes out mid-book and readers are left to piece together the more important element, the REASON the tiger came out.Kurniawan is of course commenting on lots of the peculiar elements of life in the mountain villages outside the major cities of Java. But you do not need to be familiar with Indonesia to read this book. Beauty is a Wound, Kurniawan’s other recently translated and utterly allegorical fantastical book is perhaps best left for those with a firm handle on Indonesian history. Man Tiger is completely understandable and accessible, similar to a fairy tale set in a far off kingdom in a vaguely contemporary time.For anyone familiar with (or like me, obsessed with) West Java, but living in the English-speaking world, Man Tiger is a quick, nearly humorous read. And you are probably just glad the book made it “Out of Indonesia.” For so little Indonesian fiction actually makes it to the English market that Man Tiger is important for that reason alone. And you, West Java Junkies, have most likely already read both versions and are reading this review only to see how I could possibly have this much to say about so short of a book!If you are not familiar with Indonesia at all, bear in mind that this is a place where many people do not see things in the clear black and white, good or bad, real or unreal, way the western culture trains one to think. Ghosts, wahyu--Divine revelation of Power, ilmu hitam--black magic, ilmu puti--white magic, prostitution, animism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, all coexist in a steaming stew with a tight lid of very modern scientific, economic, medical and technical knowledge.Don’t be fooled by Kurniawan’s sparse tale into believing these people are in any way unsophisticated villagers. The Indonesian people are quite well educated, millions to the university level. And it’s not the fully agrarian country most people think it is. It is tropical—you don’t need a brick house to survive the winter, but it is not unindustrialized and is fairly urban. The shopping malls are bigger and better stocked than the malls in my area of Pennsylvania. And I never saw so many late model cars in my life!  But village life is more ritualistic. More communal but certainly incredibly complex. There are formal and informal, and even animal levels, in the languages.  There are multiple words for Love. Everyone has had a seriously broken heart. All the pop and dangdut songs are about separated lovers. Or Death. Or revenge, or betrayal.And Blame is not apportioned in the same scientific manner as it is in America. A famous Indonesian writer, Y.B. Mangunwijaya, once said something to the effect that the people of Java are like the volcanoes they live upon, at any moment they can awaken to cough up a chunk of burning lava. And there lies the central concept of this book. It is clear from the first phrase, that Margio killed Anwat Sadat (not THE Anwar Sadat, just some guy named Anwar Sadat) in a volcanic eruption of murderous rage but it takes the entire book to apportion the blame for the killing. It is also clear that everyone agrees a tiger erupts from him and does the killing! But why??  WHY? What makes that seemingly docile tiger tear out someone’s throat?  What is every Indonesian really looking for? What really makes their world go round? What keeps me obsessed with West Java? It is not money.That brings us to the other Indonesian element of this ghost tale. The Entire Book is a Vehicle for the Moral Lesson at the End. Something simmers inside the heart of West Java. Sesuata mendidih di dalam jantung hati Jawa Barat. You will have to read Man Tiger to find out what offense Triggered the Tiger.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A different world
  

*by S***H on Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2016*

As the story unfolds, it feels as though you have bought a house next door. You feel for the protagonist and the family, at times you wonder, is this world really so far.  Masterful writing!

### ⭐ 







  
  
    I didn’t like this book.
  

*by G***S on Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2021*

I didn’t like this book.

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*Product available on Desertcart Vietnam*
*Store origin: VN*
*Last updated: 2026-03-16*