Moon Tiger [Paperback]

Penelope Lively (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 1997

The elderly Claudia Hampton, a best-selling author of popular history; lies alone in a London hospital bed. Memories of her life still glow in her fading consciousness, but she imagines writing a history of the world. Instead, Moon Tiger is her own history, the life of a strong, independent woman, with its often contentious relations with family and friends. At its center — forever frozen in time, the still point of her turning world — is the cruelly truncated affair with Tom, a British tank commander whom Claudia knew as a reporter in Egypt during World War II.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lively recently won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize for this deeply moving, elegantly structured novel. The heroine is Claudia Hampton, an unconventional historian and former war correspondent who lies in a hospital bed dying of cancer. Forced inward, Claudia moves randomly across time and place to reconstruct the strata of her life. But "most lives have their core, their kernel, the vital centre"; Claudia's is the brief, tragic encounter she had in Egypt during the war with Tom Southern, a British tank officer on leave from battle. Tom's voice, along with those of her brother and daughter, joins Claudia's to shape a narrative that is a complex, intricately composed fugue. This haunting evocation of loss is Lively's finest achievement yet.Laurence Hull, Cannon Memorial Lib., Concord, N.C.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

At the age of seventy-six and on her deathbed, Claudia Hampton decides to write "The history of the world as selected by Claudia: fact and fiction, myth and evidence, images and documents." It's a history seen through a kaleidoscope: "Chronology irritates me. There is no chronology inside my head. I am composed of a myriad of Claudias who spin and mix and part like sparks of sunlight on water." We meet Claudia, a woman always willing to share her opinions, who has admirers and enemies, loves and losses; fatherless Claudia, who grew up almost too close to her brother and best friend Gordon; Claudia, who could never really be a mother to her child, Lisa, or marry Jasper, Lisa's father. And Claudia certainly wouldn't tell anyone about Tom; the one love of her life; he's her own private memory, how could they understand? An independent and competitive woman, Claudia worked as a reporter in Egypt during World War II and met Tom near the front. Their brief but intense love affair affirms the power and thrill of falling in love. As people visit Claudia on her deathbed, they shake and turn the kaleidoscope, changing speed, movement, and voice, to reveal, in their own words, themselves and Claudia's impact on their world. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (September 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802135331
• ISBN-13: 978-0802135339
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, Moving and Beautifully Wrought, June 20, 2004

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon Tiger (Paperback)

"I'm writing a history of the world. The whole triumphant murderous unstoppable chute-from the mud to the stars, universal and particular, your story and mine", so says Claudia Hampton, in her 76th year, as she lies dying. We all have books we can't put down, this is mine. This is the glorious book that I did not want to end, that I read in one sitting. I could not, absolutely could not put this book down. A ten star book if there ever was one!

Claudia is a character so rich, you feel her in your bones. You want to know her as your own. Claudia Hampton and her brother Gordon born of a comfortable family. Father died in his war, and mysteriously not much is known of him. Mother lived her life, she withdrew from the world. She lived for her roses, tapestry and unchangeable weather. Gordon and Claudia, sister and brother, wild, untamed as children, brilliant and wild and untamed as adults. They were self-involved and never needed an other person when they were together. The important people in Claudia's life are so well defined and characterized- they become the story.

Claudia became a write of books, history, and met her off and on lover, Jasper and father of her child, Lisa, when she was writing a book about Tito. Not one of Claudia's acquaintances or family approved of or liked Jasper, but that made him much more interesting, and, anyway, theirs was a sexual love-sex kept them together. And the fact that Claudia was beautiful and intelligent and such an asset. Men loved her and women approved of her. They never married, but they saw each other many times throughout their lives.

Tom Southern, the love of Claudia's life. She met him while she was a correspondent during the War in Egypt. Theirs was a love like no other. A sweet, short love, and one of the most memorable affairs.

Sylvia, Gordon's wife. A woman to be put up with. A stable wife who said not much and did little else, but she kept their life together. A woman who mattered not to Claudia- someone to be tolerated.

Lisa, the child of Claudia and Jasper. Like neither her mother nor father and treated as such- like a neither. Shunted off to be brought up by her grandmothers a child who so wanted to be loved by her mother, and was, but the love was not spoken.

Laszlo, the child of a Hungarian, who was left homeless and family less after the Hungarian uprising. Claudia took him in and treated him almost as a son.

These the important people in Claudia's life. This strong, independent woman who had such contentious relations with family and friends. Penelope Lively, won the Booker Prize for this novel. And well she should! What a powerful, moving and beautifully wrought book she has written. Claudia Hampton, a literary figure not to be forgotten. Well done, Penelope Lively !prisrob

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A novel of self-discovery, and reflection, September 16, 2003

By 

Lacey Savage (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon Tiger (Paperback)

Perception. That is the major theme that occurs throughout the novel. The way we see and interpret events may not necessarily be the way others perceive them. One woman's "History of the World" can only be based on subjective interpretation.

Claudia Hampton has lived a full, rich life. At the age of 76, she's now on her deathbed, recalling a myriad of poignant moments she had experienced in her long life. Many people have made an impact upon her life: her brother Gordon, for example, who was a mirror image of Claudia, and who shared in their borderline-incestuous relationship. Her daughter Lisa, as different from her mother as could be. Her lover of many years, Jasper, who served his purpose, but who never truly won her heart. The love of her life, Tom, who she only knew for a short period of time but loved deeply and powerfully. They all play a part in what she calls "Claudia's History of the World". The bits and pieces of her life come rapidly, with no chronological order to bind them together, and Claudia takes the time to muse over everything that has made her who she is.

MOON TIGER is extremely powerful at times and always eloquently written. The love story between Tom and Claudia is breathtaking. Selfishly, I wish it had been longer. I yearned for more character development and depth in Tom, although as readers, we know as much about him as Claudia herself did. Their romance was brief, but passionate, and it left me yearning for more right along with Claudia.

A word of warning: although the book is relatively short (at 200 pages), it feels lengthy and drawn out at times. Again, this only serves to highlight Lively's skill at writing Claudia's last experiences. Of course, being a dying woman's memoirs, the book is short on plot and long on self-discovery, and reflection.

A must-read for lovers of literary fiction - but those with a taste for more adventurous plot lines would probably not find their desired reading material in MOON TIGER.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Booker of those lovely ghosts of phantom lovers, April 23, 2005

By 

M. R. Estante "book reader" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moon Tiger (Paperback)

An exotic novel about a love that haunts us from the grave to our own. Claudia's rendition of her affair in Egypt during a war, resulting in the loss of her great love and their unborn child, is depicted with an Englishwoman's genius of grammar, prose, and Latin-based mastery of the English language. Told through Claudia's story on her death bed between periods of consciousness, Penelope Lively distinguishes herself with the usage of narrative to describe a lifetime of mourning. Claudia mourns Tom throughout her adult and senior years as she lives a journalist's life in London, England. Lively's Claudia is a stubborn woman whose account of things, people, and relationships are rooted in her own view of the world. This is more than a romance, it is a look into the elements and pervasive condition of heartbreak over a lifetime. Tragic, humorous, and compelling. No wonder it was a Booker Prize - the most prestigious literary prize in the world for English language fiction.