The tiger did not know they were bombs. He did not know anything beyond the hiss and screech of the fighters passing overhead, missiles falling, the sound of bears bellowing in another part of the fortress, the sudden silence of birds.
There was smoke and terrible warmth, a gray sun rising and falling in what seemed like minutes, and the tiger, frenzied, dry-tongued, ran back and forth across the span of the rusted bars, lowing like an ox.
He was alone and hungry, and that hunger, coupled with the thunderous noise of bombardment, had burned in him a kind of awareness of his own death, and imminent and intimate knowledge he could neither dismiss nor succumb to.
He did not know what to do with it. His water had dried up, and he rolled and rolled in the stone bed of his trough, in the uneaten bones lying in a corner of the cage, making that long sad sound that tigers make.
~ The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
Till now, I have never thought about the impact of war on animals. It sounds terrible, doesn’t it? To not know what is happening, the general routine stripped away, and just left on your own in a cage to starve and die?
What terrible things we do to each other in the name of patriotism.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Sounds like a sad read.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/09/teaser-tuesday_24.html
I’ve been meaning to read this one but haven’t yet. That tease makes me want to read it now. Enjoy.
The Pride of Baghdad is a great graphic novel about some lions from a zoo in Baghdad and how the survive during the war.
@Linda: I’ve heard a lot about The Pride of Baghdad, sounds like a great read. Thanks for the recco 🙂
Oh that’s such a sad sad bit.
http://cupandchaucer.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/teaser-tuesday-september-24/
I’ve been wanting to read this one for ages now, great teaser.
Come see my Teaser Tuesday post
–Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I’ve thought of what would happen to our pets if there was a global catastrophe where no one thinks to save the pets and its sad to think of dogs inside houses starving because their people are gone. I haven’t extended this to war and zoo animals though. It sounds like an interesting read. I’ll definitely check it out.
Here is my TT: http://andreareadsandreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/teaser-tuesdays-92413.html or http://reviewbooksandmore.com/2013/09/24/tuesday-teaser-92413/
It does sound like a sad book. Click here to go to my TT
Sounds like a very interesting read. Hope you enjoy. Here is my TT http://cynthiastacey.com/2013/09/24/teaser-tuesday-sept-24/
This book has gotten such great reviews. I should add it to my list.
@Beth F: It’s an unusual book for sure. I am not yet in love with it, but the little that I’ve read is very good.
Sounds like a very sad book, I really never thought about this before.
@kzemek: Actually, it’s not so sad. For a wartime book, this is a pleasant read. I haven’t finished the book yet, but it doesn’t look there is a lot of trauma there.
We actually had a discussion in college on this topic. Also, forest fires. Its incredibly sad. the book sounds like a good read 🙂
@Malvika: Yeah, as it is animals have far keener ears than us. The sounds of bombs dropping and explosions would be terrifying for them. Sad :(. At least in this book, the tiger doesn’t die. At least not in this scene :). Can’t wait to find out what happens to it.