Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

I’ve been thinking recently about electronic devices versus actual books as I continue to search for copies of the Bookers, and to be honest I think I would have found the whole experience less fulfilling if I had read them electronically.  For me, reading for pleasure seems to have to involve the tangible book held in my hand, turning the pages, feeling how far through the book you are, the smell (I remember at school being given the choice of an old or new copy of ‘Great Expectations’, where most of my classmates opted for the modern, I preferred the rather battered, yellow paged copy with the indescribable, but appealing smell that old books acquire.)  I may be old-fashioned, but the idea of ‘disappearing’ into another world through the display of an electronic device rather destroys the magic of the experience and I like the dependable nature of a novel that is there, regardless of whether or not you have remembered to charge your device.  Call me crazy but in addition, I am happy in the knowledge that in the midst of a world disaster/a powercut, I can always pick up a book and read.

Anyway, obviously there are arguments on either side and it’s not an either/or situation luckily, and most importantly, I suppose it doesn’t matter how you read, as long as you’re reading!  And if you’re reading, may I recommend ‘Moon Tiger’.  I found this a thought-provoking book, philosophical without being at all heavy.  It is written from the point of view of the protagonist Claudia, as she lies dying in a hospital bed and reflecting on her life, mulling over the people, places and events of her previous seventy-odd years as she contemplates writing a history of the world.  It recounts memories and then sometimes flips around and describes the exchange from the other characters’ view-point.   This is an interesting device, not only to demonstrate how people recall things differently, but highlighting how you are never fully aware of how you are perceived by others, and can only guess at their thoughts from what they say.  Furthermore, as Claudia mulls over her own mortality she dwells on how when we die we then exist only in people’s memories, their version of us being all that remains.

The novel was wide-ranging in its scope, touching on historical events and how they are portrayed and documented, drawing parallels between personal and world histories of what gets remembered and recorded and what doesn’t.  Moreover, the protagonists history is shaped by her interactions with the people in her life, which Lively depicts vividly, giving the characters depth and context.  I found the writing intellectually stimulating, conveyed in a very readable plotline.  Although, my one criticism is the inclusion of diary excerpts at the end of the book from Tom, Claudia’s great love who died in Egypt in WW2.  In my opinion, this should not have been included as it contributed little and was out of step with the rest of the novel, which was largely from her perspective. Notwithstanding this last criticism, some of the ideas raised in the course of ‘Moon Tiger’ will linger in my mind for sometime to come.