Moon Tiger | Style

Moon Tiger Style

Point of View

In a very real sense, point of view is the story of Moon Tiger. The entire novel unfolds in the thoughts and sense memories of Claudia, as she lies dying. She is immobilized, barely conscious and completely helpless. Her reveries are annoyingly interrupted by the prosaic visits of various friends and lovers. These visits are the only real action in the narrative. Yet, within this framework, the myriad point of view shifts induce mild vertigo. The viewpoint shifts wildly from one character to another and one decade to another, within chapters and often within the same page.

Shifts from Claudia's childhood to her later life are frequent, as are shifts to the point of view of another character. These shifts are completely and intentionally un-signaled, leaving readers to work out a chronology of their own. This disorientation is quite deliberate. The author is extremely capable and could easily flag such...
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