Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Total Rubbish, 21 Oct 2009
This is based on Tony Anthony and Angela Little's supposedly true story 'Taming the Tiger.' A badly written work of implausible rubbish, being sold as a biography, but now aimed at children. What a waste of paper.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Proper-ganda, 13 Mar 2009
I read Cry Of The Tiger and thoroughly enjoyed it, however it is a book of two halves. I'll try not to spoil it for you but it kick starts (excuse the pun) with a 4 year old child taken from everything he knows in Britain to live with his Kung Fu master grandfather. The grandfather teaches him kung fu in a very direct and brutal way. Its told in quite a cold matter of fact kind of way that, that I feel makes you relate to the situation more effectively. The second half follows the boy as he becomes a man, top in his field as a Kung Fu competitor and international body guard. This is then followed by his eventual decline into depression, criminality and imprisonment.
I enjoyed this book more as it is not your usual 'fallen hero returns to save the world' type. The training methods appealed to me as a martial artist BUT some of it is reministant of the 1970's series 'Kung Fu'
I found myself not liking the character by the end but was mesmorised with the story. This may be as I fell into the trap of believing that this is a true story. This may or may not be the case. (read the intro by the author). I have done some of my own digging on Wilkipedia, you tube, kung fu websites out of interest of the character and ended up...disappointed. I suggest you do the same after reading this book and make up your own mind.
My suggestion is; buy it, read it, enjoy it, take it with a pinch of salt.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Cry of the Tiger is really good!, 23 Dec 2008
Cry of the Tiger is such a good book - it has real life in it, so not (much) fantasy, and the boy called Tony has lots of interesting adventures. Some parts of the story are upsetting/sad, though.
It is about a boy (Tony) who is sent away from his own home because his family, who are him, his chinese mum, and his italian dad, are too poor to feed Tony, and his dad is very ill. So they send him away to his grandfather and grandmother in China, where his grandfather beats him all the time and teaches Tony to be tough, and in the end Tony is the best Kung Fu champion in the world. Then, unfortunately, Tony's life gets completely turned upside down. He goes mad, and is stressed, so he lets it out on innocent people. He beats them up badly, and steals money and valuable items. He then gets caught by the police, and they take him to prison, finding Tony guilty. Tony is meant to spend something like 3 years in prison. He hates the horrible atmosphere around him - with horrid people smoking and hurting people; the dirty floors, walls, and everything; the boredom, and being starved. He carried on letting his anger out on people, wrongly.
He then starts to believe in God. He gets a bible from a Christian friend and reads it every day, as well as praying and telling other people about God. He hopes his life will look up.
It is a FANTASTIC book, both interesting and touching. I recommend you should definately read this!
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