On the Back of the Tiger
Not only is the title On the Back of the Tiger engaging, but so is the rest of the narrative itself. Livaneli has outdone himself with a remarkable use of prose and shifting point of view. From the first sentence, it is as if readers are really among the dethroned imperial family, shoved into a defunct mansion, and paranoid for their lives while the rest of Thessaloniki bustles around them.
On the Back of the Tiger takes place in the aftermath of the deposition of Abdülhamid II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from the throne in 1909. The story unravels in an omniscient perspective, though the most common point of view characters are the former sultan Hamid and his politically opposed doctor Atif Hüseyin Bey. Atif was in favor of the “Red Sultan” being deposed and aligns his beliefs with the political radicals. Hamid is instantly wary of him, considering that his biggest fear is that he and his family will be assassinated. When Atif first receives word that he is being assigned as Hamid’s doctor, he believes that God is testing him. As the two men spend more time together, and Hamid shares his side of history, Atif is left wondering whose ideas are more right.
Just as Atif must do, Livaneli leaves it up to the reader to determine whether Hamid’s actions are forgivable. Either way, it is difficult not to root for this pragmatic former monarch and wish him well until the bitter end.
