I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One

I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One Review


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This is a charming bit of writing, and possibly more difficult for a western reader than for an eastern one who is culturally tuned in to the meditative approach to life. There is certainly a strong influence of Britishness, however, and no wonder, with the Japanese author's education in England thrown into the mix, and translation to boot.

I was reminded of Watership Down while reading. (I did not finish Watership Down either.) It goes along at a cat's pace, which, (like the rabbits in Watership Down) is not easy to sync with the pace of modern American readership. If I were on a year's retreat in a silent, mild place, this would be like a good mantra with some real laughs tucked in.

If you are privileged to be enjoying such a passage in your life, I recommend this book highly.

I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One Feature

  • ISBN13: 9780804832656
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Written over the course of 1904-6, Soseki’s comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the follies of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.
The New Yorker called it "a nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action..."


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Customer Reviews

But not for me....... - Sandra H. Maidment - torrington, ct
I was looking forward to reading another work that put you into the "mind of a cat". There were some clever bits that did just that. however, I felt like I had gone back to a college literature critique course. Most of the text has to do with the author's college professor peers.

For me, it became a chore and I found myself trying to skip from cat sequence to cat sequence and skipping the critiques of the authors' peers. I don't often do this, but I gave up on the book.

Not to regurgitate what has already been said... - N. Stack - Sacramento, CA
Other people here have put it better than I ever could. Definitely a must-read if you love cats, puns, or poking fun at intellectual types.


Jul 06, 2010 23:23:06

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