I am a Cat (Tuttle classics)

Should you be a cat lover and a devotee of all things feline then do not allow yourself to be seduced into reading this book let alone actually purchasing a copy. The cat who, incidentally, has no name hardly figures in this long drawn out, rambling and largely incoherent work. The introduction offers us a clue that this book might not quite be all that it seems, saying ".......the writer's use of the Japanese language makes all his work difficult to translate" so one is left to speculate, as one ploughs through the mind numbing text, as to whether it was worth all the effort! Perhaps the following taken from page 421 says it all when referring to a character's tale - "the plain fact is that Mr Coldmoon's story has proved so boringly long that his listeners have abandoned him" One cannot escape the conclusion that many of today's readers will follow their example

There is nothing else like this book - and don't trust the narrator! (9/9 people found this helpful)

There is nothing else like this book. The only other book I can say this for is Life of Pi. This novel is huge, but it's so enjoyable to read that you will just breeze through it. Whilst reading it you start to feel like you belong to the family, and the neighborhood, in which it is set. The episodic plot is not much more than a loosely strung together collection of occurrences. Like many Japanese books, mood is all important, and things happen primarily to create or modify mood rather than to further the action. The narrator, who is a cat, is a very tricky character indeed, and I suspect whole essays could be written on him. Don't trust him.

The best a cat can get (7/7 people found this helpful)

When Natsume Soseki, student of both the east and west, first wrote "I am a Cat", it was intended as a short series of satirical articles. When its run was completed, such was the clamour for more that Soseki was moved to write further chapters. And it is obvious from reading them that as the collection advances, the cat, our nameless and defiant narrator, loses more feline qualities and acquires pronounced human sensibilities, as a result. However, to say that this in any way decreases the inherent humour, intelligence and acerbic observations made would be a falsehood. This is an immensely entertaining work, astute and acute, and deserves far more widespread acclaim than it at present commands. Any student of Japanese history or literature should add this high up their reading list.

A smug kitten takes on Japanese society (7/9 people found this helpful)

In Soseki Natsume's "I Am a Cat", a nameless feline narrator satirises Japanese society in the time of the Meiji Emperor, the era when the country re-opened contact with the outside world. Much of the subject matter concerns the period's uneasy mix between new Western ideas and traditional Japanese sensibilities.

The novel lacks any particularly strong plot as such, reading more like a set of short stories; indeed it first appeared as a series of installments in a literary magazine. However, "I Am a Cat" is frequently very funny and the modernity of the writing is striking given the book appeared in the early years of the 20th century. It was an interesting and amusing read, although I feel it might have been more rewarding if I'd had a better knowledge of society it describes.

I am a Cat (Tuttle classics)

Soseki Natsume

Reader Reviews:

I Am a Cat - appraised (0/2 people found this helpful)

There is nothing else like this book - and don't trust the narrator! (9/9 people found this helpful)

The best a cat can get (7/7 people found this helpful)

A smug kitten takes on Japanese society (7/9 people found this helpful)

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