I think I've already done this once this month, but two in a month won't hurt!
I've finished reading a book called
'We'll prescribe you a cat' by Syou Ishida. I'm still not sure what to make of it. What I did enjoy is the description of life in the Japanese city. It's so different to England and I find it fascinating. I sort of enjoyed the stories, because that is what the book is, a series of episodes linked by the idea of this odd clinic which treats people's problems by 'prescribing' them a cat.
I know several people who loathe cats, can't bear to be in the same room as a cat... this book is NOT for them!
It's all a bit weird, and gets even stranger towards the end. Do I like it? I still don't know.
I met up with a school friend I hadn't seen much of in maybe 35 years, at Ham House on the Thames last Summer. We were thick as thieves all through our prep school years, and then she went off to boarding school, and what with one thing and another our paths didn't cross. But we discovered that our original friendship was strong enough to withstand the distance of miles and years. She had been given the book, read it, and passed it on - we're both cat lovers so she knew I'd like to read it.
So that's who I wrote the chatty email to.
Poem
Fog
I thought I'd like the cat book but found I was put off by the way cats were more or less shipped about like pills! And there was so much repetition in the setups to the stories. But I agree that there were interesting insights into Japanese life. I had a long wait for this book, and wondered what other readers thought.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with you. It all turned a bit unsatisfactoryally fey and whimsical at the end too.
DeleteDon't think I'll be reading even though I love cats!
ReplyDeleteI think that's a good decision!
DeleteI love cats but once read a book about cats by a Japanese author can't recall the name or title but remember the cover with a wonderful drawing of a cat on the front. I did not like the book at all very strange. I like the poem and have an American friend who loves this poem and is always quoting it when we get sea mists here which in the summer is quite often. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI love the poem too.
DeleteI think the cat book is going to a book rescue home aka charity shop...
I think your review has not done a lot for the sales of this book! 🤣😂
ReplyDeleteHo Ho, but actually, I have found a nice new home for it where I hope it will be very happy! It's a sort of - interesting experience - this book, without being gory or thrilling or raunchy.... more quiet and gentle. Which is sometimes just what the doctor ordered...
DeleteI rather like the idea of being prescribed a cat instead of antibiotics! Would you have to give it back eventually, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteIn the book all of the cats had to be returned; some of the patients did want to keep them and got them back.
DeleteHa, I like the Rossini but I have a cringey memory related to it. My sister and I performed it at the Barbican Concert hall when I was about 13 as part of an animal themed concert to show the world premiere of The Mousehole Cat. I was dressed in a cat outfit and face paint which I found rather mortifying at the time! That's so nice that you and that friend have reconnected. The book sounds intriguing. That's rather a lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteYou. Sang. At. The. Barbican. Concert. Hall. I am in awe!
DeleteSounds like an interesting book. We had one cat, he was rather particular about things. I think they are very independent animals and more than a little stubborn!
ReplyDeleteOur cats have all had distinctly different personalities. I think the last pair (We've always had a pair of cats) have to have been the diameter and kept affectionate of all of them! But this probably reflects their more deprived early kittenhood.
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