The Guest Cat

The Guest Cat

Softcover
3.77

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Description

A wonderful sui generis novel about a visiting cat who brings joy into a couple’s life in Tokyo
A bestseller in France and winner of Japan’s Kiyama Shohei Literary Award, The Guest Cat, by the acclaimed poet Takashi Hiraide, is a subtly moving and exceptionally beautiful novel about the transient nature of life and idiosyncratic but deeply felt ways of living. A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife ― the days have more light and color. The novel brims with new small joys and many moments of staggering poetic beauty, but then something happens….
As Kenzaburo Oe has remarked, Takashi Hiraide’s work "really shines." His poetry, which is remarkably cross-hatched with beauty, has been acclaimed here for "its seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences,whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae."
Main Genre
N/A
Sub Genre
N/A
Format
Softcover
Pages
144
Price
13.49 €

Posts

4
All
3

3,5 von 5 Sternen Eine wirklich tolle Geschichte, die auf 140 Seiten ein Ehepaar verfolgt, das von einer Katze besucht wird, die dann zu ihrer "Guest Cat" wird. Es war wirklich unglaublich süß zu lesen und am Ende auch sehr traurig.

2

Ok ok let’s be honest. I saw a cat and I was sold. The story is cute and short/ fast paced. But I just had to come to the conclusion that this simply isn’t my kind of genre. It’s lots and lots and lots and lots of descriptions of the world around. Which can be nice. World building is key in writing but this seemed more like: Okay we’re building a world and building it and building it but we spent all our budget on the set that we can only have teeny tiny amounts of plot. It lacked plot in my opinion. I can see people liking this book and the cover would have been 5 stars by it self, the story just didn’t get me at all. Usually anything with cats I love, but it has to be a happy cat story. I don’t want to my tiny furbabies to be hit with negativity - only the best for them! Yeh. Meh.

5

Loved this novel so much. It shows how life can change when an animal enters it. Also that we have to appreciate the little things ❤️

4

ᨳ᭬ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ࿐ྂ „I wonder where it all comes from - this need to go to the place where the body has been laid to rest. It‘s the need to reconfirm how precious someone was and how replaceable, and the desire to reconnect with them on a different plane.“ after finishing this book i‘m gonna cuddle my cats extra hard while sobbing my eyes out.

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