This particular book began, "I am a cat. As yet I have no name. I've no idea where I was born. All I remember is that I was miaowing in a dampish dark place when, for the first time, I saw a human being." The book went home with me that day - a 638-page book of three volumes in one.
I Am a Cat is a satire of middle-class Japanese society. The wearisome and worrisome ways of humans are related through the eyes of a cat who has no name but who moves freely around and about his human family and the neighbourhood. He observes of the master of the house, "I hear he is a schoolteacher. As soon as he comes home from school, he shuts himself up in the study for the rest of the day; and he seldom emerges. The others in the house think that he is terribly hard-working. He himself pretends to be hard-working. But actually he works less hard than any of them think." He doesn't like the children of the family much, which is not surprising - "When the fancy takes them, they hang me upside-down, they stuff my face into a paper-bag, they fling me about, they ram me into the kitchen range."
The book, written in 1905-1906, mocks the aping of Western culture and pretentiousness of Japanese during the Meiji period, a time when the country was going through modernisation and an industrial revolution. It started out as a short story, which grew to become the first chapter of a long tale.
Soseki (1867-1916) was a teacher himself, teaching English after graduating from Tokyo University in 1893. He also wrote and gained early success with his novels, prompting him to leave his teaching work, which he was dissatisfied with, to become literary editor of the Asahi Shimbun in 1907.
The book requires a high degree of concentration to go through. As such, it won't appeal to those who prefer light reading. But it's witty and humourous and does make you think about how foolish human beings must appear to other creatures. I wonder what our two cats must think about us...
Chomel
Belang
Since the book was bought in 2006, I wonder if Kinokuniya would have this book in store. Your cat Chomel and Belang looks so relaxing and am sure they "communicate" to each other saying they are lucky creatures to have nice human looking after them. I think my cats says the same thing. Hehe.. I suggested a name for PM's cat and it came out in Star. I guessed my fond for cats makes my name came out but not chosen. Haha..
ReplyDeleteThe book's a classic, so the store would probably still carry it. As for our cats, they seem to rule us. Unfortunately, the two don't get along (the younger Belang wants to play but Chomel just wants to be left alone). So we try and ensure that they're in separate parts of the house.
ReplyDelete