Thursday 16 October 2014

GoodRead - The Guest Cat

I was meant to have this week off. This was meant to be a tiny RSM - my "radio silence" blog break. But I read this very quickly. Within 3 to 4 days so I thought I would quickly type this review up and then do the horror of "Picking My Next Read" (I shall ask Twitter to pick!).

In this translation, we follow a couple who rent a small cottage in the quiet side of Tokyo, who work as freelance writers. One day, a cat walks into their garden. After spending most of the day there, the cat's leave but returns the next day. And the following day. And the day after that. Soon, tiny joys that this cat brings towards this couple, and bring this couple closer together. And then something happens that changes all that. 

Now, because I read this on holiday, I can only really see this as a holiday read. I found this an easy read and the language used was simple yet there were times the writing was very beautiful. You can tell that Takashi Hiraide is a poet. His use of language is simple yet effective. You know he took time writing this story. 

However, because I read this while on holiday, it was an easy read and there was a few times I did wonder about the couple and the cat (I had cats in my life so I know that cats, while loving creatures, are only loyal to the person who feeds them. I know some cats that have food from several "owners"... don't ask), and there were paragraphs where it did feel like I was reading a translation because it felt "jarring" to read. 

It was a nice holiday read that I liked, so I sense some of you guys will love and some of you will hate. 

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