The Cat and The City: 'Vibrant and accomplished' David Mitchell

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And while there may be more than a handful to get to know, not only in name but also their job, family, personal relationships, history, and more besides, doing so is almost effortless. We need one another, now, more than ever. I hope we all can continue to stay connected, to read together, to cry together, to argue together, and to laugh together. Thank you, and take care of one another.” Get involved

Neyse evet, ciddiyet. Japon kültürüne ve bize epey yabancı adetlerine, Yakuza'ya, Tokyo'nun dinamiklerine dair çokça ilginç ayrıntı var. Ben tabii bunlara hakim olmadığım için yazar ne kadar Batılı gözüyle bakmış, ne kadar doğru aktarmış onu kestiremiyorum. Ama ne zaman Japonya'dan bir şeyler okusam özellikle cinsiyet ve cinsellik konularında alıştığımızdan ne kadar farklı olduklarına şaşırıyorum, yine oldu. Bir Mişima yahut Tanizaki kadar karanlık ve rahatsız edici olmasa da burada da bana çok acayip gelen detaylar vardı.Tender, delicate, and surprising, The Cat and The City is a lovely, rare progeny of a meeting between the English and the Japanese imagination."—Amit Chaudhuri, author, The Immortals How cringey is your writing for you to remind me of my very own cringey ass 17-year-old fanfiction ???? dont answer that Bottom line: Please consider donating to my GoFundMe so I can hire a lawyer to fight Bradley and Co. to make him pay reparations for the crimes against the rest of society.

The tale that follows is a series of what at first seem separate short stories, but one where the character reoccur and the plotlines converge. And linking them all together is a cat that reappears in each scene, but this is no ordinary cat. As an American translator learns from her Japanese teacher: Kedi ve Şehir benim Yaşam ve Yazgı’nın hem yüreğimin hem de bileklerimin kaldıramadığı ağırlığından dolayı eşlikçi tercihiyle başladığım bir kitaptı.And I think that’s part of the pleasure of reading the book, these connections, both known and unknown (sometimes as fleeting as two people sitting on a bus or train at the same time and catching one another’s eye), but connections in the hustle and bustle of a mega-city. Flo had hundreds of these thoughts that swam around in her head throughout the day, but no one to share them with. But she would always tell herself, who needs friends, when you have books. Her bookcases were filled with not just her favourite fiction, but also tomes of linguistic textbooks, dictionaries and reference books, all relating to Japanese language and culture. She considered herself a Japanologist, rather than a Japanophile. To her, there was a big difference. I’m going to take it as easy as I can because I really respect anyone creating art and putting it out there, and this is a great accomplishment. This city is too big, too many people, too much craziness going on that goes unnoticed or ignored.” What’s even more impressive than how they intertwine is how these characters, as I’ve already mentioned, are so sharply and vividly written that they remain crisp and clear enough in the reader’s mind as to be so easily recalled later in the book, even after we spend only the most fleeting of moments with them in someone else’s story. This happens time and again, and is a truly heartwarming feature of this lovingly written novel.

The author clearly knows,loves and ‘gets’ Japan. I’ve never had a tour like this before. Never does he show you sights and describe sounds of the city, yet he evokes them with his pen. There’s lots of language anecdotes to which warmed the novel even more and placed it firmly on the literary map. To be fair, it was there already. Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including: The "slyly political" side of the novel includes anti-Zainichi prejudice and the clean-up campaign against the homeless associated with the 2020 Olympics, although Tokyo Ueno Station is a more powerful exploration of this theme. There are reasons behind why people behave the way they do and to portray half the human race (my half) as empty headed sex robots is not a revolutionary tactic in literature and this was a disappointment. Also, sex work is something women generally do as a very last resort. It’s not freedom, it’s not an expression of your natural desires, it’s a difficult, dangerous, self abnigating job. I can’t see a cat doing it. Although I perhaps felt this aspect of the novel could have been developed a little further and indeed earlier in the novel.

A word from Nick

Around a third of the way through the book – and despite my enjoyment of it, my enthusiasm was starting to wane. The links seemed a little too superficial/gratuitous and further the vivid portrait that the book paints of Tokyo and Japanese culture, began to feel a little too vivid and recognisable. Tokyo comes to life in this book in a way rarely seen in literature, and it does so through the fully realised and vibrantly coloured characters Bradley has created here. There is a seriousness too about these stories. It captures brilliantly the soulless existence in a big city. This is the sobering picture: ‘The city is built on work. Tokyo’s the kind of place where if you stop working for even just a second, you’ll be swallowed up and forgotten… The city doesn’t rest, ever. Especially at night. Sleep is just something Tokyo fits in around work.’ In such a city, human connections are hard to forge and, when found, hard-earned. It was interesting to read about the effort Tokyo put in to rid itself of the homeless and stray cats in readiness to host the 2020 Olympic Games. The stories depicted fractured families, which raised questions, such as “Do we have any control over our lives? How can I change the future? Are we marked for life by the mistakes we make?”