The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Satoru first visits a childhood friend, Kosuke, whose wife has recently moved back in with her parents. The pair live together happily for a few years before, due to unforeseen circumstances, Satoru is forced to try to find a new home for Nana, and sets off on a series of brief road trips to visit friends and loved ones from his past.īook Reviews 'The Friend' Is No Shaggy Dog Story

Satoru takes the cat in and names him Nana - seven in Japanese - because of how his tail crooks to one side and looks like that number. Got to get something in return for having my sleep disturbed.' When this cat is hit by a car, he crawls up to Satoru's silver van, hoping to be helped, and is rewarded not only with medical care but with a home, too. When the novel's central character Satoru asks a cat he's just met, 'I guess you want something in exchange for being stroked?' the cat responds with his signature haughty style: 'Quick on the draw, this one. It was easy to stick with the book, as it's full of cat logic gems. In fact, the book's greatest strength is that it allows its readers to experience vicarious happiness even as a sense of impending loss begins to creep through the pages. But The Travelling Cat Chronicles is no less valuable for facing issues of friendship, family, loss, and grief with an optimistic and loving outlook. As a book critic, I tend to engage with so-called Serious Books that take on Big Issues. My busy, cynical, constantly enraged mind didn't know what to do with a book that was, at its core, joyful. But soon I realized what the trouble was - and it wasn't with the book, but with me.

I am a cat lover, obsessed with my own kitties as well as the myriad cat memes and wholesome videos that pepper my social media, but I wasn't sure how to react to what seemed, at first, like a schmaltzy novel partially voiced by a proud male stray. When I first started The Travelling Cat Chronicles - by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabriel - I was admittedly skeptical. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Travelling Cat Chronicles Author Hiro Arikawa

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa