Last month my book club chose to read The Travelling Cat Chronicles. To be honest, I was a bit surprised that this book was selected. The charming and lovely ladies in the club is not at all interested in Japanese literature. On the contrary, they try to avoid it as much as they can. I, on the other hand, was more than happy to read and discuss a Japanese author. This book is not a great piece of literature, so the ladies from the book club thought that they were right not to consider Japanese literature. I felt like they were at a tremendous loss cause not every Japanese author is a light novelist like Hiro Arikawa!
The Travelling Cat Chronicles tells the story of Satoru and his cat Nana. This remarkable couple embarks on an unusual journey where they find friendship and love. In this long journey, we also go to Satoru’s past and read the events of his childhood and youth. At the surface, this is a book about the love between a man and his cat, but deep down there is more to it. If you ever owned a cat, you would completely understand the relation between this couple. And if you have unresolved issues in your past, you may think about a journey for yourself as well.
I’ve likened the book to a young adult book in places, which I don’t like very much, but I thought that the magic of the subject would, on the other hand, if it wasn’t for it. This is a book that everyone from seven to seventy can read and remember with sweet memories. I would also recommend this book if you want to learn more about Japan and the Japanese culture. Happy reading!
About the book: The Travelling Cat Chronicles
It’s not the journey that counts, but who’s at your side.
Nana is on a road trip, but he is not sure where he is going. All that matters is that he can sit beside his beloved owner Satoru in the front seat of his silver van. Satoru is keen to visit three old friends from his youth, though Nana doesn’t know why and Satoru won’t say.
Set against the backdrop of Japan’s changing seasons and narrated with a rare gentleness and humour, Nana’s story explores the wonder and thrill of life’s unexpected detours. It is about the value of friendship and
About the author: Hiro Arikawa
Hiro Arikawa won the tenth annual Dengeki Novel Prize for new writers for Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious in 2003, and the book was published the following year. It was praised for its love story between a heroine and hero divided by age and social status, and for its depiction of military structures. Although she is a light novelist, her books from her second work onwards have been published as hardbacks alongside more literary works with Arikawa receiving special treatment in this respect from her publisher, MediaWorks. Shio no Machi was also later would, in hardback. Her 2006 light novel Toshokan Sensō (The Library War) was named as Hon no Zasshi’s number one for entertainment for the first half of 2006, and came fifth in the Honya Taishō for that year, competing against ordinary novels.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
