If cats disappeared from the world : Book review


Week 4 #Dyrtjunechallenge

A book with animals

Describing In three words: Philosophical, endearing and reflective 

Book review

Title: If cats disappeared from the world
Author: Genki Kawamura
Genre: Translation (Japanese) 

If cats disappeared from the world is a story about a man who discovers that he has only a few months to live. He has a cat named cabbage. Before he makes his bucket list, a strange phenomenon occurs. A devil appears with an unusual offer. The man gets an extra day to live in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear. 

As the man begins to reflect, he asks questions about what is important in this world, what can’t he live without and what really matters in life. Narrated in first person, the book takes us through the last few days of a dying man, his relationship with his cat, mother and estranged father. 

The endearing aspect of this book is the conversations the narrator has with his cat. His anxiety of finding a new owner for his cat tends to remind one of ‘The Travelling cat chronicles’ authored by Hiro Arikawa which deals with a similar premises. 

Themes of loss, grief and pain are touched upon by the author. The book addresses the nuances of life and death. It tends to get a little preachy at times and philosophical. Nevertheless what made this an interesting read was the narrator’s cat Cabbage which makes him realize the important things in his life.

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