Review:
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Title: I am a Cat
Series: -----
Author: Soseki Natsume
Rating: 
Genre: Japanese Classic
Pages: 678
Synopsis: Spoiler Ahead!
Written at the turn of the previous century, this critically acclaimed Japanese masterpiece show the Japanese to themselves from the unbiased viewpoint of a cat who belongs to a lazy teacher.
The observations of said cat end when he walks into a water jar and drowns.
My Thoughts:
I found this entertaining for the first 200 pages. After that, it became very tedious. Part of that is the cultural and historical divide. I don't have the necessary background/heritage to find amusing what Natsume is mocking. It would be like an aboriginal bushman reading Dicken's The Pickwick Papers and finding parts amusing, but not the whole. That is how I felt for most of this book.
Then you have the long discourses by the Cat, which Natsume makes no bones about using as a mouthpiece. Dialogues and rants about Japanese life in 1900. Not enjoyable. Ever hear someone go on and on about a subject that you don't care about while they feel passionately against it? It is grating and tiring.
For the last 25% of the book, I'd read 5% [about 30+] then go read another whole book. It was really that hard.
I am glad I read this however, as broadening my literary horizons [classically speaking] is never a waste of time. It also helps with a worldwide perspective, as certain ideas and thought patterns are completely foreign to me. And at the same time you see that people are people no matter when or where they lived. We are all human.
Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1254583/i-am-a-cat-classic
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