The Cat and the City

Book Title: The Cat and the City

Author: Nick Bradley

Date Started: February 10th 2020

Date Completed: March 24th 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Short Story

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Two Stars

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

In all fairness to this book, I spent most of it comparing it to other works of Japanese literature I'm familiar with, primarily Murakami (because it feels like it's trying really hard to be Murakami) and that's a hard act to follow. But it also didn't do it for me, at all. I jumped at the chance to read this because I thought the idea of snippets of lives that somehow cross paths with this tortoise-shell cat in Japan sounded cool! Turns out the cat isn't so much a motif or a thread; just a coincidental object each story shares. Fine, but the individual stories weren't working for me either.

I made it three short stories in (a fair percentage through the book), but none of them clicked, whether it be the pacing, the themes, the characters etc. The fact that most of what I was expecting was hindered on the cat motif or a cultural exploration of Japan (which from a Western perspective is already ambiguous) meant that I was disappointed. It might have the setting, socio-political events and I guess references of Japan, but it doesn't feel like it has the heart, and isn't offering anything else besides to hold my interest.