Being a reader not only allows you to escape your own life and immerse yourself in another, it can also offer a mental health break. Here my review of how one book did exactly that for me.
Last week my book club got together for the last time before summer break. There were only 2 weeks between our last meeting, so we needed something relatively short to read.
I am not one of those crazy cat people, but I do love cats and have two crazy gingers at home. Months ago I mentioned that I had read a wonderful book called The Four Seasons In Japan, giving my book club friends a report. This info spurred on a conversation around books that included animals, which led us to the book, She and Her Cat, by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa. They are an anime duo, with one writing stories and the other illustrating. I was sceptical as I’m not a huge anime fan, but appreciate the art form.
The book is relatively short and only has four chapters. Each chapter we meet a new stray cat and go on the journey with them to find their person. That’s all I’ll tell you as I don’t want to spoil anything.
Extremely well written, thanks to the amazing translator, I could visually see each story unfold in my head. There’s no violence, no suspense, and no drama except that of a cats journey. It’s a gentle yet philosophical book that gave me faith in humanity. No wonder it’s a Japanese best seller.
I have now accumulated over 7 books that include cats as characters, most written by Japanese authors, and am loving the cultural respect cats have in the country. Using animals to convey human values isn’t something new. The book Marley and Me, comes to mind, that includes and animal to explore grief. If you want to read stories about human values, emotions, and morals it may be worth exploring books that have animals as characters. I’m starting with the cat.
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