Item: The Cat and The City
Rating: 3.00
Author: knowledgelost

by Nick Bradley

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick

'Ingenious ... touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking.' Guardian

'If you're itching to read a new novel by David Mitchell ... try this.' The Times
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In Tokyo - one of the world's largest megacities - a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.

But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers - from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo's denizens, drawing them ever closer.

'Masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo; its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat.' David Peace, author of THE TOKYO TRILOGY

One of the Independent's best debuts

There are two main things I didn’t like about this book, first is that interconnected short stories style, like Cloud Atlas and A Visit from the Goon Squad. The other is the fact that it’s an Western writing about Japan, as someone that reads a lot translations, I pick up on different writing styles from different countries...besides I’d rather read a Japanese book about Japan. I read this because this is a bookclub book.

Maybe I’m just allergic to cats in literature too.

Two random moments in this book remind me that this is a pre-COVID book;
1. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics
2. Characters think it’s strange someone would move from Portland to Tokyo

The Cat and The City

by Nick Bradley

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on Jul 31, 2020

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