I am a cat. As yet I have no name. [p.5]
I started reading I Am a Cat (Wagahai wa Neko dearu) during the 24 hour read-a-thon and finished part 1 on October 31st. I’m reading this classic from 1905-1906 for the Japanese Literature Read-along. I wish I had the edition shown on Wikipedia, because I absolutely love that cover! But the picture on my ‘complete edition’ resembles my own cat Juno, so I am happy with that as well :)
What do I think of the book so far? Unfortunately I read the preface first, so there wasn’t much to find out for myself :\ This way I knew beforehand that the first chapter had been written as a short story, to be published in the journal Hototogisu. Originally it was not meant to be a book at all! But one of the the magazine editors persuaded the author to expand it into a novel because of its success.
I’ll let the introduction introduce the story ;)
[..] though Sōseki’s total book is held together by the continuing theme of a nameless cat’s observations of upper-middle-class Japanese society of the Meiji period, the essence of the book resides in the humor and sardonic truth of those various observations, not in the development of the story.
The preface also gave away that the voice of the cat gets more and more human. I recognized that in the following quote from the 3rd (and last) chapter of volume 1:
The more that humans show me sympathy, the more I am inclined to forget that I am a cat. Feeling that I am now closer to humans than to cats, the idea of rallying my own race in an effort to wrest supremacy from the bipeds no longer has the least appeal. [..] Moreover, I have developed, indeed evolved, to such an extent that there are now times when I think of myself as just another human in the human world.
Reading that, a relation to the song I Am a Kitten became apparent. Momus wrote the piece of music originally in French for the Japanese pop star Kahimi Karie. The booklet of his 20 Vodka Jellies cd even acknowledges that it owes something to this “excellent novel”.
The song is about a cat falling in love with a human being (= impossible love). I don’t think that’s going to happen in Natsume’s story, but you never know ;) Here’s Momus singing I Am a Kitten (in English), while you read along. We’ll save Kahimi’s performance for another time ;)
And though I’d love to be loved
The gods ordained it that
You were made a human being
And I turned out a cat
(I am a kitten)
[complete lyrics]
Back to the novel. I’m not really sure what to think of it. Of course it’s interesting to read about Japanese intellectuals and their surroundings in early 20th century — seen through the eyes of a cat. But how realistic is it? And what is there to ‘learn’ about Japan it if I can’t determine that? Okay, I admit to not having a taste for satire. And yes, I’m embarrased to say so; it’s like confessing to not having a sense of humor — in other words being a sourpuss :\
Anywho. Aside from the above, I am not able to identify with the cat, even though it is portrayed lifelike (that is to say: the way we humans perceive feline characters). And this time it can’t be designated my shortcoming because in Barbara Gowdy’s book The White Bone I actually imagined I was the elephant Mud.
Am I not enjoying the read-along of I Am a Cat? Oh yes I am! :)
I really had to laugh about a scene where ‘the cat’ — I am going to baptize it Neko here and now — gets its jaw stuck in a rice cake. I transcribed part of it for a mini challenge in the 24 hour read-a-thon, but it actually goes on for several pages and it is very evocative.
I guess this novel, for me, is about cherishing specific quotes; I’ve jotted many down in my notebook. In my blogpost about the graphic novel Coraline I have already talked about reading synchronisity on the basis of some similar quotes. But I was also affected by a scene in which ‘Neko’ finds Rickshaw Blacky sunbathing in his garden. This part reminded me very much of our belated tomcat Jumbo (who was HUGE and named Jumbo because of that by the animal shelter when he was only a few weeks old). He was a shy guy btw, not some bully like the cat of the rickshaw owner ;)
[..] and there I saw an enormous cat fast asleep on a bed of withered chrysanthemums, which his weight had flattened down. [..] there he was, stretched out at full length and snoring loudly. I was amazed at the daring courage that permitted him, a tresspasser, to sleep so unconcernedly in someone else’s garden. He was a pure black cat. The sun of earliest afternoon was pouring its most brilliant rays upon him, and it seemed as invisible flames were blazing out from his glossy fur. He had a magnificent physique; the physique, one might say, of the Emperor of Catdom. [p.9-10]
In conclusion I just think the cat(s) in the story interest me, and not so much the storylines about the people. Yes, I am a cat person :)
For surely even humans will not flourish forever. I think it best to wait in patience for the Day of the Cats. [p.7]
Part 2 of I Am a Cat needs to be read (and reviewed) before December 15th and the final part in the middle of January 2010. To be continued…
Note: I had a hard time deciding whether I should write Natsume Sōseki or Sōseki Natsume. The Western way would be Sōseki Natsume, since Natsume is the writer’s last name. But the Japanese put their family names first. In the end I considered decisive that 1) in my museum profession author and creator names are usually documented in the way the person presents him-/herself publicly and 2) that is probably also why I know the author by the name Natsume Sōseki best myself.
Since I Am a Cat is a Japanese Classic I’ve also admitted it to Bellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge and the 2009 Classics Challenge.
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zondag 15 november 2009 bij 14:12
annavangelderen
I had a bit of a hit-and-miss relation with I am a Cat. Some parts I found genuinely funny, some parts I genuinely did not get.
The book was originally recommended to me by someone who thought it brilliant, but then he had lived in Japan for several years and had been married to a Japanese woman for a while, so maybe he was better able to appreciate the book.
zondag 15 november 2009 bij 20:08
Diana
I’ve read the first part now, sometimes laughing out really loud, but a few passages a bit long to read, I don’t know if it’s because English isn’t my native language and I perhaps missed a few things, but however I think I don’t know enough of Japan in that particular period to fully distinguish the satirical part. For example the wife laughing in the second room, it seems bizarre projected in that period, but what do we know about domestic life in Japan early 1900 ?
maandag 16 november 2009 bij 20:59
Terri B.
I just put up my answers to Tanabata’s questions. I am enjoying the book and as long as I keep focused on the “bits” (which I find screamingly funny sometimes) I seem to enjoy the book more. There isn’t really a plot to speak of and that does cause me to become distracted sometimes.
dinsdag 17 november 2009 bij 12:25
Claire (Paperback_Reader)
Hi, I’ve posted about Volume 1 and joined in the discussion: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Inside-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141189908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258456659&sr=1-1
I also named the cat Neko! I am enjoying his narration, being a cat-lover, and find some parts very funny. I too am finding the satire difficult to discern and I hope that the second and third volumes will provide us with a better understanding of the period. I like your point about the cat become more and more humanized.
dinsdag 17 november 2009 bij 16:13
tanabata
I agree with you that the cat is kind of half cat, half human, which I find a little distracting. I don’t have the book at hand this moment but there was a line about him (the cat) writing down this story, which kind of threw me out of it to be honest. I am fully enjoying the cat’s narrative though.
And I love the quotes you posted! Those are some of my favourites too, with the images they evoke. And how fun that your cat, Juno, looks like the cat on the cover. :)
dinsdag 17 november 2009 bij 16:53
tanabata
Oops, I forgot to subscribe to follow-up comments.
dinsdag 15 december 2009 bij 10:03
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