The publisher description of “With simple yet descriptive prose, this novel gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner Satoru as they take to the road on a journey…” is the perfect way to describe The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (translated by Philip Gabriel). And I thought that before I was even halfway through. I am now (as I start this review) a little over halfway through and it is still perfect.
The emotion of the story is soft, but intense as well. We follow Satoru as he goes off to rehome his beloved cat, Nana. Each section (chapter) tells a piece of the puzzle who these two companions are. We see stray Nana, we see Satoru’s reconnection with his childhood friend, his junior high school friend, his now married friends from high school (this is where I stopped to start this). Each one is a flashback to how we got to now. Why Satoru is the soul he is, how each of his friends benefited from a friendship with him, healings started and maybe even a goodbye.
This is where I am. I had this feeling when we got here that I finally knew why Satoru must find a new home for Nana. We have seen things through the narration of literally a catty perspective, but also the stories Nana hears. It was here that I thought of goodbyes. I will post this before I finish reading the book, but I have a strong feeling that I won’t be disappointed in things. I know that this lovely language is going to continue, the almost poeticness of things will stay the same. The small illustrations that start a chapter will be the ink work of classic Japanese art. That smoothness, dreamy quality will continue throughout the story as well as those quick pieces of introduction to what the emotional aspect is.
This is a book that I am so glad I finally found. I was not sure what it was going to be like, adult books (and especially translated books) are not always my thing. There are usually more bumps than I am comfortable with. But this time any of the language issues or flow issues are not as bothersome as they could have been or have been in the past with other things. I think even if we are going to have a not so happily ever after ending, it is still going to be a cozy book, one that I would recommend to almost anyone who enjoys the softer approach to writing.
