The Cat

by Pat Gray

A welcome return for Pat Gray's classic tale of friendship between the Cat, Mouse and Rat.

The Cat finds himself abandoned without food in an unfurnished house. At first he consorts with his old friends, Mouse and Rat; the one addicted to cheese and philosophy, the other to flashy Italian suits and style, but gradually the Cat gives way to his normal cat-like urges. At first guilty, then elated at his new freedom, and the beneficial impact this has on the other residents, the Cat falls prey to a new and troubling vision of how the house might be, with more initiative and enterprise, and more discipline for the likes of Mouse and Rat. Gradually the Cat unleashes new forces on the house and the gardens beyond, achieving ever greater things, except that, as he does so, he finds himself more and more alone.

Genres: Fiction

124 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 1997

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author won an award for (& nabbed the publication of) "The Political Map of the Heart" because it was in a competition for best novel completed in twentyfour hours. I feel that he did the same here, in this poor man's "Animal Farm," that's waaaay less amusing than what was originally proposed or promised. It seems like it was accomplished all in one day; the animal psychologies are stunted and in tacky 2-D. Well, maybe 1-D.

In reality, the cat-mouse dilemma is a tale as old as time. Perhaps THE prototype for ALL antagonist v. antagonist-type plots. But for it to be this boring, this stale, with the mice and rat in a union to defeat the human-wannabe feline... it's simply too unspecial. Skip!!

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested to read this book when I saw it described as a modern-day Animal Farm on the back cover. I could definitely see parallels between the two, as they are both apparently allegories that use animals to explore human society and politics, but I liked Animal Farm much more. The Cat started out all right, however, as the story progressed it felt more and more cold and depressing. There is very little warmth in the characters or storyline(except possibly for the Mouse) and so I didn't make much of an emotional connection to them. Animal Farm can be a bit depressing too, but at least it has some tenderness in the relationships and characters, like Boxer, Benjamin, and Clover.
This book progressively got weirder too, especially when the Catbegan falling in love with Mrs. Digby. The lack of warmth and whimsy made it hard for me to suspend disbelief because it didn't have the fairy-talesque tone of Animal Farm. For me to believe that a cat could even begin to drive a car, the book would have to feel at least a little bit fantastical. Besides, it would have to be a pretty big cat to reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel at the same time!
I didn't think this book was awful; it was an interesting story idea and was sometimes quite thought-provoking, but if you want to read something with animals that in some capacity explores their relationship to humans, read Bambi or Animal Farm instead.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece.