The Well-Read Cat

by Michèle Sacquin

Cats in books, books on cats. Our feline friends' images from the Middle Ages to modern illustrations, ranging from Europe to Japan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

212 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2010

Reviews

[Thomaz Amancio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro com figuras

[Luca Rigazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grazie a Claudio per avermi fatto scoprire questo libro sui gatti francesi.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Well-Read Cat explores cats' history in literature and art. The prevalent theme throughout this book is that cats are, as they've been for a long time, very misunderstood creatures. For many centuries the cat was loathed and feared. In the Medieval and Renaissance eras, cats were synonymous with evil and witchcraft. They were often burned along with their masters. In later centuries, the cat was thought to be a symbol of sex - more accurately, the cat was a symbol of a woman's sexuality, and more often than not, of a woman's infidelity. Nowadays, people have a much better opinion of cats. But still I have to wonder if people really understand a cat's nature.

I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. The look through cats' history was interesting; but as I was reading, it felt like the author, too, was condemning cats, instead of just sharing the opinions of cats people have had over the years.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been waiting to read this book for some time, and I was sadly disappointed in it. The illustrations are exquisite and plentiful, but the writing left something to be desired - which made me wonder if it was matter of being lost in translation? The content was fragmentary, and rather derogatory and confusing.I had a difficult time following what the author was trying to make of depictions of cats through the history of books, as it often seemed a slap-dash rambling of titles, without the satisfaction of explication or analysis. I felt a palpable and awkward disconnect between the words and images. The insight that was there was of very shallow variety. This topic and title deserved a more penetrating, balanced, well-ordered text to accompany the beautiful images.

[Pilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book well illustrated, with beautiful references to great images of cats. However, I thought there was a lack of structure on the writing and how it pointed out the appearance of cats in literature and art throughout the centuries. I would have loved a wider, more global view of "catliture", but I encountered quite good references of books that involve these felines, so I was pleased with this.

[Sharla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing. This book concerns the use of the cat in literature -- as a symbol, as a character, etc. It was badly written, and would contain passages about certain works of art but didn't feature pictures of them. The artwork featured was lovely but was not written about! Sigh. Cats deserve so much better.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a curator at France's National Library, this is more of a collection than a story or history. The translation is okay, but overly literal at times, which makes it sound stilted. There's a nice diversity in the artwork and literature. I enjoyed this addition to my library.