The Travelling Cat Chronicles in 2025 Reading Challenge

Mar 11, 2019 Kristi rated it really liked it

Shelves: reading-challenge-2019, read-harder-2019

Nana is a cat with a story to tell. When he’s hit by a car, he’s taken in by a kind young man named Satoru, and although Nana is a “real cat” who can take care of himself out in the world, he decides to stay with Satoru. The two of them are very happy together until one day when Satoru packs up his silver van and takes Nana on a journey, ostensibly to find the cat a new home. The two of them visit Satoru’s old friends along the way, and Nana learns much more about Satoru’s past and why they’re m Nana is a cat with a story to tell. When he’s hit by a car, he’s taken in by a kind young man named Satoru, and although Nana is a “real cat” who can take care of himself out in the world, he decides to stay with Satoru. The two of them are very happy together until one day when Satoru packs up his silver van and takes Nana on a journey, ostensibly to find the cat a new home. The two of them visit Satoru’s old friends along the way, and Nana learns much more about Satoru’s past and why they’re making their journey toward Hokkaido.

** spoilers ahead **

This book is not what it seems to be! I thought that I was signing up for a story about a sassy cat who goes on a road trip, which would have been a great light read. The cat was indeed sassy, but his human had the saddest story ever! It’s one of those situations where things just keep getting worse and worse. It’s bad enough that the kid’s parents had to die when he was little, but the whole revelation about him being adopted and his birth parents trying to starve him to throw him out in the trash? So terrible! And while his friends and aunt seemed nice enough in their own ways, his journey also revealed that they weren’t exactly the most empathetic or supportive crew ever.

But through all that, Satoru manages to make the best of everything to the very end, in a way that is both inspirational and troubling. His aunt attributes his character to the death of his parents, which forced him to mature early (and possibly to the shock that she gave him when she revealed at their funeral that they weren’t his real parents—what a poor decision). That certainly seems plausible, especially when combined with the fact that Satoru had to move constantly due to his aunt’s profession. In many ways, Satoru seems to exemplify values that are lauded by Japanese culture, such as the ability to endure great hardship. But despite his positive exterior, one can’t help but imagine that Satoru is terribly sad at times. Even considering the friends and family that we meet on his road trip, he doesn’t really seem to have had the opportunity to make deep, lasting relationships with others. His life has been segmented into contained parts where he reinterpreted himself for every context. When he dies, many of his friends gather and write to express their condolences, but most are also completely surprised that he passed away because they just weren’t involved enough in his life to know. He touched them, but in the end, his greatest comfort was the stray cat that he took in. Satoru’s story was deeply sad to me, and I couldn’t help feeling that he would have benefited from a great deal of therapy and perhaps from being somewhat less selfless in his interpersonal relationships. He deserved better.

Getting back to the titular cat of the story, Nana was basically everything that an animal-loving reader would want in a narrator. Most of the people reading this book, including myself, were probably drawn to the idea of knowing more about the inner lives of our pets. Nana is clever and funny. He understands much of what is going on around him, but he still interprets it through a distinct logic that the author imagines to be that of a cat. I enjoyed many small moments when Satoru and Nana were riding in the car together, like when Nana saw Mount Fuji or learned about all the different shades of red. I enjoyed trying to piece together Satoru’s life through Nana’s eavesdropping.

The last segment of the book, where Satoru is dying and Nana is trying to find a way to comfort him, was incredibly sad. As someone who lost a family member to cancer, it struck a deep chord for me. Thinking about the bond between Satoru and Nana and their last days together often made me tear up. I think that the author very successfully made the reader care about these characters because when the saddest moments came, they really hit home.

So overall, while I’m somewhat irritated that I was tricked into thinking that this was a “light” read about a sassy cat, I enjoyed the book. Recommended to animal lovers who don’t mind a good cry.
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Jul 10, 2022 Catsalive rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022

4.5*
A beautiful story of a man, Satoru, making a journey around Japan to visit his friends and family in the company of his very smart & loveable cat, Nana. Most of the journey is from Nana's point of view & he develops an incisive view of humanity in his travels.

It is a very Japanese tale, a slow meandering to greater understanding of the human condition, & I think the translation must be very good because it flowed well didn't feel disjointed at all, as these things sometimes do.

A little slow ...more

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Feb 24, 2020 Barbara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

****
Being with this gentle, dignified book was lovely. The author has such compassion for all her characters and is able to weave humor and poignancy together with ease.

This story of finding home again and again is brimming with thoughtful attention.

Story: ****
Character: *****
Setting: ****
Language: ****

Nancy Pearl system of review

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