All About Animals discussion
This topic is about
The Cat Who Went to Paris
Past Group Book Discussions:
>
The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Barbara, Founder and Moderator
(new)
May 28, 2014 02:20PM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Oohh, I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now! I haven't had a chance yet, though. :(
Mod
I hope I can get to them all this month. It's a hectic month for me though.
So, I plan on eventually reading & talking about this book this month as soon as it arrives in the mail. I already tried to purchase it once on Amazon & the bookseller sent me the wrong book, so they refunded my money & I am trying to buy it one more time before the month ends, LOL.
Mod
This comment is actually from Ed- I finished The Cat Who Went to Paris. I have a mixed review. The cat, Norton, is a Scottish Fold and I had never seen one in my veterinary practice. So I was very interested in learning a few facts about this breed. I thought that Peter Gethers, the author, is obviously a good writer. Now, what concerned me about the story was how the author allowed Norton to do basically anything he wanted to do. Norton initially would walk with Peter without a leash- that's ok and kind of cool. But then as he got older, Norton started to explore and come home went he felt like it or when hungry. That's ok for some cats but in my practice I saw quite a few of these cats who eventually got hurt or in a fight- it's bound to happen. But allowing your cat to roam the rooftops of Paris by entering or leaving their hotel room is not something a responsible cat owner should allow. Flying on an airplane requires a health certificate by a veterinarian and an airline approved carrier. Norton apparently had neither at times. Norton was taken in some type of box and then allowed to wander around the airplane on one trip. There are other incidences in the book that I felt were inappropriate on the owner's part, but I think I will just leave it at that. Ed
Tina wrote: "This comment is actually from Ed- I finished The Cat Who Went to Paris. I have a mixed review. The cat, Norton, is a Scottish Fold and I had never seen one in my veterinary practice. So I was v..."This comment is for Ed:
I chose to read this book because I ended up with the 3rd book in this series by accident & I hate reading things out of order. Unfortunately I am still waiting for book 1 to come in the mail due to a mix up from the bookseller. Still, I do have some knowledge of what the book is suppose to be about based off the dust jacket of the 3rd book. While I respect your opinion I just thought I should point out something that you may have missed. It sounds like you chose the book because you thought you might glean some facts about the Scottish Folds. Yet, from what I can tell the book & series wasn't written with that idea in mind. I've noted from the dust jacket on The Cat Who'll Live Forever (book 3) that they refer to the owner as "...a confirmed cat-hater..." & that Norton was a gift. From what I gathered the 1st book & the 2 to follow were suppose to be about someone who never intended to own or love a cat learning to share his life & love with one. With that in mind I also don't expect to find a lot of examples of great cat care from a first time owner who up until that point hated cats. I do expect to read about how a cat softened the heart of a gentleman who might of fallen down a path of utter bitterness without this beautiful cat named Norton. I am not trying to say anything negative about your comment I just thought I should point out why there were so many things in the story that you found to be bad care for cats, but to someone who isn't an animal enthusiast, as I assume Peter Gethers wasn't, wouldn't have realized. That's all I have to share for now until I get my copy of the book. Still I hope more people read it & join this conversation thread so I'm not talking to myself once I start reading it. Thanks ;-)
Jolene, thanks for the helpful incite that you gave concerning the Cat Who Went to Paris. I didn't realize the history behind the book. Ed
Edward wrote: "Jolene, thanks for the helpful incite that you gave concerning the Cat Who Went to Paris. I didn't realize the history behind the book. Ed"Edward, That's what these discussion boards are for, glad I could help shed a little light on the subject ;-)
So I finally got the book 2 days ago, LOL. Luckily it's a small book & I should be done with it by the end of the day, but I just wanted to make a few comments about it before I finish it. First, I would like to say that I think it's actually kind of sad that all these people vote on these books, but almost no one seems to read them, if they are they aren't talking about them on the discussion boards. Moving on, I'm really enjoying the book so far. The author comes across as a bit of a curmudgeon, he may not be an old man, but he certainly has the makings of a grumpy old man in training. So, so far the book is going in the direction I thought it was. That direction being one where the author opens his heart to a cat & it defrosts a bit. I would like to say that Ed was right, the author letting the cat wonder where ever when ever does come across a bit irresponsible, but when you look at it from the prospective that the author doesn't know anything about cats & little about pet guardianship than you can see why he does it. The author even mentions, on pg. 34, how little he understood cats until he had one & read up on them. He says:"...I quickly studied upon such things as how cats clean themselves & how they adjust to litter boxes & all the things cat owners around the world already know & don't need to read about...",he even talks about how he never heard anything purr before & how much he loves it & it fascinates him, so, please go easy in judging this author when you read about the many crazy things he let the cat he fell in love with do. Another thing I'm noticing is that the book is a bit dated, so I checked the copyright & found that it as written around 1991, that explains a lot. Now considering that, the author goes on to mention these things happened a few years back & brings up flash dance shirts & 'Life's a Beach' shirts. This all would point to a lot of this stuff happening in the late 80's. Despite it being a bit dated I can still relate & enjoy the book. Still I can see there is a bit of a generation gap between the author & I. I see it when he references TV shows & movies. While I do know of them, his references point to him being a little bit older than me. That's the only hiccup I see for anyone younger than me since the author references these things as if everyone should know them. Heck, Norton was named for one of his favorite TV show characters on The Honeymooners, LOL. Still I think this book shows how smart cats can be. Especially for people who think cats can't learn anything, Norton learned a lot to be the type of cat he was. Back to the author being a cat-hater until he met this Scottish Fold, I think, from what the author has said, that the authors brother realized how bad his brother was (The author starts the book out with a list of things he hates, therefore cementing his brand as a grump) & must have ganged up with the authors ex-girlfriend to try & un-grump his brother by getting him this cat & it kind of works. Still, I kind of see that it may have backfired a bit too. It seems the moment Mr. Gethers meets this cat he becomes obsessed, & in true curmudgeon fashion, likes it more than people. At one point his girlfriend says she thinks she might have made a mistake, a reference to him obsessing over his cats feelings. This is definitely a story of how a man who never had or liked cats before instantly growing to love & anthropomorphize his own & how he blunders his way through his first couple years of pet guardianship. I love it so far, I would have to say that their first time on an airplane together is an extremely hummurous debacle. My favorite part being where he offers to parachute Norton out over Cleveland & I love how the guy in front of him suddenly goes into an allergic fit, but did'nt have a problem for the first 2hrs before he found out there was a cat. Just goes to show you that people who say they hate cats may not have met then right one yet.
Mod
I agree Jolene, I wish more people would get involved in the conversations. I am trying to read at least one book out of the two each month. My biggest problem is that I belong to 3 books group so I am always playing catch up and this is my group. (And, all of yours too if anyone has suggestions.) I belong to this one here on Goodreads, an Inspirational book group (meets in person) and one that our library runs for mostly fiction, (also meets in person). I love animals and that's why I wanted a group with a wide variety of animals, sea-life, reptiles, and birds.
Moving on, I'm really enjoying the book so far. I love all animals but am allergic to cats and tend to not read many cat stories. I know I'm guilty of that. I guess maybe since I can't have one anymore I tend to not read much about them. Or, maybe I don't feel cats do much and tend to stereo type cats as not doing anything overly exciting. I know I'm guilty of not reading many cat stories. But, I do love cats and wish I could have them again.
dance shirts & 'Life's a Beach' shirts. This all would point to a lot of this stuff happening in the late 80's. Despite it being a bit dated I can still relate & enjoy the book. Still I can see there is a bit of a generation gap between the author & I. I see it when he references TV shows & movies. While I do know of them, his references point to him being a little bit older than me. That's the only hiccup I see for anyone younger than me since the author references these things as if everyone should know them. Heck, Norton was named for one of his favorite TV show characters on The Honeymooners, LOL. Still I think this book shows how smart cats can be.
I could relate to the stuff in the 80s. I was in my early 20s, so would enjoy that.
And, thanks for participating and commenting. I love that some members are reading the books and commenting more. I may have to try and find more books that we can have more discussions about like the animals of the holocaust that we discussed.
Barbara- Real quick, when I mentioned I had issues relating to some of his references & that a bit of the story must be taking place in the late 80's I didn't mean I wasn't alive then. I remember wearing the Flash dance shirts & the disgusting over popularity of the "Life's a beach" quote that was on everything sold by a beach. I simply meant I was a bit too young at the time to agree with his ideas of the greatest TV shows of all time, like: Bilko, The Mary Tyler Moore Show & The Dick Van Dyke Show. While I know of these shows, they are just old enough that I fail to truly appreciate them. Then there are some references to Movies & famous people that at times I wasn't sure who they were & I know for sure that someone 10 years younger than me may have no idea about. Still, despite these small comments I felt it didn't interfere with the story, but at least warranted a bit of a warning to the younger crowd.Back to the most important part of the story, Norton. First, I have to say that I find it fascinating that the Scottish Fold is one rare situation where the breed actually originated from the place it's named after, unlike the Himalayan's. Though some of the stuff the author does with his cat are less than appropriate for the avid cat guardian, I still feel that his love more than makes up for any flaws he has in that department. I wonder how many so called "confirmed cat-haters" there are out there who really aren't that "confirmed" if only they had someone to spring a sweet little kitten on them like the authors ex-girlfriend did. I loved how the minute she showed him the kitten & it meowed at him he couldn't tell her to get rid of the cat, actually the cat ended up outlasting his relationship with the girlfriend. It's kind of funny how he went from someone who supposedly hates cats to someone who anthropomorphized everything his cat did.
Now, I just want to highlight some of my favorite events in this book. As I mentioned before I found the incident with the grumpy flight attendant funny. Granted he did take the cat on board without checking the rules & regulations, but there were plenty of people to stop him that didn't. So, for her to have a hissy fit was out of line. Still, I think he handled the out of control situation well & the comment about throwing Norton out over Cleveland with a parachute had me giggling. Then there was the over helpful NY editor who took it upon herself to launch a full on search party for Norton with the help of a few of the convention participants cause she refused to believe that Norton was fine wandering by himself at the hotel in California near the Freeway. It was great when the author finally got up & called the cat in front of everyone searching & he instantly came running. Instantly everyone started applauding & Mr. Gethers only wish was that Norton could bow. I also loved how he as able to use his cat as a pillow when he purred. I have tried many a time, with cats that I've had, to do the same thing & they would have nothing to do with it. Also, everyone on Fire Island knowing Norton's name, but not Peter's even though Norton didn't wear a name tag. I also love how the cat could judge who were good women to date & how Norton instantly knew Karyn was not good. Honestly I could keep on going. I'd rather you find out all the great things that were Norton on your own. I think the long & short of everything is this is a story of how a cat taught a grump how to love. I hope more people read it & stop by & share your thoughts even though the month of June is over.
Enjoy!
