A feel good story
Anyone who loves cats must read ‘The Travelling Cat Chronicles’. But even if you don’t really fancy cats all that much, then too you must read this heartwarming and tender book about a man’s journey through Japan with his adopted street cat. To be honest, I’m not a big cat fan either. But if all cats were like the one in Hiro Arikawa’s novel, that was made into a live-action Japanese film in less than a year after its release, I perhaps wouldn’t have a problem with the way they seem to contort their bodies (which frankly gives me quite the chills).The story is about a Japanese man named Satoru who finds a stray cat sleeping on the hood of his silver van and takes him in as his own when it gets injured. He names the cat Nana. However, after five years, Satoru is no longer able to take care of Nana (and we don’t find out the reason until the very end). So he gets in touch with family and friends who are willing to take the cat in for him and thus begins the pair’s road trip across Japan—in search of the perfect new family for Nana.
The story, though laced with a fair bit of sorrow, for most parts is a happy one. The strong bond between Nana and Satoru warms your heart. Anyone who has ever had a pet can relate to it. The book also touches on often-complicated human traits like friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice while offering you some fascinating insights into Japanese culture and tradition. What makes this book fun and different is the fact that the narrator is a cat. You might not like the idea of an animal raconteur but we all agree that animals have feelings too, and that they sometimes understand us humans better than our friends of the same species. And having a cat narrator works to reaffirm that belief.
Nana provides you a window into how the minds of animals work and you will look at your pet or animals in general a little differently after reading The Travelling Cat Chronicles. I will admit that I still wondered why the author chose a cat and not a dog even after I was done with the book. But cats apparently hold an important place in the Japanese culture. There are shrines dedicated to them and cat cafés where people can go to hang out with cats and pet them. Almost every business has the maneki-neko, the beckoning good-luck cat that ensures success and prosperity, placed prominently at their entrance or counter.
In bits and pieces, the narrative also reads like a travelogue and that’s a refreshing change. But written in a simple style, alternating between a third person narrative and Nana, the cat, The Travelling Cat Chronicles is essentially a story about connection and communication between cats and humans, and thus by extension animals and humans. The novel might feel sappy and sentimental at times but it will leave you with a bittersweet feeling that only really good stories can evoke.
Dose of happiness
I remember buying my first ever copy of ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl. I was nine and the book cost Rs 350. I was fifty rupees short but I desperately wanted to read Matilda, having recently finished Dahl’s ‘The BFG’. I told the bookstore owner I would be back the next day with the rest of the money and she was nice enough to let me take the book home. There are some books that just make you happy. Matilda is one of those books that I still pick up whenever I feel a bit bogged down.
The story is heartwarming and uplifting and Dahl knows just how to delight you. Filled with humor, adventure, and a bit of mystery, this children’s book is one you should (have) read as a child (or an adult, if your childhood was Dahl-less) and to your children well before they are able to read on their own. I recently read the book and was transported back to my childhood when all I ever did during the weekends was read, and eat Cadbury Perk. Life before there was laundry and vegetable shopping to be done.
The story is about an amazingly gifted girl named Matilda who can multiply “big numbers” in her head and loves Charles Dickens. By the time she is three, she has taught herself how to read. By four, she is done with all the children’s books at the local library. She is brilliant and her classmates at school and her teacher all love her. But despite being so perfect, Matilda’s life isn’t a happy one.
Her parents couldn’t be more indifferent. Her father, Mr Wormwood, a dishonest used car salesman, actually encourages her to watch TV rather than spend her time reading. Her mother, who goes off to bingo leaving little Matilda home alone, tells her “brains never got a woman anywhere”. And they punish her for being able to solve a mathematical problem (simple addition) when her elder brother fails to do so. Basically, she is punished for being smart.
Then there’s her nightmare of a school principal. A former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at no provocation at all because she hates children and is “glad she never was one”, Mrs Trunchbull is a “gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightens the life out of the pupils and teachers alike”. The only nice person in the story is Miss Honey, Matilda’s class teacher, who is also Mrs Trunchbull’s niece. Her parents died in unexplained circumstances and Miss Honey feels it was Mrs Trunchbull who killed them but is unable to do anything about it. Matilda is determined to help Miss Honey. And she can do that because she isn’t a regular five-year-old. She has powers. She can move things with her mind.
If you feel you can’t be reading a children’s book, I urge you to reconsider. Matilda is a fun and funny story. You will find yourself smiling and giggling throughout. And when are we ever too old for that? Also, as with any Dahl story, Matilda has a strong message for both children and adults. She makes you believe in the power of standing up for yourself and the ones you love.
