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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
A book that creeps up on you. Essentially a novelized version of the author’s own sea voyage in 1954 when he was a young boy, it also drifts dreamily around on the timeline, linking together the people aboard that ship and their connections to him later in life.
It’s the first book in a long while that I’ve written in, underlining passages I loved and writing in notes like this one, a quote attributed to the author: “The first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you want to get to town.” A perfect description of “The Cat’s Table.”
It’s the first book in a long while that I’ve written in, underlining passages I loved and writing in notes like this one, a quote attributed to the author: “The first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you want to get to town.” A perfect description of “The Cat’s Table.”
Nostalgic and a fast read, the chapters are short. Michael is remembering his 3 week voyage that he took alone when he was 11, (his cousin was on the ship but in a higher class--he was at the lowest) and the people that he met. I didn't enjoy so much the stories of the other passengers, but I really enjoyed seeing things through Michael's eyes.
Picked up the book randomly, tried to read it forcefully - alas, little success! The story is slow-paced with characters who are not well written! The book moves through incidents and plot-points without developing into any of them. I believe the author had all the ingredients to write a nice book, but lacked the patience to carve it out. It seemed like an under-cooked meal served anyways!
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Same dreamy writing as always from Ondaatje, but The Cat's Table didn't live up to other works of his. I enjoyed reading about the ship but the climatic moments didn't carry enough wait for me and I wasn't as captivated at I have been by his books previously.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Initially seemed merely charming, but it does become more than that.
In the early 1950s, Michael, aged 11, travels alone, on the cruise ship Oronsay, from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to England to meet his divorced mother whom he hasn't seen in four or five years. For meals, he is seated at the "cat's table"--a table as far as possible in both distance and prestige from the Captain's Table--with two other boys also traveling alone and an assortment of adults who don't fit in easily with the rest of the passengers. During the 21-day voyage across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, passing through the Mediterranean Sea, and finally into the Atlantic, Michael and his two friends from the cat's table have free run of the ship and, of course, they stay in trouble. A poignant story that alternates between the time spent on the Oronsay, Michael's youth in Ceylon, and his adult years. The Cat's Table takes readers on an adventure at sea that has implications that carry over to Michael's adult life. This is a coming of age tale filled with vivid, and sometimes heartbreaking, character studies and it is also a well-written description of the English class system which was at full play in the middle of the 20th century.