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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Being a cat lover, I mean, huuuuuuuge cat lover, I couldn't help but really like this book. The cats are described in such vivid detail that, if your life is and was populated by numerous cats, you can't help but see their movement, and a little bit of every cat you met in this book.
I loved her writing style and the way she builds the story of the cats and relates them to the others.
Lovely read.
I loved her writing style and the way she builds the story of the cats and relates them to the others.
Lovely read.
Det står utom allt tvivel att Doris Lessing är en makalös författare. Samtidigt kan jag inte ge mer än tre stjärnor.
Ruth Halldén skriver i DN att författaren ”som kattskildrare har en fördel som inte alla hennes medskribenter har: hon sentimentaliserar inte”. Och det kan man gott säga. Boken inleds med grova redogörelser av avlivningar och lidande djur. Jag som oerhört sällan slutar läsa böcker var beredd att lägga undan den här efter bara några sidor. Tack och lov är detta framför allt en bakgrundsskildring och är tänkt att ge läsaren en bild av författarens uppväxt och hur hon har fått den relation till katter som hon har.
Lessing skriver detaljerat, men utan att beskrivningarna blir långrandiga. Som läsare får man själv ett band till katterna och historierna, och det får ändå sägas vara den största behållningen av boken.
Ruth Halldén skriver i DN att författaren ”som kattskildrare har en fördel som inte alla hennes medskribenter har: hon sentimentaliserar inte”. Och det kan man gott säga. Boken inleds med grova redogörelser av avlivningar och lidande djur. Jag som oerhört sällan slutar läsa böcker var beredd att lägga undan den här efter bara några sidor. Tack och lov är detta framför allt en bakgrundsskildring och är tänkt att ge läsaren en bild av författarens uppväxt och hur hon har fått den relation till katter som hon har.
Lessing skriver detaljerat, men utan att beskrivningarna blir långrandiga. Som läsare får man själv ett band till katterna och historierna, och det får ändå sägas vara den största behållningen av boken.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I had no idea what I was getting myself into here. Checked this short book out of the library digitally on a whim and the next thing I knew, I was hooked. And the next thing I knew after that I was lying on the floor crying for all the cats I've ever known, loved, or had eye contact with. And Lyra was concerned, but annoyed because I kept trying to pick her up and squeeze her (she hates that).
Yes - I tend to be sentimental about my cats - all cats. And also about dogs, pigs, giraffes - pretty much the entire animal kingdom. But this book touched my heart beyond the usual. It wasn't like internet cutesy cats. Or even cat behavior or cat science. Ms. Lessing explored not only her relationship with her cats, but their relationships with each other and the world.
And now I want to go adopt three more cats. But what I'll do instead is go read more Doris Lessing.
Yes - I tend to be sentimental about my cats - all cats. And also about dogs, pigs, giraffes - pretty much the entire animal kingdom. But this book touched my heart beyond the usual. It wasn't like internet cutesy cats. Or even cat behavior or cat science. Ms. Lessing explored not only her relationship with her cats, but their relationships with each other and the world.
And now I want to go adopt three more cats. But what I'll do instead is go read more Doris Lessing.
An interesting insight into living with cats and their personalities. The descriptive parts of Particularly Cats dragged quite a bit for me but the rest was good.
I always thought my first time reading Lessing would be The Golden Notebook since I’ve had an unread copy on my shelves for years now, but this little book showed up in the Little Free Library around the corner and I started it on a whim. The title and subject matter prompted me to assume I knew what I was in for, a kind of ode to cats by a writer smitten with them. My expectations were quite wrong.
Let’s face it: cats are assholes. They kill and torture for fun. They steal. They’re moody, finicky, and may bite or scratch without warning. But their form and movements are as mysterious as they are mesmerizing. They can be incredibly affectionate and their curiosity can be as entertaining as their playfulness is comical and infectious. Having lived with one (or more) for the last 25 years, I can say their enigmatic nature and royal bearing create a kind of charming magnetism that far outweighs their drawbacks.
Within the first 30 pages, Lessing introduces us to the cruelties of nature (both natural and human-imposed): hawks stealing kittens from a farm, her father slaughtering an unmanageable feral cat population, and a mama cat whose each litter includes one instance of filicide. The brutality simmers down for the rest of her book and Lessing delivers to the reader keen observations and anecdotes about the specific cats whose lives overlap with hers. Never overly sentimental, it almost seems as if cats are something that happened to her versus a choice she willfully makes. They certainly work their charm on her the way cats have done to many a writer (and reader) throughout history--enough so, that one would not even know Lessing was a writer but for a single mention. From helping a cat learn to be a mother to refereeing cat power struggles, Lessing provides a perspective on felines gained pretty exclusively through direct experience during a time and place when and where cats were not routinely “fixed,” not confined exclusively to the indoors, and not pampered/elevated quite the way they may be today in many industrialized nations. And while Lessing shares in the common insanity cat ownership can induce, her frustrated outcries are rather unique: “Wicked cat! Thief of a cat! Amoral cat! Sausage-stealing cat!”
It’s not so much that I learned anything about cats from this book as I simply enjoyed meeting the cats in Lessing’s life and found myself ever more interested in reading her fiction.
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THE ONE WORD IN THIS BOOK THAT CAUSED ME TO HISS IN IGNORANCE
accouchement
Let’s face it: cats are assholes. They kill and torture for fun. They steal. They’re moody, finicky, and may bite or scratch without warning. But their form and movements are as mysterious as they are mesmerizing. They can be incredibly affectionate and their curiosity can be as entertaining as their playfulness is comical and infectious. Having lived with one (or more) for the last 25 years, I can say their enigmatic nature and royal bearing create a kind of charming magnetism that far outweighs their drawbacks.
Within the first 30 pages, Lessing introduces us to the cruelties of nature (both natural and human-imposed): hawks stealing kittens from a farm, her father slaughtering an unmanageable feral cat population, and a mama cat whose each litter includes one instance of filicide. The brutality simmers down for the rest of her book and Lessing delivers to the reader keen observations and anecdotes about the specific cats whose lives overlap with hers. Never overly sentimental, it almost seems as if cats are something that happened to her versus a choice she willfully makes. They certainly work their charm on her the way cats have done to many a writer (and reader) throughout history--enough so, that one would not even know Lessing was a writer but for a single mention. From helping a cat learn to be a mother to refereeing cat power struggles, Lessing provides a perspective on felines gained pretty exclusively through direct experience during a time and place when and where cats were not routinely “fixed,” not confined exclusively to the indoors, and not pampered/elevated quite the way they may be today in many industrialized nations. And while Lessing shares in the common insanity cat ownership can induce, her frustrated outcries are rather unique: “Wicked cat! Thief of a cat! Amoral cat! Sausage-stealing cat!”
It’s not so much that I learned anything about cats from this book as I simply enjoyed meeting the cats in Lessing’s life and found myself ever more interested in reading her fiction.
"What a luxury a cat is, the moments of shocking and startling pleasure in a day, the feel of the beast, the soft sleekness under your palm, the warmth when you wake on a cold night, the grace and charm even in a quite ordinary workaday puss. Cat walks across your room, and in that lonely stalk you see leopard or even panther, or it turns its head to acknowledge you and the yellow blaze of those eyes tells you what an exotic visitor you have here, in this household friend, the cat who purrs as you stroke, or rub his chin, or scratch his head."
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THE ONE WORD IN THIS BOOK THAT CAUSED ME TO HISS IN IGNORANCE
accouchement
this woman has a nobel prize in literature and yet wrote a near-unreadable book.
the prose within these pages is almost purposefully confusing, and assumes that the reader can make sense of her obtuse descriptions. it's frankly dreadful to read.
also, not to be a cat shamer or whatever, but this woman is a terrible cat owner. the first chunk of the book is about her family's farm in africa, where her parents would KILL A BUNCH OF WILD CATS. i understand the necessity of this within a farm setting, but WHY would you open a book about your love for cats and the relationship between humans and cats with a cat massacre. from here, she lets her own cats go outdoors and borderline refuses to have them spayed, both of which are harmful for the cats and the larger environment. she literally killed four perfectly healthy kittens from one of her cats' litter of six in order to make it more "manageable". WHAT.
what seemed like it was going to be a cute collection of stories about lessing's life surrounded by cats ended up being a paragon of irresponsible pet ownership that was boring at best and horrifying at worst.
the prose within these pages is almost purposefully confusing, and assumes that the reader can make sense of her obtuse descriptions. it's frankly dreadful to read.
also, not to be a cat shamer or whatever, but this woman is a terrible cat owner. the first chunk of the book is about her family's farm in africa, where her parents would KILL A BUNCH OF WILD CATS. i understand the necessity of this within a farm setting, but WHY would you open a book about your love for cats and the relationship between humans and cats with a cat massacre. from here, she lets her own cats go outdoors and borderline refuses to have them spayed, both of which are harmful for the cats and the larger environment. she literally killed four perfectly healthy kittens from one of her cats' litter of six in order to make it more "manageable". WHAT.
what seemed like it was going to be a cute collection of stories about lessing's life surrounded by cats ended up being a paragon of irresponsible pet ownership that was boring at best and horrifying at worst.