Reviews - The Travelling Cat Chronicles

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

7.56k reviews for:

What a beautiful, stunning book. You will fall in love and understanding with the characters, including Nana the cat, whose perspective feels so accurate. It's full of soul, heartbreak and emotions. You will need tissues, and if you have a furry friend at home, you'll hug them a little tighter because they really are your family member and friend for life.

sofiagness's review against another edition

4.0

Sad but heartwarming

ro1yel's review against another edition

4.5

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

tamarant4's review against another edition

3.75

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am Satoru’s one and only cat. And Satoru is my one and only pal. And a proud cat like me wasn’t about to abandon his pal. If living as a stray was what it took to be Satoru’s cat to the very end, then bring it on. [loc. 2825]

Nana (not his choice of name) is a streetwise stray cat who, after being hit by a car, is taken in and cared for by a man named Satoru. They live together happily for five years, but then Satoru takes Nana on a series of road trips to visit old friends who he hopes will give Nana a home: 'Something came up, and we can’t live together any more'. None of the friends -- whose backstories are told in third person -- are able to offer a suitable home, and eventually Satoru and Nana end up living with Satoru's aunt Noriko, who is not a cat person. At least not to start with.

This could have been a cloyingly sentimental book, but Nana's sassy street-cat voice elevates it. It's a story about loss and grief as well as about the love between a man and his 'darling cat'. It brought tears to my eyes at several points (the ending is sad but hopeful). I also found it immensely humane and comforting.

While I was reading, I was mostly interested in Nana: after I'd finished, I went back to look at how Satoru's past -- revealed as he meets each set of friends -- affected Satoru as he grew to adulthood. There is loss and grief, but Satoru weathers those episodes with grace. He doesn't seem to have had romantic relationships (or possibly Nana just didn't notice or care about them) but he is full of love for life, and for his friends and family. And for his darling cat.

Content Warnings

scarfy's review against another edition

5.0

emotional

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

kayhillclus's review against another edition

5.0

This book quite literally wrecked me. Let me tell you why:
1) The writing is so cat-coded. It's like the author put words to an actual cat's thoughts. At times, the writing is quite complex , at times the simplicity created the most ethereal and magical feeling ever.
2) As someone who owns two cats, the book made me appreciate them even more. And it was literally impossible for me to love them more! They are my everything and reading some paragraphs made me get up and hug my cats. Especially towards the end, Nana explains his feelings towards Satoru more openly. I started crying in the last 50 pages, and shed some tears here and there, and if you read the book you'll understand my feelings very clearly.
3)The book is emotionally so raw. It's simply so...beautiful. I admit, yes I cried a lot but still, the ending was so perfect. The second I finished reading I wanted to hold on to the book forever. It's insane how a person can be connected to a book this quickly.