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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Often hilarious, occasionally a tear-jerker, and always heart-warming, this book is a must-read for cat lovers--particularly those with rescued cats. Not only is this a great tale of a truly inspiring cat, it's also the tale of his human companion and her adventures navigating the world of adulthood. Gwen Cooper writes with humor and heart, and draws the reader into her world and the world of her feline roommates. (And this review wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to Scarlett--I truly understand the bond between a woman and the surly, misunderstood cat who loves no one but her.)
A lovely book. Humorous, adventurous, sometimes quite profound, and always, always, full of cat.
This is a cute book, and very enjoyable to read. The author writes well, and makes you really want to meet this cat! I typically like it when cat books span the entire cat's life, but this can be forgiven (it would have just made me bawl). Definitely a good read for cat lovers! Non cat lovers should enjoy it too (and they would probably learn something!). If anything, it's made me a little more open to adopting a special needs cat in the future, if the opportunity or need arises. I also once again am reminded of how resilient animals can be. The part about 9/11 was also very interesting, and would have been unexpected if my mom hadn't told me first! Love this woman's dedication to her cats, and its sad to me that people regard this as weird eccentricity. Oh well, society does a bad job of recognizing and rewarding good if it goes against the norm. Oh and 3 cats is so not a lot, I have grown up with consistent 4-5 cats, plus other animals. :D
Let me preface my review with I don’t usually read memoirs, inspiring animal stories or non-fiction that’s not either educational or true crime. I bought this for my sister in law and figured I’d read it before slapping on the holiday wrapping paper.
The story starts out with Gwen being a 20 something underemployed young lady working for charity organizations when her vet calls her about a tiny kitten who had to have his eyes removed because of an infection. Homer had a rough start in life but he made an amazing recovery. I absolutely loved whenever the story revolved around Homer and her other two cats, Vashti and Scarlett. Stories of all the things Homer did were just heart warming and astounding.
The first half of the books is mostly about their life in Miami and how Homer astounds his human companions. About half way through Gwen moves to NYC and the story shifts more to her life influenced by Homer and I’ll be honest, I lost all interest. I love Homer. I do not like Gwen much. I honestly found her judgmental, controlling (she even admits in her narrative that her friends accuse her of this), whining and self centered. Example in her own words “I always found the quality of being interested in me one of the most interesting qualities a man could possess.” She’s angry that a whole flight of people are angry that her cats howled the whole flight. She calls a man she was dating disgusting when he tried to explain he has trust issues after growing up with an alcoholic father (granted there may be more to this than is in the book but as presented… and i'm NOT saying she shouldn't be mad or that she should have dated this guy but to call someone with childhood trauma disgusting because it affected their behavior shows a total lack of understanding of what this does to a person), even her original roommate comes off in such a way that I’d be pretty angry about it if I were this girl.
So I came away from this book with mixed feelings. There were whole chapters I skimmed since Gwen was busy me me me-ing it with hardly any mentions of Homer but the first half of the book is all about him and Homer is endearing to the point where he gets sick much later in the book, I was afraid to turn the pages, fearing he might not make it. I think, if you like inspiring animal stories you will really like this one.
The story starts out with Gwen being a 20 something underemployed young lady working for charity organizations when her vet calls her about a tiny kitten who had to have his eyes removed because of an infection. Homer had a rough start in life but he made an amazing recovery. I absolutely loved whenever the story revolved around Homer and her other two cats, Vashti and Scarlett. Stories of all the things Homer did were just heart warming and astounding.
The first half of the books is mostly about their life in Miami and how Homer astounds his human companions. About half way through Gwen moves to NYC and the story shifts more to her life influenced by Homer and I’ll be honest, I lost all interest. I love Homer. I do not like Gwen much. I honestly found her judgmental, controlling (she even admits in her narrative that her friends accuse her of this), whining and self centered. Example in her own words “I always found the quality of being interested in me one of the most interesting qualities a man could possess.” She’s angry that a whole flight of people are angry that her cats howled the whole flight. She calls a man she was dating disgusting when he tried to explain he has trust issues after growing up with an alcoholic father (granted there may be more to this than is in the book but as presented… and i'm NOT saying she shouldn't be mad or that she should have dated this guy but to call someone with childhood trauma disgusting because it affected their behavior shows a total lack of understanding of what this does to a person), even her original roommate comes off in such a way that I’d be pretty angry about it if I were this girl.
So I came away from this book with mixed feelings. There were whole chapters I skimmed since Gwen was busy me me me-ing it with hardly any mentions of Homer but the first half of the book is all about him and Homer is endearing to the point where he gets sick much later in the book, I was afraid to turn the pages, fearing he might not make it. I think, if you like inspiring animal stories you will really like this one.
Well written book about the life of a woman and her blind cat. Animal lovers will enjoy her story.
Cooper’s views on “being a man” are antiquated. Her obsession with finding a husband bored and annoyed me.
Homer is cute though. (Although, the life lessons courtesy of Homer were stretched thin.)
(I truly enjoyed the book and flipped between 3 and 4 stars.)
Homer is cute though. (Although, the life lessons courtesy of Homer were stretched thin.)
(I truly enjoyed the book and flipped between 3 and 4 stars.)
I don't think you have to be a cat person to appreciate Homer's Odyssey. I do think you have to be an animal person, though. There's something about being able to appreciate our pets- always so glad to see us whether we have been gone five minutes or five days. The special bond we have with our animals, treating them as true companions. I think it would be hard for someone who doesn't have that same relationship with animals to appreciate the beauty of the story. Cooper's writing style is open and friendly. I felt like she could have been telling me the story of being Homer's owner over coffee or chatting at a party.
I originally bought this as an ebook, but I'll be adding a physical copy to my collection. What can I say? I laughed, I cried, I fell a little in love with Homer. This book was heartwarming and charming. I'm so glad Homer found me.
More at http://thebookfetish-mybookfetish.blogspot.com/2010/07/homers-odyssey.html
I originally bought this as an ebook, but I'll be adding a physical copy to my collection. What can I say? I laughed, I cried, I fell a little in love with Homer. This book was heartwarming and charming. I'm so glad Homer found me.
More at http://thebookfetish-mybookfetish.blogspot.com/2010/07/homers-odyssey.html
Often hilarious, heartwarming without being cloying, and full of wise metaphors about life in general. Basically everything I could want in a book about a cat.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
I enjoyed reading this book and was frustrated when I had to put it down until we reached the chapters where Gwen moved in with Lawrence. At that point, I began skimming because I was upset she chose to live with someone so apathetic to her cats. Cat people love their pets the way that dog people love their dogs. It is a part of them. That Lawrence wanted nothing to do with the cats and took years softening to them was frustrating to me and felt like a rejection of Gwen's self. It was hard for me to continue reading about Lawrence, especially because I felt he had zero compassion for Homer.
As a person who's husband also required the cat I owned prior to us getting married sleep outside the bedroom, I think this is a cruel thing to ask of both owner & pet.
But my personal triggers aside, a well-written book. I would recommend it to all my cat loving friends and family.
As a person who's husband also required the cat I owned prior to us getting married sleep outside the bedroom, I think this is a cruel thing to ask of both owner & pet.
But my personal triggers aside, a well-written book. I would recommend it to all my cat loving friends and family.