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A review by sam_writes_stuff
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
I adore the simplicity of a cozy Japanese story and as a lifelong book lover, I thought "The Cat Who Saved Books" would be right up my alley.
But there was a definitive turning point for me where I couldn't help but roll my eyes. In this scene, a character advocates for book summaries, claiming they are necessary because we are all too busy and, "You can't listen to a book!" He is then given a big hero speech from our protagonist about how books should not be sped up or cut down.
Considering I was listening to this story as an audiobook (at 1.4x speed nonetheless), that made me laugh quite a bit.
That type of journey is essentially the cycle of this book. Our young hikikomori protagonist, Rintaro, works through the grief of losing his book-loving grandfather by going on Ghibili-inspired adventures to "free" books with a talking tabby cat. And while I feel the story's heart was in the right place, many of the "lessons" about books felt condescending and gatekeepy.
Listen, I love books and supporting indie bookshops. But I am also a proud audiobook lover, a tome collector, an occasional summary reader, and a gal who knows when to throw in the DNF towel. At my wise elder millennial age, I have learned to cultivate my tastes and know that mine don't align with a lot of "classic" Western literature. Apparently, for these reasons, I (and many of my fellow contemporaries) likely don't love books the right way. At least, according to our young protagonist.
Our protagonist (and really, the story as a whole) treats books with a reverent preciousness and romanticizes them as priceless, static relics rather than reflecting on the ways enjoying stories has evolved. There are many ways to consume stories (shorter books, audio, video games, etc.), none of which are better than the other. Though some of the commentary on oversaturated markets and books as a form of status was quite spot on in our current BookTok era, I was hoping this story would have more of a message of "reading is reading." But alas, I think this story instead leaned into a narrow perception of what is the "right" type of reading and that turned me off quite a bit.
As a final example to bookend this review, there is a scene in the epilogue where a character complains of a book being too heavy for her usual taste. The protagonist responds something to the effect of, "If it is hard, that means you are learning something you didn't know before."
And while that can be true in a romanticized way, it can also have a more literal definition: "Maybe you're learning that style of story isn't something you enjoy or you're simply not in the mood for it." But the nuance of the latter option is never explored and we are left with a feeling that books are an all-or-nothing experience, a heavy-handed message with the weight of the classic tomes Rintaro loves so much.
Despite my feelings on the messaging, as a breezy, quick read, "The Cat Who Saved Books" is a cute story with good intentions: I think it would make for a fun limited series or film adaptation. And you know, if you are feeling the vibe of the adventure, maybe the preachiness won't bother you as much. After all, books are indeed great and we are all here on StoryGraph because we love the stories they share, right?
--
Another review I particularly liked: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c4edb14a-c596-400c-bfa6-27974d06e97c
But there was a definitive turning point for me where I couldn't help but roll my eyes. In this scene, a character advocates for book summaries, claiming they are necessary because we are all too busy and, "You can't listen to a book!" He is then given a big hero speech from our protagonist about how books should not be sped up or cut down.
Considering I was listening to this story as an audiobook (at 1.4x speed nonetheless), that made me laugh quite a bit.
That type of journey is essentially the cycle of this book. Our young hikikomori protagonist, Rintaro, works through the grief of losing his book-loving grandfather by going on Ghibili-inspired adventures to "free" books with a talking tabby cat. And while I feel the story's heart was in the right place, many of the "lessons" about books felt condescending and gatekeepy.
Listen, I love books and supporting indie bookshops. But I am also a proud audiobook lover, a tome collector, an occasional summary reader, and a gal who knows when to throw in the DNF towel. At my wise elder millennial age, I have learned to cultivate my tastes and know that mine don't align with a lot of "classic" Western literature. Apparently, for these reasons, I (and many of my fellow contemporaries) likely don't love books the right way. At least, according to our young protagonist.
Our protagonist (and really, the story as a whole) treats books with a reverent preciousness and romanticizes them as priceless, static relics rather than reflecting on the ways enjoying stories has evolved. There are many ways to consume stories (shorter books, audio, video games, etc.), none of which are better than the other. Though some of the commentary on oversaturated markets and books as a form of status was quite spot on in our current BookTok era, I was hoping this story would have more of a message of "reading is reading." But alas, I think this story instead leaned into a narrow perception of what is the "right" type of reading and that turned me off quite a bit.
As a final example to bookend this review, there is a scene in the epilogue where a character complains of a book being too heavy for her usual taste. The protagonist responds something to the effect of, "If it is hard, that means you are learning something you didn't know before."
And while that can be true in a romanticized way, it can also have a more literal definition: "Maybe you're learning that style of story isn't something you enjoy or you're simply not in the mood for it." But the nuance of the latter option is never explored and we are left with a feeling that books are an all-or-nothing experience, a heavy-handed message with the weight of the classic tomes Rintaro loves so much.
Despite my feelings on the messaging, as a breezy, quick read, "The Cat Who Saved Books" is a cute story with good intentions: I think it would make for a fun limited series or film adaptation. And you know, if you are feeling the vibe of the adventure, maybe the preachiness won't bother you as much. After all, books are indeed great and we are all here on StoryGraph because we love the stories they share, right?
--
Another review I particularly liked: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c4edb14a-c596-400c-bfa6-27974d06e97c