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A review by ablotial
Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper
4.0
One day, almost a year and a half ago, I was traveling to California for a conference and I saw this book on a stand at the airport. The black kitty looking so much like my own, and the story of his blindness caught my attention and I couldn't resist buying it.
But then I was afraid to read it, because in every book ever written about an animal, the animal dies at the end. However, I was informed by someone in one of my book groups that Homer lives! So I decided to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did.
Gwen (the author) and I seem to have incredibly different personalities, but we did have a few things in common and some of her observations about life really rang true to me about relationships, having to move home, becoming that crazy undatable girl with too many cats... which helped me enjoy the book that much more. But, of course, the book is mostly about Homer, the blind wonder cat. Watching Homer (through Gwen's memories) discover the world was absolutely delightful. There were times I woke my husband up because I was laughing so hard, and there were other times when I found tears running down my cheeks. And I loved that she often wrote how she imagined her other cats were viewing this clutzy little kitten that couldn't understand that in order to sneak up on someone, you need to do it from behind! You can tell how much she loves her cats.
My only real complaint probably makes me sound cold hearted... But ... well, shortly after Gwen and her cats move to New York, the attacks on the world trade center happened. And two or three chapters are devoted to that. And she was separated from her cats, so aside from her determination to get back to them (which I applaud, and I feel like I would have done the same thing, though who can know for sure without getting thrown into that kind of situation) the cats weren't there. I guess I just felt like she spent too much time on that event. It's one thing to have a memoir about your experiences during 9/11, and it sounds like she could have done that book justice, too. But this was supposed to be a book about Homer, and how him entering her life changed things. It just didn't seem to fit.
But overall, I really enjoyed the book. I read huge sections of it to my husband as I was going along (especially Homer's first interactions with her parents' dogs! Wonderful!) and definitely plan on recommending it to other cat lovers in my life :D
But then I was afraid to read it, because in every book ever written about an animal, the animal dies at the end. However, I was informed by someone in one of my book groups that Homer lives! So I decided to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did.
Gwen (the author) and I seem to have incredibly different personalities, but we did have a few things in common and some of her observations about life really rang true to me about relationships, having to move home, becoming that crazy undatable girl with too many cats... which helped me enjoy the book that much more. But, of course, the book is mostly about Homer, the blind wonder cat. Watching Homer (through Gwen's memories) discover the world was absolutely delightful. There were times I woke my husband up because I was laughing so hard, and there were other times when I found tears running down my cheeks. And I loved that she often wrote how she imagined her other cats were viewing this clutzy little kitten that couldn't understand that in order to sneak up on someone, you need to do it from behind! You can tell how much she loves her cats.
My only real complaint probably makes me sound cold hearted... But ... well, shortly after Gwen and her cats move to New York, the attacks on the world trade center happened. And two or three chapters are devoted to that. And she was separated from her cats, so aside from her determination to get back to them (which I applaud, and I feel like I would have done the same thing, though who can know for sure without getting thrown into that kind of situation) the cats weren't there. I guess I just felt like she spent too much time on that event. It's one thing to have a memoir about your experiences during 9/11, and it sounds like she could have done that book justice, too. But this was supposed to be a book about Homer, and how him entering her life changed things. It just didn't seem to fit.
But overall, I really enjoyed the book. I read huge sections of it to my husband as I was going along (especially Homer's first interactions with her parents' dogs! Wonderful!) and definitely plan on recommending it to other cat lovers in my life :D