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A review by jstilts
The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This is a collection of short stories that vary in quality and interest, so a bit hard to give a useful star rating. Some of the stories are little gems, some so-so, the final story I almost skipped (but glad I didn't).
The stories all explore family life as affected by cats, usually at least partly from the cats perspective. Maybe, being a Japanese translation, the directions the stories take or fail to take are a little surprising to this western reader (the first especially so). For some reason the majority of these tales depict the fathers as being buffoons or jerks, which wears a little thin - but overall they are interesting insights into Japanese family life.
Be warned, there are a few sad tales.
The stories all explore family life as affected by cats, usually at least partly from the cats perspective. Maybe, being a Japanese translation, the directions the stories take or fail to take are a little surprising to this western reader (the first especially so). For some reason the majority of these tales depict the fathers as being buffoons or jerks, which wears a little thin - but overall they are interesting insights into Japanese family life.
Be warned, there are a few sad tales.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Death