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A review by couldbestephen
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
4.0
What would you give up to live one more day? What would you take away from the world to have an extra 24 hours? This novel explores the final week of a terminally ill man's life as he makes a deal with the devil for extra time on earth. I enjoyed this quick read and would recommend it.
When our main character finds out he has a tumor in his head and months left to live, he's struck by the irony of his situation. His mother and first cat died the same way. As he wonders what he should do next, the devil (yes, the actual devil) shows up at his apartment to let him know that he doesn't have months, he has a day. If he wants an extra 24 hours, all he needs to do is pick an item that will completely vanish from the world.
The writing style and pacing are what you would expect from a novel translated from Japanese. If you aren't familiar with what I mean, I feel like this book would be a great example of what you can generally expect. There's a dream-like, surrealist quality to the work that is delightful but can "drag" the pacing a little (I don't have a problem with it, I think it really works for a character who is revisiting memories before he dies).
The book explores our relationships to time, people, and ourselves. What can we afford to lose for an extra day? If phones went away, how would we cope? What if we lost movies? What if we lost... cats? What is our line in the sand? Who are the important people in our lives that we would want to reconnect with?
When our main character finds out he has a tumor in his head and months left to live, he's struck by the irony of his situation. His mother and first cat died the same way. As he wonders what he should do next, the devil (yes, the actual devil) shows up at his apartment to let him know that he doesn't have months, he has a day. If he wants an extra 24 hours, all he needs to do is pick an item that will completely vanish from the world.
The writing style and pacing are what you would expect from a novel translated from Japanese. If you aren't familiar with what I mean, I feel like this book would be a great example of what you can generally expect. There's a dream-like, surrealist quality to the work that is delightful but can "drag" the pacing a little (I don't have a problem with it, I think it really works for a character who is revisiting memories before he dies).
The book explores our relationships to time, people, and ourselves. What can we afford to lose for an extra day? If phones went away, how would we cope? What if we lost movies? What if we lost... cats? What is our line in the sand? Who are the important people in our lives that we would want to reconnect with?