The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Thorndike Press
Pp. 327
Translated from the Japanese by
Philip Gabriel, this novel (first published in 2015) had reviewers gushing that
it was gentle, wise, witty, beguiling and full of simple but deceptive prose. I
didn’t realise I was quite so cynical, but I have to wonder, is it deceptive or
just simple and is it really profoundly charming or just a little bit naff?
The novel is
mainly narrated by Nana, a cat named after the Japanese word for seven, which
is considered to be lucky and the shape of the cat’s tail. Nana was a stray cat
who was nursed by Satoru after being hit by a car. In return, Nana lives with
Satoru and gives him affection. When Satoru knows he is dying, he wants to make
sure Nana has a happy home so he sets off on a road trip to visit possible
adoptive homes and friends.
These travels give Satoru an opportunity
to spark memories and reconnect with old friends. He and Nana meet Yoshimine,
the brusque and unsentimental farmer who thinks cats are just for catching rats,
Sugi and Chikako, the warm-hearted couple who run a pet-friendly B&B, and Kosuke,
the mournful husband whose cat-loving wife has just left him. In the pages
concerning Kosuke, the point of view switches to the third person omniscient
narrator who tells us about the boys’ friendship and how they bonded with a cat
called Hachi (which means eight) when they were both in elementary school.
When we see Nana’s
perspective he instructs us on cat behaviour, such as why they like cardboard
boxes rather than special beds and toys. Nana doesn’t understand certain human idiosyncrasies
including their fondness for the sea, and he also questions their need to
concern themselves about burials and cemeteries. “When an animal’s life is
over, it rests where it falls, and it often seems to me that humans are such
worriers, to think of preparing a place for people to sleep when they are dead.
If you have to consider what’s going to happen after you die, life becomes
doubly troublesome.”
As
well as teaching kittens to stand up for themselves and explaining feline ways,
Nana also cares for his adopted human. He’s a proud cat, but he’s loyal, loving
and perceptive. The Travelling Cat
Chronicles is a novel about the bond between humans and their animals, but
it also about the power of friendship from childhood to adults. Without the
support of those he visits, Satoru would not have grown into the kind and
gentle man he has become – the kind of man who would scour the country to find
the perfect home for his cat.
