I’ve always been a dog person. I never had cats as pets.

Dogs are warm, fuzzy creatures while I’ve always thought of cats as…well, catty.

“Funny, these aversions we have for certain things. It does make you wonder a bit whether it’s some kind of karmic connection with a past-life experience, even if that’s just a bit too weird.” – The Guest Cat

But cats have suddenly become charming and I’m not blaming these two guys.

 

 

Media has just made cats more adorable in recent times.

 

 

As well as Instagram (aside from food porn and travel, I’m on Instagram for the cat porn.) And now I dream of living in a building where they will allow pets. Or have a house where the neighbor’s cat will wander into like in The Guest Cat, by acclaimed Japanese poet Hiraide Takashi, which is my book for February.

 

 

The Guest Cat is about a childless couple who lives in a cottage within a compound owned by an old couple. The compound has a very beautiful Japanese garden and a mansion. And one of the neighbor has a cat that one day wanders into the couple’s house.

The cat was named Chibi with a white fur and black blotches tinged with brown. She walks into the couple’s life and gently wormed herself into their hearts just like how the cat will find its way to the reader’s heart. Chibi is somewhat cautious and whimsical, doing whatever she wants and seldom showing attachment to her new friends. Really like cats actually, unlike dogs that would be all over you and go all out in expressing their love to owners and friends.

But as the couple grows more attached to Chibi, the reader also grows more emotionally invested in the cat’s story that’s why when something happens to her, it’s a loss that jumps out from the words on the page and leaves a gap in one’s heart, just like the little gap in the doorway that Chibi would use to enter the couple’s house, forever ajar and couldn’t be filled.

The story is so profound and the writing is so idyllic and had been described as typically Japanese it’s best to enjoy it in the quiet corner of a cafe, or at home on a weekend, preferably with a cat purring on your lap.

And yes, even dog lovers would enjoy and can relate to this book. Anyone who has or had pets actually, because it speaks about the love and loss of one.

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