Why You Should Read The Greek Classics Now
Why spend time with texts written more than two thousand years ago? The answer is simple: Greek classics provide us with a vivid glimpse into
We often take dogs as our best friend, as we can’t question or doubt their loyalty and affection. But loyalty doesn’t always create strong characters in fiction. After all, fiction thrives on uncertainty, contradiction, and tension.
Interestingly, cats, the eternal nemesis of dogs, have quite a presence in cat fiction books.
It is probably because of their elusive charm, independence, and mysterious and unexpected nature that makes them ideal characters.
There’s even a term ‘healing fiction’, the cozy and whimsical novels with cats as the leading characters. These novels about cats, popular in South Korea and Japan, have now gone global.
Japan is interesting here because it has a great cat-themed literature. It comes from cultural and spiritual traditions. For example, in Shinto and Japanese folklore, people see cats as protectors and good luck symbols.
Some cats, like Bakeneko and Nekomata, are supernatural beings. So, it will be interesting to discuss Japanese novels about cats. But that’s not all. I have an exciting list of fictional cats from other countries, too. Let’s discuss it below!
Mikhail Bulgakov was a Russian writer and playwright, famous for satirical works. He wrote this great Russian novel during the Stalin regime. But he couldn’t publish it due to heavy censorship. His wife published the novel posthumously in 1967.
The plot has two parallel stories. One is about the Devil, who arrives in 1930s Moscow with a strange entourage, including a talking, two-foot walking black cat, Behemoth. Their arrival causes chaos among the city’s elite.
The second narrative is about Pontius Pilate’s encounter with Yeshua about cowardice, redemption, and moral responsibility.
These two storylines converge when Master, a writer, feels dejected because his novel about Pilate has been rejected. Margarita is his lover who plots with the Devil to save him.
Behemoth is one of the key fictional cats that disrupts literary circles, fires pistols, and mocks authorities. So, Behemoth’s absurd and unpredictable nature makes this one of the exciting books about cats.
If you want to find out more about Russian literature, do check out Russian literature books.
Haruki Murakami is one of Japan’s most internationally recognized novelists. He writes in the magical realism genre, and one can find parallels with Gabriel García Márquez of Colombia, Italo Calvino of Italy, among others. His work has sold millions of copies, with some of the biggest literary awards to his name.
Kafka on the Shore is one of the best cat fiction books, and it has two stories. Kafka Tamura is a 15-year-old boy who runs away from home to escape a mysterious curse and search for his missing sister and mother.
In the second story, Nakata is an aging man who has lost his mental faculties in childhood but can talk to cats. He lives a quiet life, helping people find their lost cats. One day, however, a search leads him into a dark alley.
Their journeys collide metaphysically when Kafka wakes up one day covered in blood with no memory of what happened. At that exact time, Nakata kills Johnnie Walker in a surreal and dreamlike scene.
Now, cats. Nakata kills Johnnie Walker because he murders cats to steal their souls. This violent encounter pushes Nakata into an inexplicable mission that aligns with Kafka’s journey.
Kafka on the Shore won the World Fantasy Award in 2006, among many others. Japanese literature has great works to offer. You can read more about Murakami in Japanese books. Also, check some of the best Japanese movies.
Nilanjana Roy is an Indian journalist and literary critic who covers politics, literature, and culture. The Wildings is her debut novel about cats. Roy sets her cat novel in Delhi by creating an imaginative cat world.
A tribe of feral cats lives in a tightly knit, telepathic society in Delhi’s old Nizamuddin neighborhood. These cats communicate through “the Sender,” a mystical form of mental connection.
One day, everything changes when a mysterious orange kitten, Mara, arrives. Although she lives in an inside locked house, she possesses strong Sender powers. So, her presence threatens the tribal cats.
As her powers grow, she draws the cats into conflict with rival clans and other city creatures, including humans and a group of brutal cats, the Shuttered. Now, the Wildings must unite to defend their territory and decide whether Mara is a danger or a savior.
The Wildings was longlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize, making it one of the coolest books about cats fiction. And, why not check out some Bollywood movies and some of the best Indian novels?
Hiro Arikawa is a bestselling Japanese author. She got prominence after the Library Wars series, but became internationally famous after The Travelling Cat Chronicles. As a cat lover, she writes about unlikely bonds and quiet acts of love.
Satoru is a kind man with a quiet past who lives with his adopted stray cat, Nana. After spending five years together, Satoru travels across Japan to visit old friends. And he asks each of his friends to take care of Nana.
Although we don’t know the reasons why he gives his cat for care. But it becomes clear he’s seriously ill and can no longer care for Nana.
Interestingly, the narrator is Nana, who shares everything in a witty and observant voice. Nana doesn’t understand why Satoru is looking for a new owner, but he’s determined to stay by him.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles was also adapted into a film. Overall, it remains one of the best Japanese novel about a cat.
Natsume Sōseki is one of Japan’s most celebrated authors. Some critics also regard him as the father of modern Japanese literature. The argument holds validity because the Japanese government sent him to the United Kingdom to study English literature. So, in his writings, traditional Japanese themes do mingle with Western literary styles.
This Japanese novel about a cat has a nameless stray cat who finds refuge in Mr. Kushami’s home, who is a schoolteacher. From his perch, the cat observes the eccentric intellectuals, pompous neighbors, and idle chatterers.
Since the novel doesn’t have a traditional plot, we see the fictional cat commenting on everything. The cat criticises hypocrisy and the confusion of society in a changing Japan. The cat’s opinions are deliberately detached, mocking, just like their mischievous nature.
Strangely, the cat doesn’t grow or evolve but just stays occupied with satire, philosophical musings, and dry wit. Ironically, the cat drowns in a jar of pickle brine. This pretty much sums up how even the most observant outsider is not immune to the trivial dangers of human life.
Although Takashi Hiraide is a poet and critic essentially, it’s his book about cats that brought him critical acclaim. His car novel was a bestseller in many countries, like France, the United States, apart from Japan. It was also included in the New York Times bestseller list in 2014.
A nameless and childless couple in their thirties live in a rented cottage in Tokyo. They work from home as freelance copy editors. Their relationship, however, is not warm anymore because of the hectic routine and silence.
Things change when a small cat Chibi begins visiting from next door. Chibi shows up regularly, curls up in their home, observes them quietly, becoming part of their lives. This new guest transforms the couple.
They begin to talk again, share small joys, and enjoy each other’s company. But when Chibi suddenly stops coming, everything changes again. What happened to the cat? And what does her absence reveal about everything while she was there?
S. F. Said is a British writer of Middle Eastern descent who was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He has a background in journalism with writings on world cinema, particularly Islamic cinema. But he’s mostly known for cat fiction books.
Varjak is a young Mesopotamian Blue cat who has never left his home. When a sinister gentleman and his strange black cats threaten his family, he flees to the city. There, he follows the visions of legendary ancestor Jalal to learn an ancient feline martial art, The Way.
When Varjak learns The Way, he fights gangs and ruthless predators of the city. Along the way, he befriends street cats and finds out about the gentleman’s plans. This gives him enough strength to come back, fight, and protect his family.
The novel won the Smarties Gold Award in 2003. It remains one of the best fiction cat books
for children and adults alike.
Tad Williams is one of the best American science fiction writers. He is the author of multiple epic fantasy series. He has sold over 17 million copies worldwide. Tailchaser’s Song and The War of the Flowers are his only standalone novels.
Fritti Tailchaser is a house cat who lives in a peaceful village, Firsthome. One day, his close friend Hushpad suddenly disappears. Tailchaser leaves home in search of her. Along the way, he notices that other cats are also missing, and something strange is happening.
As he travels through forests, old ruins, and dangerous places, Tailchase meets many cats. He also hears stories about an evil force returning, and about Grizraz Hearne, a dark god, to whom all cats fear. With the help of odd friends like Eatbugs, Tailchaser finds the truth.
He eventually comes to know that he’s in the hidden kingdom of Harar, where the dark power is growing. Now, he must find the courage to stand up against evil forces threatening cats.
T.S. Eliot was one of the most influential poets and essayists of the 20th century. He was born to a Boston Brahmin family in the United States but moved to England, renouncing his American citizenship. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Old Possum’s Book is his collection of poetry about fictional cats. So, it has a range of eccentric cats with unique personalities and habits. Macavity is a criminal mastermind, always one step ahead of the law and never found at the scene of the crime.
Mr. Mistoffelees is a magical cat who does astonishing conjuring tricks. Jennyanydots is lazy by day but becomes active at night, organizing mice and cockroaches into disciplined workers.
And the same mischievous traits of other fictional cats. So, through the antics and quirks of these cats, Eliot wonders if they lead double lives when we’re not looking?
The book inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous stage musical Cats, one of the longest-running Broadway shows. Overall, it remains one of the great cat fiction books, particularly if you want to get comfy in poetry. Here, you can read Macavity: The Mystery Cat.
Michiko Aoyama is a Japanese journalist and novelist. She used to work as a reporter for a Japanese newspaper in Sydney, Australia, before turning to full-time writing. Her work has won multiple awards, including the 1st Miyazakimoto Prize.
The novel follows five loosely connected characters in Tokyo, each at a crossroads in life. One way or another, each character finds their way to a Hatori Community House in a Tokyo neighborhood. In this library, they meet the mysterious librarian Sayuri Komachi.
Now, Komachi has read every book in the library, but she also has a strange gift. She can read each visitor’s soul and sense what they need in life and literature.
After short conversations, she lends them books that spark unexpected transformations. One of the characters, a single mother, starts caring for a stray cat after Komachi’s suggestion. The cat’s quiet presence eventually helps her rediscover her creative ambitions.
With each character, it becomes clear that what they’re looking for is already within them. It is one of the cute cat fiction books where cats transform characters’ lives uniquely.
You can find more such books about cats and bookstores, which I covered in books about bookstores.
Our discussion of cat fiction books makes it apparent that cats are indeed mysterious and charming characters. If you happen to crack the nature of a cat in one story, it appears in another story in a more surprising and elusive way.
That’s how cats in fiction are. Or, maybe that’s how they are in reality as well.
There are also many Arabic cat stories that you can explore.
One quite strange thing is that I couldn’t find any novels about cats from Istanbul, Turkey. After all, Istanbul is known as the cat capital of the world. But this list of books about cats in Istanbul is great. I have covered some of these works by Turkish authors, too.
So, if you have any favourite cat fiction books, please share!
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