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I am a Cat (Tuttle classics)
 
 
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I am a Cat (Tuttle classics) (Paperback)

by Soseki Natsume (Author), Aiko Ito (Translator) "I AM A CAT ..." (more)
3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
Price: £14.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Customers buy this book with Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics) by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

I am a Cat (Tuttle classics) + Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
Price For Both: £20.98

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Product details

  • Paperback: 656 pages
  • Publisher: Tuttle Publishing; New edition edition (Jun 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 080483265X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0804832656
  • Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.2 x 3.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 45,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
Cat lovers will delight in the thoughts of a cat whose particular joy in life is commenting on the folly of human beings. Based on a nameless cat's observations of upper-middle-class Japanese society of the Meiji era, the essence of I AM A CAT is its humour and sardonic truths. Written over the course of 1904-06, this book is full of acerbic wit as it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten.
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First Sentence
I AM A CAT. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

I am a Cat (Tuttle classics)
79% buy the item featured on this page:
I am a Cat (Tuttle classics) 3.2 out of 5 stars (6)
£14.49
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
8% buy
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics) 4.7 out of 5 stars (9)
£6.49
Kokoro
5% buy
Kokoro 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
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Botchan
4% buy
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best a cat can get, 18 Jul 2006
When Natsume Soseki, student of both the east and west, first wrote "I am a Cat", it was intended as a short series of satirical articles. When its run was completed, such was the clamour for more that Soseki was moved to write further chapters. And it is obvious from reading them that as the collection advances, the cat, our nameless and defiant narrator, loses more feline qualities and acquires pronounced human sensibilities, as a result. However, to say that this in any way decreases the inherent humour, intelligence and acerbic observations made would be a falsehood. This is an immensely entertaining work, astute and acute, and deserves far more widespread acclaim than it at present commands. Any student of Japanese history or literature should add this high up their reading list.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars There is nothing else like this book - and don't trust the narrator!, 29 Dec 2006
By Greshon (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
There is nothing else like this book. The only other book I can say this for is Life of Pi. This novel is huge, but it's so enjoyable to read that you will just breeze through it. Whilst reading it you start to feel like you belong to the family, and the neighborhood, in which it is set. The episodic plot is not much more than a loosely strung together collection of occurrences. Like many Japanese books, mood is all important, and things happen primarily to create or modify mood rather than to further the action. The narrator, who is a cat, is a very tricky character indeed, and I suspect whole essays could be written on him. Don't trust him.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A smug kitten takes on Japanese society, 12 Feb 2004
By A Customer
In Soseki Natsume's "I Am a Cat", a nameless feline narrator satirises Japanese society in the time of the Meiji Emperor, the era when the country re-opened contact with the outside world. Much of the subject matter concerns the period's uneasy mix between new Western ideas and traditional Japanese sensibilities.

The novel lacks any particularly strong plot as such, reading more like a set of short stories; indeed it first appeared as a series of installments in a literary magazine. However, "I Am a Cat" is frequently very funny and the modernity of the writing is striking given the book appeared in the early years of the 20th century. It was an interesting and amusing read, although I feel it might have been more rewarding if I'd had a better knowledge of society it describes.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Unwieldy
This book is a series of vignettes written through the eyes of a cat owned by a Japanese school teacher. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley

2.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't finish the book
On reading the reviews, I thought this is the type of book I would love. I read the first chapter and thought it was great, it is after this however that it becomes rambling and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anon

1.0 out of 5 stars I Am a Cat - appraised
Should you be a cat lover and a devotee of all things feline then do not allow yourself to be seduced into reading this book let alone actually purchasing a copy. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Legal Eagle

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