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On Cats
Doris Lessing's love affair with cats began at a young age, when she became intrigued with the semiferal creatures on the African farm where she grew up. Her fascination with the handsome, domesticated creatures that have shared her flats and her life in London remained undiminished, and grew into real love with the awkwardly lovable El Magnifico, the last cat to share her home.
On Cats is a celebrated classic, a memoir in which we meet the cats that have slunk and bullied and charmed their way into Doris Lessing's life. She tells their stories—their exploits, rivalries, terrors, affections, ancient gestures, and learned behaviors—with vivid simplicity. And she tells the story of herself in relation to cats: the way animals affect her and she them, and the communication that grows possible between them—a language of gesture and mood and desire as eloquent as the spoken word. No other writer conveys so truthfully the real interdependence of humans and cats or convinces us with such stunning recognition of the reasons why cats really matter.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
About the author
Doris Lessing
494 books2,888 followersBoth of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 238 reviews
February 8, 2016
Doris Lessing would be the one person on earth who would begin a book marketed to cat-lovers with a literal cat massacre. This event [and some other horrors, cats being mistaken for snakes and killed, kittens killed by eagles etc] sets the stage for Lessing's incredibly old-fashioned 'life is harsh, and to cats too' approach to pet ownership.
Stories about tom cats fighting over your cat are not charming. Spaying your cat is not a feminist issue. Don't characterize your spayed cat as a bitter, dried up, old spinster. Stop. 'Denuded of her sex.' You need to stop. [yes, I know Lessing died last year, RIP.]
Also if you're irresponsible enough to let your cat get pregnant then make sure the kittens go to owners who will keep them indoors and also spay them. You can't attribute the kittens meeting bad ends to life being harsh when you created the situation by being an irresponsible pet owner.
...I get preachy but owning an animal is serious bsns. Lessing obviously loves her cats, but she doesn't seem to understand that eliminating risks in your cat's life is not only a good thing, but the only humane and responsible thing to do. Tbh she doesn't seem to get cats because shes busy personifying them. The personification tendency is a. weird to read, b. leads to dumb and pointless acts i.e. smacking her cat to show her disapproval of cat on cat bullying, c. results in Lessing letting one of her cats get pregnant [because she thinks spaying is 'cruel'] only to kill 4 of the 6 kittens of that litter immediately because 2 is a more manageable number ....
Stories about tom cats fighting over your cat are not charming. Spaying your cat is not a feminist issue. Don't characterize your spayed cat as a bitter, dried up, old spinster. Stop. 'Denuded of her sex.' You need to stop. [yes, I know Lessing died last year, RIP.]
Also if you're irresponsible enough to let your cat get pregnant then make sure the kittens go to owners who will keep them indoors and also spay them. You can't attribute the kittens meeting bad ends to life being harsh when you created the situation by being an irresponsible pet owner.
...I get preachy but owning an animal is serious bsns. Lessing obviously loves her cats, but she doesn't seem to understand that eliminating risks in your cat's life is not only a good thing, but the only humane and responsible thing to do. Tbh she doesn't seem to get cats because shes busy personifying them. The personification tendency is a. weird to read, b. leads to dumb and pointless acts i.e. smacking her cat to show her disapproval of cat on cat bullying, c. results in Lessing letting one of her cats get pregnant [because she thinks spaying is 'cruel'] only to kill 4 of the 6 kittens of that litter immediately because 2 is a more manageable number ....
February 10, 2009
there exists within me, i am not ashamed to admit, a crazy cat lady who lives to talk about her cats in excessive and colorful detail, pretty much until my unsuspecting listener is fed up enough to stop me. this book is the vindication of my cat lady ways beyond any reasonable doubt.
i picked it up on a whim, in the mood for some light reading, and as we all know, nothing makes for good light reading like cute animal stories. little did i notice that this dinky little book was written by doris lessing, who is a nobel prize winner and therefore not likely to be competing with anna quindlen "good dog. stay"-style.
she uses the simplest language to describe the various personalities and shenanigans of the many cats she shared her life with: not the most intriguing premise. and yet. this has to be one of the most beautiful books i've ever read in my life. it's poignant and vivid and it wraps you up in kitty-love arms and before you know it you're tearing up and planning to take in every stray that comes your way. not everyone's a cat person, this much is true, but this little book is so much more than cats. it's the story of this remarkable woman's life told through the briefer life of her companions. it's a story about the ways we humans, who are part of nature of course but not so much involved with it anymore, commune with the wild, unknowable things of the world. and what's more wild and unknowable than a cat? for those of us fortunate enough to be cat-people, it's the squirmiest, guiltiest indulgence, because the only thing better than cuddling your own little furball or observing it at play is listening to someone else rhapsodize about the same.
i picked it up on a whim, in the mood for some light reading, and as we all know, nothing makes for good light reading like cute animal stories. little did i notice that this dinky little book was written by doris lessing, who is a nobel prize winner and therefore not likely to be competing with anna quindlen "good dog. stay"-style.
she uses the simplest language to describe the various personalities and shenanigans of the many cats she shared her life with: not the most intriguing premise. and yet. this has to be one of the most beautiful books i've ever read in my life. it's poignant and vivid and it wraps you up in kitty-love arms and before you know it you're tearing up and planning to take in every stray that comes your way. not everyone's a cat person, this much is true, but this little book is so much more than cats. it's the story of this remarkable woman's life told through the briefer life of her companions. it's a story about the ways we humans, who are part of nature of course but not so much involved with it anymore, commune with the wild, unknowable things of the world. and what's more wild and unknowable than a cat? for those of us fortunate enough to be cat-people, it's the squirmiest, guiltiest indulgence, because the only thing better than cuddling your own little furball or observing it at play is listening to someone else rhapsodize about the same.
December 19, 2017
Em Abril de 2005, entrou na minha vida uma pequenina bola de pelo. Tinha dois meses e, em poucos dias, curou-me daquela doença a que os médicos chamam depressão e que, tal como noutros casos, não passava de desalento, tristeza, ou mero cansaço. Em Dezembro de 2013 partiu, curando-me pela segunda vez (não de uma "doença", como a anterior, mas de um grande desgosto), apesar de ficar com o coração partido pela sua perda (uma dor amortece outra). Durante o tempo que me dedicou ensinou-me a amar esses seres extraordinários que são os gatos. Tantas horas, de puro deleite, já vivi a brincar, a mimar, a observar gatos, gatas e gatinhos. Quanto carinho recebi dessas criaturas mágicas! (e também arranhadelas). Muitos desapareceram, morreram. Mas nunca os esquecerei.
A Pandora. Encontrada no meio do mato e tão meiga! Não a consegui salvar, apenas os seus dois filhos;
A Sissi. Uma gata de rua, bela como uma princesa;
A Maggie. Que morreu a lutar com cães para salvar os seus bebés;
E tantos mais...
Entretanto, fui contagiando alguns amigos e familiares com esta doença saudável que é amar gatos. Hoje tenho uma grande família felina: afilhados, sobrinhos, neto, irmão. E filhos, um "legal", outros adoptados. Há quase dois meses que alimento um que "caiu" na minha garagem. Só o vi três vezes. A minha filha diz que o gato já deve ter ido embora e que ando a alimentar uma ratazana. Eu tremo (é o bicho de que tenho mais asco) mas, na dúvida, não desisto.
[Nino (irmão); Gil (afilhado); Iury (neto); Tobias (filho); Hapi (o meu anjo querido)]
Esta é um bocadinho da minha vida gateira. Que tem alguma tristeza e muita muita alegria. Tal como a da Doris Lessing e dos seus Gatos e mais gatos.
A Pandora. Encontrada no meio do mato e tão meiga! Não a consegui salvar, apenas os seus dois filhos;
A Sissi. Uma gata de rua, bela como uma princesa;
A Maggie. Que morreu a lutar com cães para salvar os seus bebés;
E tantos mais...
Entretanto, fui contagiando alguns amigos e familiares com esta doença saudável que é amar gatos. Hoje tenho uma grande família felina: afilhados, sobrinhos, neto, irmão. E filhos, um "legal", outros adoptados. Há quase dois meses que alimento um que "caiu" na minha garagem. Só o vi três vezes. A minha filha diz que o gato já deve ter ido embora e que ando a alimentar uma ratazana. Eu tremo (é o bicho de que tenho mais asco) mas, na dúvida, não desisto.
[Nino (irmão); Gil (afilhado); Iury (neto); Tobias (filho); Hapi (o meu anjo querido)]
Esta é um bocadinho da minha vida gateira. Que tem alguma tristeza e muita muita alegria. Tal como a da Doris Lessing e dos seus Gatos e mais gatos.
April 9, 2019
Sol düşünceli ve feminist kimliğinin yanında bir de hayvansever kimliğini koyuyoruz bu değerli yazarın. Doris Lessing çocukluğunun geçtiği Afrika’dan başlayıp daha sonra yerleşip yaşamını sürdüğü İngiltere’deki kedileriyle ilgili anılarını anlatıyor bu kitapta. Tabii edebi lezzette ve iyi bir gözlem gücüyle. Kedi sahipleri için oldukça keyifli olabilir ancak kedi beslemeyen veya kedilere ilgi duymayanlar için cazip olmayabilir.
Anı-anlatı türündeki “Kedilere Dair”de yazar özellikle fiziksel olarak birbirlerine benzese de her bir kedinin ayrı bir “birey” olduğunu hayatına girmiş kediler üzerinden çok güzel anlatıyor. Kitaptan iki kısa alıntı :
Kedileri tanıyıp, hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farklı bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor (s.126)
İşin doğrusu, dikkatli ve gözlem yapabilen kedi sahip leri, kediler konusunda akademik çalışma yapanlardan çok daha fazla şey biliyorlar. Kedi ve diğer hayvanların davranışları hak kında ciddi bilgiler, çoğu zaman Kedi Postası ya da Pisi Dostlar gibi adlan olan dergilerde çıkıyor, bu dergileri okumak, hiçbir bi lim insanının aklının ucundan geçmez.(s.131)
Anı-anlatı türündeki “Kedilere Dair”de yazar özellikle fiziksel olarak birbirlerine benzese de her bir kedinin ayrı bir “birey” olduğunu hayatına girmiş kediler üzerinden çok güzel anlatıyor. Kitaptan iki kısa alıntı :
Kedileri tanıyıp, hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farklı bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor (s.126)
İşin doğrusu, dikkatli ve gözlem yapabilen kedi sahip leri, kediler konusunda akademik çalışma yapanlardan çok daha fazla şey biliyorlar. Kedi ve diğer hayvanların davranışları hak kında ciddi bilgiler, çoğu zaman Kedi Postası ya da Pisi Dostlar gibi adlan olan dergilerde çıkıyor, bu dergileri okumak, hiçbir bi lim insanının aklının ucundan geçmez.(s.131)
May 12, 2019
Bu Lessing'den okuduğum ilk kitap oldu, sonuncusu olmayacak sanırım.
Lessing ve kedilerini şurada görebilirsiniz.
Lessing ve kedilerini şurada görebilirsiniz.
May 17, 2020
(From 2012) — By the time I finished this little book—which I took many weeks to slowly peruse while I had other things going on—I was quite sorry I had come to the last page, as the final story was both sublime and heartbreaking; an ode to a cat who had clearly taken a special place in Dorris Lessing's heart and who was beyond a doubt still missed when she wrote the book. When I purchased this charming little volume, which fits in the palm of the hand, I wondered how it could be that a book on cats written by a Nobel Prize laureate wasn't more popular. But then the first few pages gave me the answer.
Lessing's recollections about cats begin with those that lived in and out of their family farmhouse in Africa when she was a child. As they multiplied exponentially, with many of them going wild and then attacking the fowls, Lessing's mother was assigned to kill a great number of them, which makes for some gruesome and sad anecdotes—hard to take for an animal lover. By chapter 3, things become much more tolerable, even quite enchanting, with the hard living of Africa now forgotten, as we're introduced to a beautiful new arrival in the author's London flat:
Only a true cat lover could have written those lines, and we discover all the wonders of Grey cat (mentioned above), and her standoff with Black cat, most of which is quite charming and amusing, if you ignore the bits about kittens having to be gotten rid of, since apparently in those bygone days, people didn't believe in getting cats spayed. But when we reach the last story "The Old Age of El Magnifico", we're willing to forgive Lessing for taking us through the painful bits—this is a true love letter to a cat dearly beloved, which pulls at the heartstrings and might make the reader shed a tear or two, as I did.
Lessing's recollections about cats begin with those that lived in and out of their family farmhouse in Africa when she was a child. As they multiplied exponentially, with many of them going wild and then attacking the fowls, Lessing's mother was assigned to kill a great number of them, which makes for some gruesome and sad anecdotes—hard to take for an animal lover. By chapter 3, things become much more tolerable, even quite enchanting, with the hard living of Africa now forgotten, as we're introduced to a beautiful new arrival in the author's London flat:
"The kitten was six weeks old. It was enchanting, a delicate fairy-tale cat, whose Siamese genes showed in the shape of her face, ears, tail, and the subtle lines of its body. Her back was tabby: from above or the back, she was a pretty tabby kitten, in grey and cream, But her front and stomach were a smoky-gold, Siamese cream, with half-bars of black at the neck. Her face was pencilled with black—fine dark rings around the eyes, fine dark streaks on her cheeks, a tiny cream-coloured nose with a pink tip, outlined in black. From the front, sitting with her slender paws straight, she was an exotically beautiful beast. She sat, a tiny thing, in the middle of a yellow carpet, surrounded by five worshippers, not at all afraid of us. Then she stalked around the floor of the house, inspecting every inch of it, climbed up on to my bed, crept under the fold of a sheet, and was at home."
Only a true cat lover could have written those lines, and we discover all the wonders of Grey cat (mentioned above), and her standoff with Black cat, most of which is quite charming and amusing, if you ignore the bits about kittens having to be gotten rid of, since apparently in those bygone days, people didn't believe in getting cats spayed. But when we reach the last story "The Old Age of El Magnifico", we're willing to forgive Lessing for taking us through the painful bits—this is a true love letter to a cat dearly beloved, which pulls at the heartstrings and might make the reader shed a tear or two, as I did.
September 16, 2013
I had no idea what I was getting myself into here. Checked this short book out of the library digitally on a whim and the next thing I knew, I was hooked. And the next thing I knew after that I was lying on the floor crying for all the cats I've ever known, loved, or had eye contact with. And Lyra was concerned, but annoyed because I kept trying to pick her up and squeeze her (she hates that).
Yes - I tend to be sentimental about my cats - all cats. And also about dogs, pigs, giraffes - pretty much the entire animal kingdom. But this book touched my heart beyond the usual. It wasn't like internet cutesy cats. Or even cat behavior or cat science. Ms. Lessing explored not only her relationship with her cats, but their relationships with each other and the world.
And now I want to go adopt three more cats. But what I'll do instead is go read more Doris Lessing.
Yes - I tend to be sentimental about my cats - all cats. And also about dogs, pigs, giraffes - pretty much the entire animal kingdom. But this book touched my heart beyond the usual. It wasn't like internet cutesy cats. Or even cat behavior or cat science. Ms. Lessing explored not only her relationship with her cats, but their relationships with each other and the world.
And now I want to go adopt three more cats. But what I'll do instead is go read more Doris Lessing.
December 23, 2016
"Menulis, penulis, tidak muncul dari rumah yang tak punya buku." (hlm. 236)
Buku 'Tentang Kucing' ini sedikit banyak mengingatkan saya pada Istambulnya Pamuk. Jika Pamuk menggunakan kota sebagai refleksi memoarnya, maka Lessing menggunakan kucing. Lebih tepatnya, menggunakan kucing-kucingnya. Ada banyak sekali kucing di buku ini jadi mungkin kalau dibaca sekaligus bisa bikin bosan. Tapi, Lessing menghadirkan cerita tentang kucing-kucingnya dengan cara yang istimewa. Pecinta kucing bakal manggut-manggut membaca tuturannya, sementara bahkan bagi yang bukan penyuka kucing pun akan terpikat oleh teknik bercerita Lessing yang serasa akrab sekali.
"Juru kisah ada di kedalaman diri kita. Juru kisah selalu bersama kita," begitu kata Doris Lessing. Bagaimana kita mengeluarkan dan menyalurkan potensi sang juru cerita dalam diri inilah yang membedakan yang nulis dan yang nggak nulis. Lessing membuktikan, ketika si juru cerita dalam diri terbangkitkan, maka apa pun cerita yang kita tulis akan terasa istimewa. Buku ini buktinya. Siapa sangka, cerita tentang kucing peliharaan bisa diolah jadi seluar biasa ini. Di tangan seorang penulis yang piawai, yang biasa selalu bisa jadi tulisan yang istimewa.
Kucing dalam pandangan Lessing di buku ini sedikit banyak mengingatkan pada kisah-kisah manusia. Ada kucing yang anggun, pongah, dan sok istimewa seperti si Abu-abu. Ada juga kucing kelas dua yang tunduk pada kuasa kucing lain tapi tetap mempertahankan hak-hak istimewanya seperti si Hitam. Lalu, ada lagi kucing sisihan yang hanya mendapatkan apa yang tersisa dari kucing golongan pertama dan golongan kedua. Bukankah manusia juga demikian? Bukan berarti manusia itu sama kayak kucing loh, hanya saja Lessing mampu menghadirkan cerita kucing-kucingnya yang sekaligus mengingatkan kita bahwa manusia terkadang mendapatkan penggolongan yang serupa.
Ada tiga cerita tentang kucing di buku ini. Cerita pertama, Khusus Tentang Kucing, adalah yang paling panjang sekaligus paling menarik. Awalnya saya mikir bakalan bosan baca cerita beginian. Masak nyeritain kucing aja sampai 157 halaman! Di bab-bab awal kebosanan itu datang, tapi cakar-cakar si kucing dalam cerita perlahan menjerat perhatian saya lewat kisah-kisah mereka. Seperti kucing saja, kisah pertama ini seperti kucing yang menggoda kita dengan elusan ekornya, dengkuran rendahnya yang menenangkan, serta polh lincahnya yang bikin gemas. Tahu-tahu, kisah tentang si abu-abu dan si hitam berhasil menjerat saya untuk membaca sampai tuntas. Tidak disangka, cerita tentang kucing bisa begitu menarik begini. Di cerita pertama ini pula Lessing sedikit banyak berkisah tentang masa kecilnya hingga membentuknya menjadi penulis yang seperti sekarang.
Cerita kedua lebih pendek dan lebih berwarna, kucingnya juga beda. Mungkin bagian ini berasal dari masa-masa dewasa Lessing yang lebih kini. Tulisannya kembali membuat pembaca merenung tentang kucing, dan betapa kita bisa belajar lebih bijaksana dari kehidupan seekor eh dua ekor kucing. Bagaimana orang dewasa memperlakukan kucing juga berbeda-beda, ada yang baik dan penuh kasih sayang, ada juga yang merasa iba tapi ‘mau-gimana-lagi-tapi-saya-tidak-bisa-menerimamu-meski-kamu-lucu’. Kisah tentang dua kucing yang bertahan hidup menjadi cerita terakhir buku ini, yang mengingatkan kita pada tulisan-tulisan dari Amerika Latin tentang manusia ketika ditulis dari sudut pandang yang unik. Kucing—seperti juga manusia—juga memiliki keinginan untuk bertahan, juga untuk menyerah.
Bonus dari buku ini adalah satu bab terakhir berisi Pidato Nobel Doris Lessing 2007. Dikisahkannya sebuah cerita dari pelosok Zimbabwe, sekelompok orang tengah menanti pembagian jatah air. Pemandangan biasa di pedalaman Afrika: wanita-wanita kurus kering menjinjing wadah air dar plastik, muka-muka berdebu dengan pandangan cekung, anak-anak kurus yang mengerumuni ibunya demi meminta seteguk air di tengah embusan debu gurun yang kering kerontang. Tetapi ada satu hal yang tidak biasa: salah satu wanita itu tengah membaca sehelai kertas yang tampaknya disobek dari sebuah buku. Perempuan itu sedang membaca Anna Karenina. Membaca sebuah cerita bahkan dari buku yang dia tidak pernah atau belum membaca keseluruhan cerita, ini membantunya bertahan melawan kerasnya kehidupan. Selembar tulisan ini juga yang membuatnya bertekad untuk menyediakan buku bagi anak-anaknya kelak, meskipun dirinya belum diberi kesempatan menikmati membaca buku. Wanita seperti inilah, dan juga mereka yang masih membicarakan buku serta pendidikan meskipun sudah tiga hari mereka belum makan, yang lebih pantas diganjar penghargaan sekelas Nobel Sastra.
"Cerita-cerita kitalah yang akan menciptakan ulang diri kita, ketika kita compang-camping, terluka, atau bahkan hancur. Phoenix kita adalah sang juru kisah, sang pencipta mimpi, sang pencipta mitos, yang merepresentasikan diri kita yang terbaik dan yang paling kreatif." (hlm. 250)
Buku 'Tentang Kucing' ini sedikit banyak mengingatkan saya pada Istambulnya Pamuk. Jika Pamuk menggunakan kota sebagai refleksi memoarnya, maka Lessing menggunakan kucing. Lebih tepatnya, menggunakan kucing-kucingnya. Ada banyak sekali kucing di buku ini jadi mungkin kalau dibaca sekaligus bisa bikin bosan. Tapi, Lessing menghadirkan cerita tentang kucing-kucingnya dengan cara yang istimewa. Pecinta kucing bakal manggut-manggut membaca tuturannya, sementara bahkan bagi yang bukan penyuka kucing pun akan terpikat oleh teknik bercerita Lessing yang serasa akrab sekali.
"Juru kisah ada di kedalaman diri kita. Juru kisah selalu bersama kita," begitu kata Doris Lessing. Bagaimana kita mengeluarkan dan menyalurkan potensi sang juru cerita dalam diri inilah yang membedakan yang nulis dan yang nggak nulis. Lessing membuktikan, ketika si juru cerita dalam diri terbangkitkan, maka apa pun cerita yang kita tulis akan terasa istimewa. Buku ini buktinya. Siapa sangka, cerita tentang kucing peliharaan bisa diolah jadi seluar biasa ini. Di tangan seorang penulis yang piawai, yang biasa selalu bisa jadi tulisan yang istimewa.
Kucing dalam pandangan Lessing di buku ini sedikit banyak mengingatkan pada kisah-kisah manusia. Ada kucing yang anggun, pongah, dan sok istimewa seperti si Abu-abu. Ada juga kucing kelas dua yang tunduk pada kuasa kucing lain tapi tetap mempertahankan hak-hak istimewanya seperti si Hitam. Lalu, ada lagi kucing sisihan yang hanya mendapatkan apa yang tersisa dari kucing golongan pertama dan golongan kedua. Bukankah manusia juga demikian? Bukan berarti manusia itu sama kayak kucing loh, hanya saja Lessing mampu menghadirkan cerita kucing-kucingnya yang sekaligus mengingatkan kita bahwa manusia terkadang mendapatkan penggolongan yang serupa.
Ada tiga cerita tentang kucing di buku ini. Cerita pertama, Khusus Tentang Kucing, adalah yang paling panjang sekaligus paling menarik. Awalnya saya mikir bakalan bosan baca cerita beginian. Masak nyeritain kucing aja sampai 157 halaman! Di bab-bab awal kebosanan itu datang, tapi cakar-cakar si kucing dalam cerita perlahan menjerat perhatian saya lewat kisah-kisah mereka. Seperti kucing saja, kisah pertama ini seperti kucing yang menggoda kita dengan elusan ekornya, dengkuran rendahnya yang menenangkan, serta polh lincahnya yang bikin gemas. Tahu-tahu, kisah tentang si abu-abu dan si hitam berhasil menjerat saya untuk membaca sampai tuntas. Tidak disangka, cerita tentang kucing bisa begitu menarik begini. Di cerita pertama ini pula Lessing sedikit banyak berkisah tentang masa kecilnya hingga membentuknya menjadi penulis yang seperti sekarang.
Cerita kedua lebih pendek dan lebih berwarna, kucingnya juga beda. Mungkin bagian ini berasal dari masa-masa dewasa Lessing yang lebih kini. Tulisannya kembali membuat pembaca merenung tentang kucing, dan betapa kita bisa belajar lebih bijaksana dari kehidupan seekor eh dua ekor kucing. Bagaimana orang dewasa memperlakukan kucing juga berbeda-beda, ada yang baik dan penuh kasih sayang, ada juga yang merasa iba tapi ‘mau-gimana-lagi-tapi-saya-tidak-bisa-menerimamu-meski-kamu-lucu’. Kisah tentang dua kucing yang bertahan hidup menjadi cerita terakhir buku ini, yang mengingatkan kita pada tulisan-tulisan dari Amerika Latin tentang manusia ketika ditulis dari sudut pandang yang unik. Kucing—seperti juga manusia—juga memiliki keinginan untuk bertahan, juga untuk menyerah.
Bonus dari buku ini adalah satu bab terakhir berisi Pidato Nobel Doris Lessing 2007. Dikisahkannya sebuah cerita dari pelosok Zimbabwe, sekelompok orang tengah menanti pembagian jatah air. Pemandangan biasa di pedalaman Afrika: wanita-wanita kurus kering menjinjing wadah air dar plastik, muka-muka berdebu dengan pandangan cekung, anak-anak kurus yang mengerumuni ibunya demi meminta seteguk air di tengah embusan debu gurun yang kering kerontang. Tetapi ada satu hal yang tidak biasa: salah satu wanita itu tengah membaca sehelai kertas yang tampaknya disobek dari sebuah buku. Perempuan itu sedang membaca Anna Karenina. Membaca sebuah cerita bahkan dari buku yang dia tidak pernah atau belum membaca keseluruhan cerita, ini membantunya bertahan melawan kerasnya kehidupan. Selembar tulisan ini juga yang membuatnya bertekad untuk menyediakan buku bagi anak-anaknya kelak, meskipun dirinya belum diberi kesempatan menikmati membaca buku. Wanita seperti inilah, dan juga mereka yang masih membicarakan buku serta pendidikan meskipun sudah tiga hari mereka belum makan, yang lebih pantas diganjar penghargaan sekelas Nobel Sastra.
"Cerita-cerita kitalah yang akan menciptakan ulang diri kita, ketika kita compang-camping, terluka, atau bahkan hancur. Phoenix kita adalah sang juru kisah, sang pencipta mimpi, sang pencipta mitos, yang merepresentasikan diri kita yang terbaik dan yang paling kreatif." (hlm. 250)
September 27, 2017
Comprei este livro com a ideia de que o seu alvo seriam pessoas que gostam particularmente de gatos e, no entanto, eu - que adoro gatos (e nem me atreveria a dizer o contrário tendo neste preciso momento dois magníficos representantes da espécie aqui sentados em cima da secretária a olhar para mim…) - não senti, em tempo algum, que este livro era «para mim». Acrescento até que houve partes do livro que detestei ler, como sempre acontece quando me deparo com relatos de crueldade contra animais.
Não senti que Gatos e Mais Gatos fizesse justiça a estas criaturas maravilhosas! Gostei da minúcia com que a escritora descreve a personalidade dos gatos que conheceu ao longo dos anos, divertindo-nos com a antropomorfização dos mesmos. A favor de Lessing está também a honestidade com que escreve e a qualidade da sua prosa, mas se quero ser igualmente honesta só posso dizer que fiquei ligeiramente desiludida com o livro.
Não senti que Gatos e Mais Gatos fizesse justiça a estas criaturas maravilhosas! Gostei da minúcia com que a escritora descreve a personalidade dos gatos que conheceu ao longo dos anos, divertindo-nos com a antropomorfização dos mesmos. A favor de Lessing está também a honestidade com que escreve e a qualidade da sua prosa, mas se quero ser igualmente honesta só posso dizer que fiquei ligeiramente desiludida com o livro.
June 12, 2021
Vários são os sentimentos contraditórios em relação a este livro. Gostei bastante da forma como a autora descreve o dia a dia dos seus felinos, gostei da forma como o seu carinho e cuidado por eles evolui e gostei de passar 165 páginas com (mais) gatos. Sendo gateira e tutora de dois belos ilustres, não posso não ficar desiludida com a falta de amor (aquele puro, meloso, infinito e incondicional) que os gatos merecem. É certo que eram outros tempos e que a postura da autora é um reflexo dos mesmos, mas... o livro não representa o que é amar e cuidar de um gato como o ser maravilhoso que é e que merece. Castrar ou esterilizar um gato é um acto de amor, impedir que o gato vá à rua livremente é um acto que zela pela sua segurança, levar ao veterinário regularmente é cuidar do gato, dar a comida de boa qualidade e de que o gato gosta é dar-lhe saúde, e tudo o gato faz revela e é o retorno daquilo que fazemos por ele. O mundo precisa de um livro escrito neste registo, mas com um conteúdo actualizado e por uma pessoa que admita que os gatos nos salvam mais que nós a eles. Escrevo isto enquanto os meus dois belos ilustres, a Lola e o Bills, dormitam no sofá a meu lado.
July 31, 2014
Tremendo livro para os amantes de gatos, Lessing não procura subterfúgios para mostrar o âmago da convivência com gatos, na morte, na doença, nos pequenos atos desses felinos com que dividiu anos ou horas, ela desbrava um universo quente de que também me orgulho de fazer parte.
June 28, 2023
Kediler ne muhteşem yaratıklar değil mi? Bir kediniz var ise bunu daha iyi anlıyorsunuz. Derdini hiç bilmediğimiz bir dil ile anlatması, her gece yanınıza gelip kıvrılarak yatması, sabah gözünüzü açınca başucunuzda durmasını ne ile kıyaslayabilirsiniz ki.
Doris Lessing yaşadığı süre boyunca hayatına giren kedileri anlatıyor. Anlattığı bütün kediler zaten evimizde yaşıyor. Onlarla neşelenip, onların başına bir şey geldiği zaman da üzülüyoruz. Kitabın sonlarına doğru biraz hüzünlendim.
Bütün kedi sahiplerine kedileri ile uzun bir ömür dilerim.
Doris Lessing yaşadığı süre boyunca hayatına giren kedileri anlatıyor. Anlattığı bütün kediler zaten evimizde yaşıyor. Onlarla neşelenip, onların başına bir şey geldiği zaman da üzülüyoruz. Kitabın sonlarına doğru biraz hüzünlendim.
Bütün kedi sahiplerine kedileri ile uzun bir ömür dilerim.
November 11, 2008
Last week, my family accidentally acquired a fifth cat. It happened like this: As my father prepared to back out of the garage on Wednesday, he was suddenly stopped by the appearance of a small, black-and-white creature—“There’s a cat in here!” he cried. My mother moved forward to look: “It’s a KITTEN!” Said kitten was amenable to being picked up and held, out of the way of the vehicle; when we offered her food (as ailurophiles do) she gobbled and gobbled, and then looked around for more. By that evening, we’d moved a spare cat bed onto the garage step, leaving the door open a few inches so she could slip in and out if she desired. She didn’t, preferring to stay curled up in the dark green bed, out of the draft, convenient to the ever-replenished food. When you opened the door from the house, she’d get out, stretch companionably, and sit purring on your lap for a few minutes before she decided it was time for another snack. Saturday night we abandoned all pretense that we weren't going to adopt her (though my mother dutifully called around to the neighbors, one of whom said a feral cat had a litter of kittens under their deck this summer, and that two of them were black and white), and she moved in. The vet says she’s older than we thought—about eight months—and healthy but for ear mites. She is quite calm for a young cat, sleepy and snuggly, adapting quickly to the comforts of available nourishment, central heating, and plush furniture. We’re thinking of naming her Cosette, after the tiny waif of “Les Miserables.”
I tell this story because, all through her quick progression from stray to pampered pet, I kept thinking of “On Cats.” “Doris Lessing talks about X,” I’d say, or “This reminds me of when Doris Lessing’s cat did Y.” It’s that kind of book, full of anecdotes every cat lover has experienced but can’t express as precisely or beautifully as last year’s Nobel Prize winner. Writing cats as characters, as individuals, is difficult to do without lapsing into sap or sentimentality. Colette did it, famously, in “La Chatte”; Lillian Jackson Braun does a pretty good job in her “Cat Who” mystery series. Lessing trumps them easily. In these pages we meet show-offy, elegant Grey Cat; maternal Black Cat; gadget-obsessed Charlie; Rufus the survivor; the beloved tom referred to in different moods as General Pinknose the Third, Bishop Butchkin, and El Magnifico. For a pet owner there are, of course, no happy endings—you will always outlive your furry companion—and Lessing treats the sadness seriously and tenderly. She returns, always, to the mystery of connection between species, how, without a common language, Human and Cat can still understand so much about each other, while leaving depths untouched.
“On Cats” is a little book, with a lovely cover illustrated by Aurore de la Morinerie. It would make a great gift for anyone whose love of cats rivals their love of literature. (But Sue Wettstaed already has a copy.)
Also, name suggestions for the new kitten are welcome.
I tell this story because, all through her quick progression from stray to pampered pet, I kept thinking of “On Cats.” “Doris Lessing talks about X,” I’d say, or “This reminds me of when Doris Lessing’s cat did Y.” It’s that kind of book, full of anecdotes every cat lover has experienced but can’t express as precisely or beautifully as last year’s Nobel Prize winner. Writing cats as characters, as individuals, is difficult to do without lapsing into sap or sentimentality. Colette did it, famously, in “La Chatte”; Lillian Jackson Braun does a pretty good job in her “Cat Who” mystery series. Lessing trumps them easily. In these pages we meet show-offy, elegant Grey Cat; maternal Black Cat; gadget-obsessed Charlie; Rufus the survivor; the beloved tom referred to in different moods as General Pinknose the Third, Bishop Butchkin, and El Magnifico. For a pet owner there are, of course, no happy endings—you will always outlive your furry companion—and Lessing treats the sadness seriously and tenderly. She returns, always, to the mystery of connection between species, how, without a common language, Human and Cat can still understand so much about each other, while leaving depths untouched.
“On Cats” is a little book, with a lovely cover illustrated by Aurore de la Morinerie. It would make a great gift for anyone whose love of cats rivals their love of literature. (But Sue Wettstaed already has a copy.)
Also, name suggestions for the new kitten are welcome.
November 7, 2017
Kafamı karıştıran bir okuma oldu. Lessing'in hayvanseverliği tartışılmaz belki -kedilere dair duygusal bir kitap yazacak kadar sevmiş en azından- ama doğan yavruların bir kısmını sayıları çok diye boğup öldürmeyi hayvanseverliğin neresine koymalı bilemiyorum. Kalan anlatılarda da kedilere dair iç ısıtacak şeyler değil, bolca hüzünlü anı var.
"Kedileri tanıyıp hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farklı bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor: Onların çaresizliği karşısında çekilen acı, hepimiz adına duyulan suçluluktan oluşan bir tortu."
"Ah kedi; derdim, daha doğrusu tapınırdım: Güzeeeel kedi! Nefis kedi! Zarif kedi! İpek kedi! Tüylü baykuş gibi yumuşacık kedi, kelebek patili kedi, süslü kedi, inanılmaz kedi! Kedi, kedi, kedi, kedi."
"Kedileri tanıyıp hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farklı bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor: Onların çaresizliği karşısında çekilen acı, hepimiz adına duyulan suçluluktan oluşan bir tortu."
"Ah kedi; derdim, daha doğrusu tapınırdım: Güzeeeel kedi! Nefis kedi! Zarif kedi! İpek kedi! Tüylü baykuş gibi yumuşacık kedi, kelebek patili kedi, süslü kedi, inanılmaz kedi! Kedi, kedi, kedi, kedi."
August 9, 2020
Kediler gününde bitirmeyi planladığım ama bitiremediğim bir kitap oldu Kedilere Dair. Aslında akıcı bir kitap. Yüzotuz küsür sayfalık kısa bir kitap ama nedense bir şekilde ilerlemedi. Bir şey eksik geldi ama ne olduğunu bilemiyorum. Kedilerin öyküsünü okumak güzeldi aslında. Belki biraz dağınık geldi bilemiyorum.
February 17, 2020
I always thought my first time reading Lessing would be The Golden Notebook since I’ve had an unread copy on my shelves for years now, but this little book showed up in the Little Free Library around the corner and I started it on a whim. The title and subject matter prompted me to assume I knew what I was in for, a kind of ode to cats by a writer smitten with them. My expectations were quite wrong.
Let’s face it: cats are assholes. They kill and torture for fun. They steal. They’re moody, finicky, and may bite or scratch without warning. But their form and movements are as mysterious as they are mesmerizing. They can be incredibly affectionate and their curiosity can be as entertaining as their playfulness is comical and infectious. Having lived with one (or more) for the last 25 years, I can say their enigmatic nature and royal bearing create a kind of charming magnetism that far outweighs their drawbacks.
Within the first 30 pages, Lessing introduces us to the cruelties of nature (both natural and human-imposed): hawks stealing kittens from a farm, her father slaughtering an unmanageable feral cat population, and a mama cat whose each litter includes one instance of filicide. The brutality simmers down for the rest of her book and Lessing delivers to the reader keen observations and anecdotes about the specific cats whose lives overlap with hers. Never overly sentimental, it almost seems as if cats are something that happened to her versus a choice she willfully makes. They certainly work their charm on her the way cats have done to many a writer (and reader) throughout history--enough so, that one would not even know Lessing was a writer but for a single mention. From helping a cat learn to be a mother to refereeing cat power struggles, Lessing provides a perspective on felines gained pretty exclusively through direct experience during a time and place when and where cats were not routinely “fixed,” not confined exclusively to the indoors, and not pampered/elevated quite the way they may be today in many industrialized nations. And while Lessing shares in the common insanity cat ownership can induce, her frustrated outcries are rather unique: “Wicked cat! Thief of a cat! Amoral cat! Sausage-stealing cat!”
It’s not so much that I learned anything about cats from this book as I simply enjoyed meeting the cats in Lessing’s life and found myself ever more interested in reading her fiction.
-------------------------------------------
THE ONE WORD IN THIS BOOK THAT CAUSED ME TO HISS IN IGNORANCE
accouchement
Let’s face it: cats are assholes. They kill and torture for fun. They steal. They’re moody, finicky, and may bite or scratch without warning. But their form and movements are as mysterious as they are mesmerizing. They can be incredibly affectionate and their curiosity can be as entertaining as their playfulness is comical and infectious. Having lived with one (or more) for the last 25 years, I can say their enigmatic nature and royal bearing create a kind of charming magnetism that far outweighs their drawbacks.
Within the first 30 pages, Lessing introduces us to the cruelties of nature (both natural and human-imposed): hawks stealing kittens from a farm, her father slaughtering an unmanageable feral cat population, and a mama cat whose each litter includes one instance of filicide. The brutality simmers down for the rest of her book and Lessing delivers to the reader keen observations and anecdotes about the specific cats whose lives overlap with hers. Never overly sentimental, it almost seems as if cats are something that happened to her versus a choice she willfully makes. They certainly work their charm on her the way cats have done to many a writer (and reader) throughout history--enough so, that one would not even know Lessing was a writer but for a single mention. From helping a cat learn to be a mother to refereeing cat power struggles, Lessing provides a perspective on felines gained pretty exclusively through direct experience during a time and place when and where cats were not routinely “fixed,” not confined exclusively to the indoors, and not pampered/elevated quite the way they may be today in many industrialized nations. And while Lessing shares in the common insanity cat ownership can induce, her frustrated outcries are rather unique: “Wicked cat! Thief of a cat! Amoral cat! Sausage-stealing cat!”
It’s not so much that I learned anything about cats from this book as I simply enjoyed meeting the cats in Lessing’s life and found myself ever more interested in reading her fiction.
"What a luxury a cat is, the moments of shocking and startling pleasure in a day, the feel of the beast, the soft sleekness under your palm, the warmth when you wake on a cold night, the grace and charm even in a quite ordinary workaday puss. Cat walks across your room, and in that lonely stalk you see leopard or even panther, or it turns its head to acknowledge you and the yellow blaze of those eyes tells you what an exotic visitor you have here, in this household friend, the cat who purrs as you stroke, or rub his chin, or scratch his head."
-------------------------------------------
THE ONE WORD IN THIS BOOK THAT CAUSED ME TO HISS IN IGNORANCE
accouchement
February 19, 2017
A memoir of her relationship with certain cats and her observations of them. Funny how many female novelists were fond of cats! As you would expect, well written and interesting.
February 8, 2018
Prepare yourself for reading disturbing things like murdering kittens and cats. not what I expected!
March 7, 2019
If you love cats, you have to read this!
English: https://elifthereader.com/books/on-ca...
Türkçe: https://kitaplikkedisi.com/kitaplar/k...
English: https://elifthereader.com/books/on-ca...
Türkçe: https://kitaplikkedisi.com/kitaplar/k...
March 6, 2016
Adı üstünde, Doris Lessing'in kedilerine dair bir kitap. Güney Afrika'dan başlayıp Londra'ya, İngiltere'nin kırsalına uzanan hayat yolculuğunda Lessing'in dostu olmuş onlarca kediden bazılarının hikayeleri.
Kitap kendi dönemi içinde (1940'lardan itibaren, 60'lara kadar olan dönem) değerlendirildiğinde, kedilerin insanlarla olan ortak yaşamına güzel bir pencere açıyor. O dönemde Güney Afrika'da bir beyaz çiftliğinde, Londra'da, İngiltere kırsalında kedilerle insanlarla nasıl yaşardı görebiliyor okuyan. Doris Lessing'in bazı anlatımları çok gaddarca bulunabilir. Örneğin babasının yavru kedileri öldürmesi, daha sonra benzer birşeyi kendisinin yeni yavrulara yapmak zorunda kalmasını anlatması çok iç acıtıyor. Kedileri hem ölesiye sevip, hem nasıl böyle bir şey yapabildiklerine insan şaşıyor. Ancak sanırım o çevrede, o dönem bu işler böyleydi. Bu kitabı bir "kedi bakım el kitabı" olarak okumamak gerek. Bir yazarın kedileri anlama, onlarla yaşama deneyimleri olarak okumayı öneririm. Bu şekilde ben Lessing'den çok şey öğrendim. Mesela, eve yeni gelen bir kedinin diğerlerine katılmasındaki süreçler, kediler arası hiyerarşı kavgaları çok güzel betimlenmiş.
Kedileri anlamak isteyen tüm edebiyat severlere tavsiye ederim.
Kitap kendi dönemi içinde (1940'lardan itibaren, 60'lara kadar olan dönem) değerlendirildiğinde, kedilerin insanlarla olan ortak yaşamına güzel bir pencere açıyor. O dönemde Güney Afrika'da bir beyaz çiftliğinde, Londra'da, İngiltere kırsalında kedilerle insanlarla nasıl yaşardı görebiliyor okuyan. Doris Lessing'in bazı anlatımları çok gaddarca bulunabilir. Örneğin babasının yavru kedileri öldürmesi, daha sonra benzer birşeyi kendisinin yeni yavrulara yapmak zorunda kalmasını anlatması çok iç acıtıyor. Kedileri hem ölesiye sevip, hem nasıl böyle bir şey yapabildiklerine insan şaşıyor. Ancak sanırım o çevrede, o dönem bu işler böyleydi. Bu kitabı bir "kedi bakım el kitabı" olarak okumamak gerek. Bir yazarın kedileri anlama, onlarla yaşama deneyimleri olarak okumayı öneririm. Bu şekilde ben Lessing'den çok şey öğrendim. Mesela, eve yeni gelen bir kedinin diğerlerine katılmasındaki süreçler, kediler arası hiyerarşı kavgaları çok güzel betimlenmiş.
Kedileri anlamak isteyen tüm edebiyat severlere tavsiye ederim.
July 22, 2021
oduševljena sam : a priznajem da sam prije čitanja bila skeptična, jer nisam neka cat-person, pa ni tipična ljubiteljica životinja (više volim biljke, a najviše ljude), ali ovo je sjajno SJAJNO : ne samo da su mačke karakteri, neverovatno zanimljivo opisane, nego je roman i brutalan : primjerice, taj početak u kojem opisuje kako je izgledao suživot sa mačkama na farmi u Africi, borbe sa divljim mačkama, zmijama & pticama grabljivicama, pa problemi bezbrojnih mačjih nakota i nemogućnosti da se sve mačke udome, pa prikaz ubistava mačića koji su višak, ali prikaz koji nije samo sentimentalan (mada vidimo kroz kakav haos ljudi koji to moraju da urade prolaze), već pokazuje pragmatiku života (majka koja je u početku zadužena za takve stvari, ne bi li omogućila da život funkcionira), kao i naznake da je problem sistemski (šta raditi u tim situacjama, zašto postojeće službe za zbrinjavanje životinja nisu adekvatne itsl.) : posebno mi je bilo zanimljivo što se tematizira karakternost mačaka koja često nema nikakve veze sa onim uobičajenim razumijevanjem kako tobože postoji nekakva priroda, biologija, datost i kako to determinira ponašanja, na primjer materinstvo : neke mačke se ponašaju kao da nemaju nikakav materinski instinkt, mnoge ubijaju mladunce, mnogima je ta funkcija teret..., a i tematiziranje sterilizacije je odlično : dakle i brutalno i prezabavno i dirljivo i jaako lijepo opisano, uspijela je od mačjeg svijeta da napravi ubedljiva narativna klupka a da nimalo nije upala u stvaranje nekakvih karikaturnih, fiktivnih i bajkovitih mačjih likova, ne, to su i dalje realne mačke : predivno
March 19, 2010
So I'm going to bother typing a disclaimer that anyone who knows me already knows, which is: I am the target audience for this book.
That said, I absolutely adored this book. And it is not a cutesy, "awww, aren't kittens grand?" kind of book. Lessing is not a hugs and puppies kind of writer. There is an onslaught of gruesome cat death in this book, some of it carried out by Lessing herself. There is a kitty forelimb amputation; there are many scraggly and starving cats, ailing and scabbing and puss-oozing cats. Lessing is not writing (for the most part) cute pet stories.
In fact, one of the moving, melancholic dynamics of the book is the way that Lessing uses the vulnerability of cats to reflect on our own responsibilities to our fellow creatures and the inevitable fumbles and callousness of human beings. A poignant and profound line: "Knowing cats, a lifetime of cats, what is left is a sediment of sorrow quite different from that due to humans: compounded of pain of their helplessness, of guilt on behalf of us all."
Her cat descriptions of both behavior and appearance are beautifully precise, spare, and lyrical. She talks about the mysteries of cat cognition and habits, and also, like any cat owner, she parses the small gestures that she sees among her cats every day. If you have any interest in cats (and can handle the feline attrition and unsentimental detailing of cat suffering), you should read this gorgeous, touching, and brilliant book. I love Lessing's prose:
"What a luxury a cat is, the moments of shocking and startling pleasure in a day, the feel of the beast, the soft sleekness under your palm, the warmth when you wake on a cold night, the grace and charm even in a quite ordinary workaday puss. Cat walks across your room, and in that lonely stalk you see leopard or even panther, or it turns its head to acknowledge you and the yellow blaze of those eyes tells you what an exotic visitor you have here, in this household friend, the cat who purrs as you stroke, or rub his chin, or scratch his head."
That said, I absolutely adored this book. And it is not a cutesy, "awww, aren't kittens grand?" kind of book. Lessing is not a hugs and puppies kind of writer. There is an onslaught of gruesome cat death in this book, some of it carried out by Lessing herself. There is a kitty forelimb amputation; there are many scraggly and starving cats, ailing and scabbing and puss-oozing cats. Lessing is not writing (for the most part) cute pet stories.
In fact, one of the moving, melancholic dynamics of the book is the way that Lessing uses the vulnerability of cats to reflect on our own responsibilities to our fellow creatures and the inevitable fumbles and callousness of human beings. A poignant and profound line: "Knowing cats, a lifetime of cats, what is left is a sediment of sorrow quite different from that due to humans: compounded of pain of their helplessness, of guilt on behalf of us all."
Her cat descriptions of both behavior and appearance are beautifully precise, spare, and lyrical. She talks about the mysteries of cat cognition and habits, and also, like any cat owner, she parses the small gestures that she sees among her cats every day. If you have any interest in cats (and can handle the feline attrition and unsentimental detailing of cat suffering), you should read this gorgeous, touching, and brilliant book. I love Lessing's prose:
"What a luxury a cat is, the moments of shocking and startling pleasure in a day, the feel of the beast, the soft sleekness under your palm, the warmth when you wake on a cold night, the grace and charm even in a quite ordinary workaday puss. Cat walks across your room, and in that lonely stalk you see leopard or even panther, or it turns its head to acknowledge you and the yellow blaze of those eyes tells you what an exotic visitor you have here, in this household friend, the cat who purrs as you stroke, or rub his chin, or scratch his head."
March 9, 2009
Doris ranks 4th from the bottom on my personal list of people I'd like to grab a beer with. But I guess that's not the point. She may be as finicky and uptight as her writing makes her seem, but this book is strangely readable, and anyone who has written a book of cat biographies that ends up being pretty interesting has accomplished something.
Doris writes, "Knowing cats, a lifetime of cats, what is left is a sediment of sorrow quite different from that due to humans: compounded of pain for their helplessness, of guilt on behalf of us all."
That seems true to me, but I'm not sure what precisely it has to do with cats. The fact that cats live out their lives in fastforward, so that we have seen many cat lifetimes lived from kittenhood to old age and disappearance or death by the time we mature ourselves has, I think, a real impact on our psychology. People so attached to cats (or dogs, or whatever) will have experienced a lifetime worth of small loves and losses lost to those who never interacted with animals as individual living beings. But Doris's sediment of sorrow may not be unique to cats, it may just be the residue that accumulates from a life's worth of love. The fact that cats tend to come and go just means this sorrow piles up faster and deeper.
Doris writes, "Knowing cats, a lifetime of cats, what is left is a sediment of sorrow quite different from that due to humans: compounded of pain for their helplessness, of guilt on behalf of us all."
That seems true to me, but I'm not sure what precisely it has to do with cats. The fact that cats live out their lives in fastforward, so that we have seen many cat lifetimes lived from kittenhood to old age and disappearance or death by the time we mature ourselves has, I think, a real impact on our psychology. People so attached to cats (or dogs, or whatever) will have experienced a lifetime worth of small loves and losses lost to those who never interacted with animals as individual living beings. But Doris's sediment of sorrow may not be unique to cats, it may just be the residue that accumulates from a life's worth of love. The fact that cats tend to come and go just means this sorrow piles up faster and deeper.
January 23, 2009
I feel kind of weird giving one of those special five-star ratings to a book about, well, cats , but this was a pretty special book. Squeamish cat-lovers beware ~ Doris Lessing starts out by telling of her girlhood growing up on a farm in South Africa, shooting baby kittens with her father because they simply couldn't manage to keep them all. I actually love her for refusing to be sentimental. Yet somehow there is an acute tenderness in her writing about her cats, especially as she grows older, despite wry tales of guns & whiskey & too many kittens. Remarkably like her darker works on the terrors of motherhood, failures of communism, etc., Lessing really zeroes in on the personalities and nuances of her characters. It's just that, this time, they happen to be cats!
This was one of those especially good ones that I had to read really slow at the last chapter because I didn't want it to end.
This was one of those especially good ones that I had to read really slow at the last chapter because I didn't want it to end.
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March 16, 2010I feel kind of weird giving one of those special five-star ratings to a book about, well, cats , but this was a pretty special book. Squeamish cat-lovers beware ~ Doris Lessing starts out telling of her girlhood growing up on a farm in South Africa, shooting baby kittens with her father because they simply could not manage to keep them all. I actually love her for refusing to be sentimental. Yet somehow there is an acute tenderness in her writing about her cats, especially as she grows older, despite wry tales of guns & whiskey & too many kittens, etc.
This was one of those especially good ones that I had to read really slow at the last chapter because I didn't want it to end. --Rachel
This was one of those especially good ones that I had to read really slow at the last chapter because I didn't want it to end. --Rachel
October 23, 2010
This is a book truly about cat.It shows how lovable cat is without resorting to sugar coating cat's behavior or pretend that human can read cat's mind or vice versa as in Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Cats will always be its own master no matter what human would like to otherwise believe. And yet because of it the relationship between cat and human is even more special. Black cat, Grey cat, Rufus, El Magnifico, their stories truly touched me and made me missed my faraway cat.. i hope our story will be as wonderful as theirs.
June 16, 2013
Enchanting, delightful, honest, and sorrowful - it is incredible how cats can ever be understood so well by a human, or how much we see ourselves through cats. A most exquisite little book, about the most magical creatures ever existed.
May 4, 2022
** Books 34 - 2022 **
Buku ini untuk menyelesaikan Baca Keliling dunia dan Tsundoku Books Challenge 2022
3,2 dari 5 bintang!
Ketika membaca buku ini mengenai kucing aku merasa bersemangat membacanya dan ketika mengetahui buku ini masuk kedalam tantangan bacaku Baca keliling dunia aku jadi ingin menuntaskan buku ini sebenernya lumayan lama juga timbunan sejak 2016 hahaha..
Buku ini lebih mengenai kisah penulis bersama kucing-kucing liar atau kucing yang menjadi hewan peliharaannya. Tidak sering tingkah mereka menggemaskan namun juga mengesalkan si penulis. Aku senang membaca ketika adegan mereka yang membuat geleng-geleng kepala. Tapi jujur sih ada juga penuturan cerita yang membuatku terkejut dengan tingkah laku penulis. Kalau aku jujur gak akan tega sama hewan berbulu satu ini. hati-hati ya buat pecinta kucing ketika membaca buku ini harus menyiapkan hati. Secara keseluruhan kisah-kisah didalamnya cukup menarik untuk diikuti
Buku ini untuk menyelesaikan Baca Keliling dunia dan Tsundoku Books Challenge 2022
3,2 dari 5 bintang!
Ketika membaca buku ini mengenai kucing aku merasa bersemangat membacanya dan ketika mengetahui buku ini masuk kedalam tantangan bacaku Baca keliling dunia aku jadi ingin menuntaskan buku ini sebenernya lumayan lama juga timbunan sejak 2016 hahaha..
Buku ini lebih mengenai kisah penulis bersama kucing-kucing liar atau kucing yang menjadi hewan peliharaannya. Tidak sering tingkah mereka menggemaskan namun juga mengesalkan si penulis. Aku senang membaca ketika adegan mereka yang membuat geleng-geleng kepala. Tapi jujur sih ada juga penuturan cerita yang membuatku terkejut dengan tingkah laku penulis. Kalau aku jujur gak akan tega sama hewan berbulu satu ini. hati-hati ya buat pecinta kucing ketika membaca buku ini harus menyiapkan hati. Secara keseluruhan kisah-kisah didalamnya cukup menarik untuk diikuti
July 24, 2018
“..Burnumuzun dibinde nasıl yorumlayacağımızı bilmediğimiz bir sürü karmaşık dil.
..Kedileri tanıyıp, hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farkl�� bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor: Onların çaresizliği karşısında çekilen acı, hepimiz adına duyulan suçluluktan oluşan bir tortu.”
..Kedileri tanıyıp, hayat boyu kedilerle birlikte olunca geriye insanlara karşı duyulandan çok farkl�� bir hüzün tortusu kalıyor: Onların çaresizliği karşısında çekilen acı, hepimiz adına duyulan suçluluktan oluşan bir tortu.”
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April 3, 2021„Snobo kinas” juodu ant balto – turbūt taip apibendrinčiau Doris Lessing knygą „On Cats.”
🔺 Visų pirma, kokybė. Tiek snobo kinas, tiek ši istorija gali nepatikti, bet nepastebėti nepriekaištingos raiškos – neįmanoma.
🔺Netikėtumas. Sąžiningai, iš šios istorijos tikėjausi lengvo ir šviesaus reikalo, o gavau keistą „Kliudžiau” ir britiškos #catlady miksą.
🔺Ketvirtadienio vakarui. Tiek ži��rėti snobo kino filmą, tiek skaityti šią istoriją idealu toj ketvirtadienio vakaro „limbo” būsenoj – kai iki savaitgalio keli žingsniai.
🔺 Visų pirma, kokybė. Tiek snobo kinas, tiek ši istorija gali nepatikti, bet nepastebėti nepriekaištingos raiškos – neįmanoma.
🔺Netikėtumas. Sąžiningai, iš šios istorijos tikėjausi lengvo ir šviesaus reikalo, o gavau keistą „Kliudžiau” ir britiškos #catlady miksą.
🔺Ketvirtadienio vakarui. Tiek ži��rėti snobo kino filmą, tiek skaityti šią istoriją idealu toj ketvirtadienio vakaro „limbo” būsenoj – kai iki savaitgalio keli žingsniai.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 238 reviews