I Am a Cat

Rating:
Summary: The cat is a wise guy.
Review: A wise... cat offers its hilarous account of a group of turn-of the-century Japanese pseudo-intellectuals. Things Western are fashionable, but they haven't got it quite right. Cat's master is an incompetent teacher who doesn't seem to do any work and spends most of his time conversing with former students. Also featured are various non-intellectual social climbing neighbors. Has nothing to do with "chinese philosophy", more to do with what your own cat probably thinks of you. A scream, but then I like things Japanese

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful translation
Review: I am shocked, deeply shocked, by comments that this is a poor translation. The original text is phenomenally complex, with interwoven puns and jokes and references to make an ordinary translator weep. Most such translations are stilted, painful to read except as "cribs" for students.

But this one, well. Heh.

Okay, consider this:

"I've just been visiting a businessman and, according to him, the only way to succeed is to practice the 'triangled technique': try to escape your obligations, annihilate your kindly feelings, and geld yourself of the sense of shame. Try-an-geld. You get it? Jolly clever, don't you think?"

This is a remark from one of the various intellectual snobs who are dominant characters here. Now if you can't guess, and I suppose several of the reviewers here can't, there is a complicated pun in the original (my wife teaches Japanese literature and deals with the originals, you see). But the point is that it's sort of funny, but really it's just a play on words that's a little too labored to be funny. It's a joke for the sort of intellectual snobs that find this kind of thing amusing. And that's exactly what comes across with this "try-an-geld" thing. Brilliant!

I know a professor who teaches Japanese literature who started working through the original and this translation with his students. At every turn, they found another deft and elegant in-joke turned into a deft and elegant English variant. It's not perfect, but this is as close to a perfect translation as you're ever likely to find.

For those of you who know a lot about literature, consider translating Nabokov -- let's say Lolita or Pale Fire -- into Chinese, a totally uninflected language. Can you say, "pain"? Insanely difficult. Okay, same problem here. But Ito and Wilson pull it off.

For normal people, let's bear in mind that this book is hysterical, if you're a little worldly-wise and a little over-educated. If you know people like the intellectual snobs and elites who populate this book, you're going to love this. You can quickly get over the fact that it's early 20th C. Japan -- academics are academics, and you will recognize them immediately.

In case you were wondering, Mr. Sneaze's name, in Japanese, is Mr. Sneeze. Yes, it's a weird name. No, it's not just a name, it's bizarre.

I'll conclude with one further remark about translation of this beloved, very funny book, which incidentally is also good for cat lovers (the discussion of appropriate sleeping places based on moral and aesthetic principles, culminating in the assessment that on top of the rice cooker is the correct place for morning naps is very funny if you have a cat), taking up the problem of the title.

Wagahai wa neko de aru.

(Literally) I Am A Cat.

But the problem is that "wagahai" is kind of like the royal "we" taken to extremes; it's a lordly, infinitely superior way of talking, of saying "I". And the "de aru" form is again ultra-formal, just not the way people ever, ever talk. "Neko" is just cat. So the point is that the whole title is insanely incongruous: how could a cat, of all beings, ever say "wagahai", much less use the "de aru" form? Well, this cat can. Believe me, he can. He may have no name, but "wagahai" he is forever, a lord in his domain, a superior being among cats.

If you think academic humor is EVER funny, you will find this book hysterical. Absolutely the funniest thing you've ever read. If you hate all such things, you may not like this. But it's a pity: this cat is a charmer.

If you own a cat, of course, and he does things like indicate (ever so subtly) that somehow he is a superior being who deigns to live with you but is actually studying you for some kind of philosophical text, then you know this cat. And if you're an academic with a cat, you'll get it in two chapters, and be hooked for the rest.

A brilliant translation of a wonderful book. Read it and laugh!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Be Put Off
Review: I picked up I AM A CAT while browsing one day and almost put it back because I didn't feel like reading a book of its heft (it's over 600 pages) at that moment. But I read the first few pages and realized I had a gem and finished the book in a couple of weeks. The first person (cat) voice of the narrative is inspired. As other reviews have said, Soseki Natsume offers an amusing commentary human nature particularly of academics and hypochondriacs. However, he also offers a closely observed and humorous commentary on cat behavior that can come only from living in close proximity to a cat. Moments when the cat describes his shock on seeing his first human with it's horribly bald face, or his attempt to keep his dignity after finding the theft and eating of a sticky rice ball more difficult than he anticipated are priceless for their humor and vivid description. It is true, however, that as the book progresses the cat's stories become increasingly focused on the humans around him.

I am not in a position to offer an opinion on the translation, however, this book was my introduction to Soseki and I have since read several of his other works in various translations and find this book to be consistent with the style, tone and humor of that emerges from other translations of his writings.

I also found I AM A CAT highly readable. It was originally published serially over many years, and the short vignettes it offers allow one to pick it up and put it down without losing the thread of an overarching story. Additionally, the format of many short stories allows some to be more humorous and other to be more philosophical even poignant and in the best of the stories all three at once. It is a highly imaginative, thoughtful and funny set of stories about human foibles.

Rating:
Summary: an rigorous but amusing read
Review: this book took me over 8 months to complete, but it was certainly worth the time spent. it was immensely enjoyable although long-winded at times. there were some minor flaws in the translation -- i recommend this to high-level readers because of the vocabulary. i like cats & i like books about cats, especially if they are smart, and this is a very smart book. you would do well by reading it, i am sure!

Rating:
Summary: I am a cat is not for shallow thinkers
Review: This is a very hard book for younger teens. Our 8th grade class has not understood the high class chinese philosphy that the cat uses we can never figure out whether he is being sarcastic or being real. Our teacher laughs at us because he thinks that it is so simply to follow. I have noticed that is is not a good book of the younger generation of kids unless they know alot about chinese philosophy!

Rating:
Summary: intellectual snobs
Review: This is an excellent book by one of Japan's best authors. It is satirical, imaginative, and insightful. It really does give you a unique impression of one of the most dramatic periods in Japan's history. The changes Japan was going through during the setting of this book were probably more dramatic than has ever happened in any other country.
The translation is also very good, not that I'm in any position to be able to compare to the original...unlike, evidently, some reviewers:

What bothers me about some of these reviews, as usually happens with translations, is how often people whine about the quality of the translation. Some great thinker on here has called this one "comically inept." did he actually sit around reading this book in public chuckling in the hopes that someone would ask him why? "oh, it is just this inane translation of a Soseki novel. such pedantic dribble. this charlatin translator is only revealing his ignorance. allow me to enlighten you..." Why doesn't HE make the REAL translation, correct verb uses and all, since everyone else is too stupid to get it.