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The cat can stare into your very soul.
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Before we get too deep into this review, I want to tell you all something.
I promise I don't have a blood fetish or something disgusting like that. I'm just a sucker for a good, dark story (and hey, let's admit that the stories with the really nasty stuff happening are the stories that better hold the attention of our emotions).
And boy is Felidae a good, dark story. I mean, it's a "novel of cats and murder."
By the way, this might be the only time the words "cats" and "murder" will be put together in such a context. Isn't that interesting? Yes. What? I'm tired so I'm going to finish writing this.
I first stumbled across the story of Felidae while I was one day aimlessly clicking around youtube. Bored, I decided I would watch the first full-length movie I stumbled upon. I saw a few animated cats. "Oh! I love cats! And I could definitely spring for a simple kid's movie," I thought. "Simple kid's movie" indeed. If there's anything this book isn't, it's a story meant for the fragile minds of children. Really. No kid wants to watch a movie like this.
Before we get too deep into this review, I want to tell you all something.
I promise I don't have a blood fetish or something disgusting like that. I'm just a sucker for a good, dark story (and hey, let's admit that the stories with the really nasty stuff happening are the stories that better hold the attention of our emotions).
And boy is Felidae a good, dark story. I mean, it's a "novel of cats and murder."
By the way, this might be the only time the words "cats" and "murder" will be put together in such a context. Isn't that interesting? Yes. What? I'm tired so I'm going to finish writing this.
I first stumbled across the story of Felidae while I was one day aimlessly clicking around youtube. Bored, I decided I would watch the first full-length movie I stumbled upon. I saw a few animated cats. "Oh! I love cats! And I could definitely spring for a simple kid's movie," I thought. "Simple kid's movie" indeed. If there's anything this book isn't, it's a story meant for the fragile minds of children. Really. No kid wants to watch a movie like this.
But I sure wanted to. Five of five stars.
In simplest terms, this book is what it says it is: it's a bunch of cats investigating the murders of a bunch of other cats. I might also add that I read this book quite a while ago, so forgive me if I'm a bit hazy on important details--like the names of the cats that died. Anyway.
So there's a new cat on the block, named Francis, and before he knows it, he's up to his little kitty nose (almost literally) in the spilled blood of his neighbor cats and the business of a mass religious kitty cult. Said kitty cult worships an inspiring figure named Claudandus. But for the sake of simplicity, I'll leave what I can about the cult of self-harming cats to the discovery of the future reader and focus on the noir murder mystery portion of this novel.
With the help of his sharp-tongued friend kitty, Bluebeard, Francis ultimately follows the string of surprisingly graphic and bloody murders to its end. There are a few scenes, mostly during the climax of the novel, that really stick with me (even now, months after I originally read the novel).
One would have to be the conclusion to the climactic battle itself. Francis, of course our victor after much struggle and heartbreak, has finally felled the mighty Claudandus. Here, have a little excerpt:
I ran to him and turned his head toward me. He was bleeding horribly, and I saw that the cut was larger than I originally thought. I could almost see into his esophagus. Nevertheless, a roguish grin flitted over his face. He opened his eyes with an infinite slowness and with difficulty looked at me intently. No anger, no fear, and no reproach were in them--also no regret.
"So much darkness in the world," he wheezed. "So much darkness, Francis. No light. Only darkness. And there is always someone who will take it upon himself. Always. Always. Always. I have become evil, but once I, too, was good..."
"So much darkness in the world," he wheezed. "So much darkness, Francis. No light. Only darkness. And there is always someone who will take it upon himself. Always. Always. Always. I have become evil, but once I, too, was good..."
And this becomes the unbelievable focal point of the novel for me. Yes, this novel is about social darwinism. This is extremely evident (though admittedly only if you actually read the book, since I haven't addressed it here at all). But I have a habit of finding the lesser meaning of a story more entertaining than the major meaning. It's in Claudandus's dying words, the "I have become evil, but once I, too, was good..." that I feel like I've read something deep.
It's then that, to me, the book became less about the forced change of a species to create a superior race and more about the unconscious change of a single being out of prejudice. Maybe I'm diving way too deeply into the literature here, but that's hard not to do with this particular novel. It's like the whole thing is screaming "PICK ME APART. I HAVE GOOD THEMES AND STUFF TO TALK ABOUT."
I'm not entirely sure where I was going with this blog. I'm sorry. I'm going to redirect the one-sided conversation and talk about the general writing now, I promise. The themes were just so nice. Themes to me are like shiny things to a rook. Very distracting.
It's then that, to me, the book became less about the forced change of a species to create a superior race and more about the unconscious change of a single being out of prejudice. Maybe I'm diving way too deeply into the literature here, but that's hard not to do with this particular novel. It's like the whole thing is screaming "PICK ME APART. I HAVE GOOD THEMES AND STUFF TO TALK ABOUT."
I'm not entirely sure where I was going with this blog. I'm sorry. I'm going to redirect the one-sided conversation and talk about the general writing now, I promise. The themes were just so nice. Themes to me are like shiny things to a rook. Very distracting.
Anyway.
Obviously I wouldn't be ranting and raving about this book if I didn't think it deserved the rating I gave it. Usually there's a fine line between what I consider a four-star book and what I consider a five-star book, but for me, Felidae shot across that line and demanded every star. Of course I couldn't say no. Not to writing as powerful, and a plot as unique and well-put-together as it had. It would be like saying that Geoffrey Rush couldn't have his Oscar for best supporting actor in King's Speech.
Oh wait. That happened.
Oh wait. That happened.
In plain, non-sleepy English: I liked it. A lot.
However, I have strong feelings that not everyone is going to like this book. In fact, I'm sure some people are going to really dislike this book. It might be a better idea for some to just stick to watching the animated movie. Which, contrary to the popular belief that movies are never as good as their book counterparts, is incredible as well. I even watched it in English dub as opposed to the original German, and it was still very good.
I recommend. IF
...you can handle some serious bloodshed and a specific awkward scene on top of how seriously this novel treats the topic it's discussing. I'm talking guts-strewn-on-the-wall and a bit of too-friendly cats with almost no comic breaks in between. Yeah. It's painfully awkward, but it's painfully important, and if you skip the latter you will not be able to make sense of the plot. So.
In conclusion? Please don't read this book if you hate the idea of cats being anything other than the cuddly furry animals that curl up on your lap and purr every day. Like Watership Down, this book has a good chance of destroying that mental perspective for you. But please do read this book if it's sounded at all interesting to you so far. It's out-of-print and you'll have to get a copy from Amazon (or another internet bookstore), but believe me, my copy was well worth the seven dollars I spent on it.
In conclusion? Please don't read this book if you hate the idea of cats being anything other than the cuddly furry animals that curl up on your lap and purr every day. Like Watership Down, this book has a good chance of destroying that mental perspective for you. But please do read this book if it's sounded at all interesting to you so far. It's out-of-print and you'll have to get a copy from Amazon (or another internet bookstore), but believe me, my copy was well worth the seven dollars I spent on it.
For those of you adverse to the idea of book-buying, I really do suggest the movie. And then you'll love it so much that you'll go buy the book. Like I did.
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