The Travelling Cat Chronicles

A cozy and emotional story about a stray cat that found a person it can call home. A book that you can't put down, but be ready to be emotionally destroyed—in a good way of course.

This book has so much to offer. Through Nana’s eyes you get to travel with his owner Satoru and him through Japan in their beloved silver van. As a cat owner myself, Nanas inner dialogue, way of thinking and expressing himself felt as accurate as I could imagine it being inside a cats mind. This book shows the bond between a cat and his owner and celebrates friendship and love in the most beautiful way. You get a look into Satoru's life before meeting Nana and learn about the past of all the friends they meet during their travels. The end leaves you heartbroken but oddly hopeful. I enjoyed this book from the first page to the last, laughed a lot but also cried a few times. For me this is a must-read for all cat lovers!

During the pandemic my partner and my best friend were the only two people I met privately, so when I visited a friend a few weeks ago, it felt both weird and celebratory and we gave each other gifts. This is how I got this wonderful novel - she has impeccable taste! In "The Travelling Cat Chronicles" Hiro Arikawa tells the tale of Satoru, a man who is still quite young and is looking for someone to take care of his cat Nana. The novel is from Nana's perspective and presents the people Satoru considers - all of whom have their own stories of loss and triumph. The human characters - and even the animals to a degree - adhere to the politeness that seems to be so typical of Japan, but there are occasional emotional outbursts nevertheless - and then there is Satoru's aunt Noriko, who is both caring and somewhat distant and moody. She might just be the most complex character in this novel, and like most of the other characters she left me in tears eventually. As I said, this novel is not just about the thrill of having a cat but also tackles loss in many ways. But it still is a beautiful novel for anyone who has loved - and especially anyone who has loved a cat.

Once I realized, where this story was heading, I was all in. It's just as much about the tragedies of life, as it is about the bond between a man and his cat and the joy of life itself. This book absolutely wrecked me, even if it took me a minute to get into.