Book Review – The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

It’s been a year since my last book review. But in those 12 months, so much has happened for my family and I – The Big Move occupied all my attention.

So i did finish reading this lovely book, The Cat Who Saved Books, a few months ago but I have only found time to write a review now.

It’s another English translation of a Japanese novel. I previously reviewed a translated book here. This book is translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Once again, highlighting the hard work a translator puts into bringing us a wonderful story we might otherwise not have the privilege of reading in our native language.

The start of this story was a little slow but the writing was simple and lovely. The main character, Rintaro, is a young boy who just lost his grandfather. It’s stated upfront in the prologue so you know immediately that the state of affairs is not great.

We go on to learn that there’s a little bookshop Grandfather left behind, score point for a book-lover like me. Rintaro grew up in that bookshop, something I wished many times for myself. The bookshop houses books that are rare and out of print as well as other treasures, another plus point. But now he may have to leave it all behind – oh, no 😦 He is considered too young to live by himself.

As I got to know Rintaro, I became a little irritated with him, just like Sayo, Rintaro’s class rep, who visited him numerous times at the bookshop, bringing the homework he missed because he didn’t feel like going to school. I found myself wishing that Rintaro would take action more but that’s the point of the story.

This mysterious cat appears out of the back of the bookshop, literally, and tells Rintaro that the books he loves so much needs his help. As Rintaro reluctantly follows the cat, moving through the different labyrinths and challenging the various people who treat books in strange and sometimes terrible ways, Rintaro learns, grows and takes brave steps to save these books. Sayo becomes part of these adventures too.

The end (i will NOT reveal it) put a smile on my face and brought a warmth to my heart. And I wondered if I would have said and done the things Rintaro did. Truly, what he did and said does warrant time and effort to mull over.

If you like books, if you enjoy fantasy without any gore, if you think a talking cat is great, you should have a read.

Happy Reading.

syc