I know, I know it has been forever since I have posted anything. A lot has happened in the last several years and I was doing my best to survive stuff. Reading was my refuge but the blogging became a chore so I stepped back from it. A lot of things have happened. My sons got married. Zack has 3 boys now. Cody, sadly passed in 2019. We cared for my mother in law from 2017 until her death last year. My dad died in 2017. So much more I can tell you but for now I really need to tell you about this amazing story I just finished
"The Cat Who Saved Books" is written by Sosuke Natsukawa. This is my first book with him and I am happy to report probably not my last. A little background on him. Sosuke Natsukawa is a doctor in Japan. There isn't too much out there about him except his first book, KAMISAMA NO KARUTE (GOD'S MEDICAL RECORDS) won the Shogakukan Fiction Prize and received 2nd Place at the Japan Bookseller Awards. With "The Cat Who Saved Books", I am sure, we will start hearing much much more of him.
So what is this book about? My favorites things of course, books! But it is so much more. It is a modern fairy tail with a hero, villains, a damsel in distress and dangerous adventure. If you read "The Life a Pi" by Yann Martel, (and if you haven't, go immediately to your book procurement location and get it), you will remember Patel was stranded on a life boat with wild animals, including a man eating tiger. They were real until they were more. It was an allegory for survival and the deep discovery of what is bravery. "The Cat Who Saved Books" is very similar. What seems real or not real turns out to be MORE and our hero learns what bravery looks like.
The main character is Rintaro Natsuki, a high school kid who lives with his grandfather after his parents died. His grandfather owns a used bookstore. When his grandfather unexpectedly dies Rintaro inherits the bookstore. He is still in high school and is extremely introverted. He tells everyone he is hikikomori, socially withdrawn. He doesn't like school and as soon as his grandfather dies, he stops going. He is supposed to close the bookstore and move in with an Aunt he doesn't know. He is fine with that plan until Tiger the talking tabby shows up. Tiger is a typical cat; a little arrogant and doesn't suffer fools. He engages Rintaro on 4 mazes to save books. Each labyrinth is more complicated and the villain more wily. An accidental sidekick is Saya who is a school friend. She is an unusual young woman who isn't daunted by a talking cat or strange places that appear behind the bookstore wall. Rintaro relies on his grandfather's wise words and his own love of books to defeat the destroyers of books.
Of course they save the books, but more importantly they save Rintaro. In the beginning Rintaro wants to run at the first sign of conflict. He has no clue what he needs to do to defeat the bad guys. He then realizes they aren't really bad guys. They are misguided lovers of books who have twisted their love into obsession which results in them destroying the very objects of their obsession. By the final adventure Rintaro is more comfortable in his skin and more confident of his purpose.
It is a very relevant tale for today. With people looking only at the surface because they are too busy to go deeper to find the truth we are dumbing ourselves down. The internet makes it so easy to stay on the surface. Reading takes time, requires us to stop, and pay attention.
I loved this book because it was a really good story with well realized characters and because I had several aha! moments. The story was talking to me and at the end I felt like I had taken the journey with Rintaro and I decided to restart my blog so maybe I can help save books too!
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