Hiro Arikawa

Sentimental Road Story
Review of the Viking Canada hardcover (October 23, 2018) translated by Philip Gabriel from the Japanese language original 旅猫リポート [Travel Cat Report] (November 1, 2012).

For what is initially an unexplained reason, Satoru must give up his cat Nana. He travels around visiting various childhood friends and family in order to seek an appropriate caregiver for his beloved cat. Most of the enjoyment here was hearing Nana the Cat's opinions about the situation and their observations about humans, animals and life in general. The reveal is pretty easy to guess and the story takes a sentimental turn in the end. The cat, who was more sardonic and cynical at first, turns sentimental in the end as well. It was a pleasant and easy read.

Trivia and Links

Poster for the Japanese language movie adaptation of The Travelling Cat Chronicles. Image sourced from IMDb (link below)

This novel was adapted for the Japanese language movie The Travelling Cat Chronicles (2018). You can watch an English subtitled trailer here.… (més)

"Just try it - try pulling me out by force from this basket and I swear I'll scratch so many lines on your face you'll be able to play checkers on it for the next three months."

Let me start by saying that I'm a bit biased - I love cats and I love all things Japanese, so this book had me pretty excited. When I started the book, all I could think about was how cute it was; I was hooked from the very first paragraph! Part of the book is written from the perspective of the cat, Nana, while the rest is written from a third person point of view explaining Satoru's life and the lives of his friends and family.

Even though I'm extremely empathetic, easily connecting to others even when they don't exist, I always stand by one rule when it comes to media - if something can connect with you and invest you so strongly in the story that it can make you cry and tug so forcefully on your heartstrings, that's a sign that it's a damn good piece of art, whether it's a book, a movie or something else. This book has the ability to make you smile, laugh, and even cry. The characters are beautifully crafted and the story is wonderful.

"I have everything I need in life, so why am I such a mean, small person? Why can't I be kinder than Satoru, who has so much less?" Honestly, I felt such a strong urge to respond to this quote. From my own personal experience, those that have lost so much and felt so much pain and sadness, they are typically the ones that smile the brightest and have the kindest hearts. I believe they are like this because they don't want to worry or burden others, and they don't want others to feel as low as they have felt or may still be feeling.

This book reached out to me on so many levels. It warmed my heart, broke it, filled it with laughter, broke it again, and then warmed it again. The feels here are real, my friends. When I first bought the book, I thought the cat would be the main focus - that it would only follow the cat, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it explored his owner, Satoru, and his life as well as those that have entered his life. I'm not disappointed that the cat wasn't the only focus. Not one bit.

This next paragraph may contain a spoiler. From the start, I wondered why Satoru wanted to give away Nana so bad when he clearly loved his so strongly. It wasn't long before my worrisome mind started picturing a bunch of different scenarios as to why. Deep down, I knew why he was looking for a new home for Nana, but I had grown to love Satoru so much that I didn't want to admit it. The book hadn't openly stated it at first, so I held onto hope. Then, towards the end, they finally said it; Satoru was dying. It broke my heart. To think he had been so sick for so long but all he did was smile and act like he was okay...End spoiler

I would have finished this book sooner, to be honest, but I recently started playing World of Warcraft again and I'm a bit addicted. Plus, I was pretty sure how the book was going to end and I was trying to avoid that. By the way, Noriko, Satoru's aunt, drops a huge bombshell towards the end. Like holy hell, my jaw literally dropped open, I couldn't believe it!

So I finished the book last night, it's finally come to an end. How can something so sad be so damn heartwarming at the same time? If I knew what I was getting into, I wouldn't have bought this book solely because I try to avoid anything that's sad, but I have no regrets. If I could go back in time, I'd read this book again. It's the most beautiful story I've ever read in my life and it will forever stay in my heart. In the end, everyone's life must come to an end, but that's not the end of your book, it's just the end of a chapter. This book helps you to re-evaluate life and death in the best way possible.

Satoru. Nana. You'll both be in my heart forever. Thank you for sharing your story, I'll never forget the lessons you taught me.… (més)