Welcome to Litsy!

This just scraped a low pick: I found the initial ⅓ or so hard work & throughout it was heavy-handed. I like an author to leave at least some of the work to me, but Kawamura Really. Hammered. Home. Every. Point.
I also found the Faustian bargain element off-the-shelf & only marginally less annoying than the dialogue, which was really *very* annoying. However...
Within all that, there was an interesting and affecting human story to be excavated 3½⭐

“We may think we own cats, but that‘s not the way it is. They simply allow us the pleasure of their company.”

My sadly missed boy, Frankie. Reading this book is stirring bittersweet feelings of loss. It's weird to think it's been a couple of years since he passed ❤️🐈‍⬛❤️
#CatsOfLitsy

This is a contemporary Japanese re-telling of the Faustian bargain. It‘s an interesting philosophical novella, one that falls smack bang in the middle of Paulo Coelho and Haruki Murakami. Pick it up when you‘re in a pensive mood but short on time. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/if-cats-disappeared-from-the-world-genki-ka...

How do you make a novella look like a novel? Double line spacing and a large font 😑
I'm on page 26, and whether it's the original or the translation, it's a clunky read that's currently fending off my attempts to get drawn in. I'll try a bit longer - one million Japanese people can't be wrong, can they?

I'm starting this next. This looks cute - I don't know anything about it, just going off the cover.

Another 99p Kindle deal

#ukkindledeal #99ponkindle

An interesting book.

Read for reading prompts.

Library book 📖

4/5

If cats disappeared from the world... this book is tugging on all heartstrings you'd expect 🐈‍⬛

This is a soft pick for me. I really wasn't feeling it. Took me three days to finish it, when, normally, I would have finished a short book like this in one sitting. However, towards the end, I did feel it, and I'm nothing if not an emotional reader.

If my life were a movie…

#TemptingTitles #April2023 Day 19: #WithCat

#Japan #Tokyo #cats #photochallenges
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Halfway through this teeny volume...

I'm going to assume that much was lost in translation from the original Japanese. The retelling in letter form also distanced me from the narrative, to the point where most of the novella left me cold. If it was a short story focused on just the importance of cats to this young man's life, I think it would have had more emotional impact, but I felt like I was reading a lot of subpar filler, platitudes and cliches, around that core truth.

⭐️⭐️½
I honestly don't have a lot to say about this one. I didn't love the style (wondering if that is due to the translation...?) and felt some of the messaging was heavy-handed. Some sections were moving, and I did end up crying on my flight, but overall it was just meh.

I could, however, envision it being turned into a film and I think that would improve upon the story.

This is a sweet little book that can easily be read in one sitting. It really makes you question what's important to you, what you've done with your life and the relationships you have or don't have. I honestly just could not put it down.

I think most people will laugh and cry while reading this book. It packs a huge punch of emotions, but overall you come away feeling uplifted.

My topics bookclub for November is reading about cats, so of course this came off my TBR shelf.

I thought the depiction of the devil was amusing, but overall I didn‘t connect very well with the book. Because it‘s translated the dialog didn‘t feel natural, which kept pulling me out of the story.

The cat in the story is endearing while also having the aloofness that cat lovers know well.

The end of the book was satisfying, so 3 of 5⭐️ for me.

This Japanese novel about a Faustian bargain was made a bit awkward by the #audiobook narration, but I enjoyed it overall. The narrator was very chipper for voicing a dying man meeting with the devil. Weird…

The devil appears to a dying postman and offers to keep him alive for each day he chooses a thing to disappear from the world. But how do you select something to be gone forever?

Started this one a while back, but didn‘t get a chance to finish it. Hoping to get through this novel quickly.

It‘s a light hearted read perfect pick for all cat lovers. The MC has to erase a thing permanently from his life in order to get extension on his counted living days. So whether he ll exchange his cat for his life or he ll choose death? It is insightful & emotional. But one distinguishing factor of Japanese lit was missing in this, couldn‘t figure it out. 3.5🌟 #bookspinbingo #booksaboutcats #life

An interesting premise that fell flat. I expected something more speculative but got something very philosophical instead as a dying man agrees to let the devil dissappear something new everyday to get another day of life, first phones, then movies and clocks. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't all that invested either.

As Japanese lit goes, this one is low on the weird scale (which for me goes from a bit absurd to completely bonkers). But it does offer the reader a chance to reflect on what life would be without some essential items in a bid for an extra day of life. Then as the title goes, would remove cats from this world for that extra day? Either I‘m an unfeeling bot or this book didn‘t delve deeply enough into the character‘s life that it‘s just a soso read

A heartwarming book. I laughed out loud at parts and cried into my hands at others. The characters were unique and the Devil especially charming, if a little flamboyant for the poor postman. This is a book about reflection and, above all, appreciation for life just as it is. Unexpectedly, I finished the last page with an overwhelming sense of hope. A happy ending, to be sure.

Full review here - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4086492929

I‘m halfway through the book and have to admit that I don‘t love it as much as I was hoping for. It‘s a pleasant read but nothing more. I‘m not impressed by the writing style (might be due to the translation though) and the story so far is not as intriguing as I was hoping. A nice read but not a book that will stay with me for a long time - at least up to this point.

Another new book by another japanese author🙈 apparently this is what I enjoy reading the most this year. The cover looks so pretty, and I‘m curious about the story: the devil offers a deadly sick postman to prolong his life. Each day he lives longer, one thing disappears from the world... on the first day, it‘s all phones. On the second day all movies, then all watches and when all cats are supposed to disappear, the postman decides to step in.

3/5

An Interesting little short book that would be a good fit in between larger reads (I'm also currently reading Dune). It reflects on the meaning of life and makes you question, what would you be willing to make disappear, so that you could live one more day?

... In order to gain something, you have to lose something.

It was not bad, it was not great. it was ok. Predictable, sweet, a little whimsical. This is a good coffee table book. Something you can read when you are too distracted, overwhelmed, and need a tiny dose of perspective. I wouldn't read it again, but I don't regret reading it either.

#GenkiKawamura #contemporaryFiction #scribd #audiobook #2.5starreads, #rrkreads

Don't make me even contemplate a catless world!
I'm struggling with Dr Zhivago so Miss K lent me this. It's like in "Good Will Hunting" when Robin Williams' character says of the weird, apparently inconsequential, so-called imperfect things "that's the good stuff!" Significance/value. If I have a criticism it's that the moral is too overtly stated, but it is a charming book. I smiled and I shed a tear, too.

This is a short book, but despite it's size, the story that unfolds is profound and immensely important and should not be rushed. Read this story slowly, savor it, really think about what it's telling you about life and about death. Enjoy the quirkiness of the story it's self, and reflect on your own life.

My final #Booked2020 for this quarter. I tried Jade City for #silkpunk but gave up quickly: too violent for me. This is Asian (but not #PanAsian?) a sweet and reflective, but not gripping, Japanese novel. The premise: the narrator is dying soon, and the (badly dressed) Devil will give him an additional day of life for each category of objects he can eliminate from the world. Each one prompts insights into how he has lived and what really matters.

I will be spending the next few days organizing my book hoard and calling out important reads.

Book 1: If Cats Disappeared From The World

This would be a great read right now!

It really shows how Japanese Contemporary Fiction is currently pushing into surrealism. It's short read about what is really important during times like these.

tl;dr - It's a fun quick read that says a lot!

After a thirty-something postman receives a terminal diagnosis, he is visited by the devil, cheerfully clad in a Hawaiian shirt, who promises he can add another day to the postman‘s diminishing life in exchange for taking away one thing from the world. The catch? It‘s the devil‘s choice. This short tale of a postman and his beloved cat is told with such gentle humor and affection that the bittersweet premise tastes more like hope than despair.

This book is an emotional ride about life, death, relationships, family, values and of course, cats! .
The protagonist is diagnosed with terminal cancer and is told that he could die any day now. He is visited by the Devil and is offered one more day of life in exchange to one thing disappearing from the world.
It's an interesting take on how we don't value things when we have them, only to realize it's importance after we have lost them. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everyone dies eventually. The fatality rate is 100%. So when you think about it in that way, whether it‘s a happy death or an unhappy death depends on how you‘ve lived your life.

You can convince yourself to be happy or unhappy. It just depends on how you choose to see things.

“You only realize what the really important things are when you‘ve lost them.”

When you think about it, it‘s the future you‘ll never get to see that you regret missing the most when you die.

“There‘s something just as inevitable as death. And that‘s life.”

This evening is the second time in a row I have stumbled on a great little gem on the sales shelves while waiting out the awful downtown traffic at Book People. 📚 Not only that, it‘s the second time in a row I have stumbled upon a book by a Japanese author. 🎌 I don‘t know if this exact lightning will strike thrice, but #RushHourBookHaul is a real thing, y‘all. Savin‘ gas money and spendin‘ it on books! 😳

Not impressed. It‘s cheap philosophy with much repetition. If I had taken a drink every time the MC said he‘d taken things for granted, I‘d be passed out. A much better book, with similar subject matter, is The Traveling Cat Chronicles.

I got this book after hearing that it's a philosophy of life. But I felt it was more of a sad book rather than pondering about the good things in life

“The young postman‘s days are numbered. Estranged from his family and living alone with only his cat, Cabbage, to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor‘s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the devil shows up to make him an offer...”

+1 for #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon #ChillingPhotoChallenge #BlackCat

(Also, for yesterday‘s #fallisbooked and tomorrow‘s #screamathonphotochallenge 😂)

I was walking through the bookshop, when I saw this book. It looked plain and simple so I picked it up and read the first page. I was immediately hooked, and read this book as soon as I got home I finished it in a day. This book is so deep and really makes you think about everything you've got. I thank this book so much for giving me a new perspective of life, honestly, it's so good. Plus being a cat lover I must say, I only cried once.
#Cats

I was intrigued by the description of this book so I grabbed it from the new books section at the library today.

Max 🐱says that he is not happy with his mom's choice & wants someone to report her to the ASPCA immediately for this blasphemy & emotional cruelty!🙀🙀🙀
#catsoflitsy 😽💙

This book was not what I was expecting at all. Once I realized the premise, I basically just skimmed through it til the end to see what happens (which is nothing surprising). Not for me!!