Things like cell phones, movies, family and friends-and yes, even cats-play an important role in our lives. The unnamed main character, while kind of a dunce, does eventually come to the realization that every little thing in life is, in fact, precious.
That said, If Cats Disappeared from the World definitely has a lot of heart in my opinion. It’s a short read, too, so there isn’t a whole lot of room to flesh out its characters and settings, or to explore its themes very deeply. It made me really wish I could read Japanese well enough to enjoy the story in its original language. From the ham-fisted presentation of its message to the incredibly stilted, almost cringe-worthy dialogue, I really felt like the writing and story-telling fell painfully flat. All throughout, it was impossible for me to forget that this was a translation from the original Japanese. However, the English translation of this story is sadly a little lacking in substance. As a foreign resident of Japan, still more or less an outsider looking in, even I could see and understand some of the cultural nuances in this story’s settings and characters. I could clearly picture much of the imagery of businessmen shuffling around on crowded trains, cramped apartment living, the simple beauty of the everyday, and, of course, the unabashed admiration of cats. Though I listened to the audiobook of the English translation, from start to finish I could tell that this story was very Japanese. What would the world be like if all cats disappeared forever? Written by a Japanese author, this book has a lot of potential to explore very complex themes about the value of life, and all the little things that make it worth living. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura has a very simple premise with potentially complex meaning. If you knew that your life was going to end any day now, and you were presented with the opportunity to permanently erase something very important to you-something like your cell phone, a favourite movie, or your beloved pet cat Cabbage-from the whole world in exchange for one extra day of life, would you do it?
This article originally featured in the November 2021 issue of Connect.
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