number 31 - The Cat Who Saved Books - Sosuke Natsukawa

 

Running a little bit behind on these at the moment.  I finished this last week but haven't had a chance to post here. 

First of all, that's a very pretty cat on the cover, and it's shiny, and that's the entire reason I bought this.  Yes, I am that easy to persuade to buy a book.

This is another Japanese fantasy novel in the form of four linked novellas. This time, the theme is the value of books.

Rintaro Natsuki is a teenager who runs a bookshop, Natsuki books, with his grandfather. When his Grandfather dies he's considering closing up the shop and moving away to live with his aunt, (both parents having died when he was a very small child).

He's visited in his shop by a ginger tabby cat that talks.  It takes him through a labyrinth that appears at the back of the shop on quests to save books from undignified fates.  One man who imprisons books, one who destroys them and one who betrays them.  The fourth quest is a far more personal odyssey for young Rintaro.

It's written in a very similar style to Before the Coffee gets Cold as well as being an identical format.  I don't know if that's a common format in the Land of the Rising Sun, or just for the books that publishers deign to translate for the English audiences.

 This was a nice easy read with some good points to make about the value of books and the trend for simplifying and bowlderising works of literature.  Rintaro makes for a sympathetic protagonist and his developing relationships form a nice emotional heart to the story.

All in all a solid little book, a quick read with a great cover.