reviews
previous reviews here
strong opinions ahead
just where i post all my little reviews on the books or stuff i've consumed lately.
if cats disappeared from the world by genki kawamura
i started reading this a while back, but finals totally fucked me up and i never finished - even though it's supershort. anyway! honestly, i get what all the fuss was. this book was so endearing. i enjoy those soft, profound pieces of lit a lot - obviously - and this one kind of exceeded my expectations. i had judged it to be a "blah blah life is for the living oh look a cat" kind of book, where there is very little unique thought beyond what we've already encountered. i also was worried it would be aggressively romantic towards cats - nature's assholes - but it wasn't. in fact, it didn' really explore what it would be like if cats in general disappeared, but just what would happen if the MC's cat disappeared due to a deal with the devil. nice. (also,it goes without saying i am a cat person. love em.) however, it doesn't just investigate cats but also how we'd live without phones, time, movies, variations of these things we've placed so much meaning on that aren't incredibly impactful to the natural world. i also got emotional at the ending but i am totally soft.
"i got the sense that the endless ticking sound in my head might actually be the sound of the hearts of all the people in the world beating in time with one another."
i would rate this an 8/10. i think it might be something i revisit in my more melancholic moments.