The Guest Cat
By: Takashi Hiraide / Narrated By: David Shih
Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
Abrupt ending doesn’t mar the elegance and sensitivity of this story
But still, as this is such a short read/listen, and as the story has progressed past, welllll, no spoilers but there really, really could have been more story added to the end, I totally wish author Takashi Hiraide (A well-known poet) expanded a bit more onto this rather abrupt ending. Still, who the heck am I to judge; all I can say is that I finished the audiobook with a sense of yearning.
But perhaps that’s the point because the whole thing is written with yearning and wistfulness as the major emotions one feels when one listens to this. I know this is the second year of Audiobook Accomplice’s celebration of all things Asian and Pacific for the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but I’m still baaaarely getting a sense of the culture and written forms of the Homelands. I s’pose, then, that I can say I felt that this story looked at simple lives that were revved up by the guest cat, Chibi—the little cat that belonged to the boy next door.
The story is about a middle-aged and childless couple who work at home in the guesthouse that they rent. All is well and they don’t so much as plod along with each other as it’s that they’ve gotten too comfortable with their silent lives. Enter Chibi, also dubbed Tinkerbell for the collar with jingle bell she sports. The woman has a way with animals, the man is instantly smitten, the house itself seems to welcome her as just what it was missing.
Though Chibi dashes out the door to walk a bit of the way with her little boy when he goes to school, she gravitates towards to the couple. With them she spends her day, napping, loving, getting some mackerel. And conversation between the couple blossoms with their newfound happiness with Chibi, with some of her scrapes and escapades.
But the story gives us the message that nothing last forever, not relationships, not leases in wonderful little guest houses, and that hope can die slowly and most sorrowfully indeed. And what does one do with grief and sorrow and confusion?
It turns out that you pick yourself up and get on with life and carry on until you hit the next loving and hopeful phase of Life. This is a slow story, without much plot, but with David Shih’s quiet and low-key narration (He’s one of my favorites!) which sparkles with new life when it enters, it’s a very good one.
A light listen that has its joys and sorrows and that gives us a sense of the ebb and flow of life in Japan, this charming book miiiiiiight cause a tear to fall at surprising times. And it miiiiiiight cause a chortle or two to escape you, if you’ve ever loved or lived with a cat.
But even if you’re not Cat Savvy, you might be able to embrace this little, seemingly unimportant, gem as it breaks down everyday life and hands it back to you glimmering, simmering, shimmering, with joy and with beauty.
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