If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
With a title like that, how could I not read this book? Apparently other people also came to this conclusion, so I had to wait weeks for the ebook from SFPL. Unfortunately, this book was disappointing. It tried very hard to be deep but read like a children’s book, yet not in a good way like Le Petit Prince.
1) “I had a slight fever that was plaguing me and a pounding migraine on the right side of my head. Since I hate going to the doctor, I was just barely keeping myself together with the help of some over-the-counter drugs, but after two weeks with no improvement I finally caved in.”
Headaches are no joke.
2) “‘In order to gain something, you have to lose something.'” – Aloha
This was the whole premise of the story, but the idea was already stale by the second chapter.
3) “I wonder why people always expect from others things that they themselves can’t or won’t do.”
Wow I should be more conscious of this. My expectations are already low and may need to be lower.
4) “With the invention of mobile phones, the idea of not being able to find the person you’re supposed to be meeting disappeared. People forgot what it meant to be kept waiting.”
I want to see a longitudinal study with questions like: “How long do you expect to wait for a text response?”, “How long do you expect to wait for the DMV to call you back?”, and see how the answers change over time.
5) “There are lots of people in this world who want to sell their souls to the devil. The problem is, there isn’t a devil around who’s willing to buy.”
When someone sells out, who’s the buyer?
6) “It’s the future you’ll never get to see that you really regret missing most of all when you die.”
Optimism is one of the most powerful traits of humanity.
7) “Cabbage looked like he had no idea what the hell I was talking about. He must have truly forgotten her. Cabbage’s complete ignorance made me so sad.”
I’ll confess that I didn’t know cats and dogs have no long term memory. Do they really not? Google is inconclusive.
8) “‘Yes. That’s what I remember when I look at these photos. Simply that I was happy.'” – Cabbage
I used to hate taking pictures, but not anymore. The feeling of nostalgic happiness from looking at old pictures is unreplicable.
9) “Cats don’t need us. It’s us who needs them.”
That’s why dogs are superior.
10) “You discovered that despite the boredom and the everyday routines of life that there is a real beauty in it.”
This is my nightly 11:30pm thought.
My order of disappearance:
1 – Cats
2 – Movies
3 – Clocks
4 – Phones
5 – Me