| Title | : | From the Belly of the Cat |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9789810776565 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 233 |
| Publication | : | First published November 1, 2013 |
For best results, read this book at home on the sofa on a rainy afternoon, with a cup of warm tea within reach, and a cat by your side.
From the Belly of the Cat Reviews
-
some interesting stories, a couple of really dull ones. A comfortable read for a rainy cold day.
but please don't kill cats in a cat anthology, cat lovers read these things you know -
As with all the short story collections, I will rate them individually:
The cat auntie of Lengkok Bahru : 3
Maruchan : 2
The cat that disappeared : 2
Laundromat : 5
The god of cats : 2
Cat Sickness : 3
Robotz attack teh citeh : 5
Visiting : 3
Waiting for William : 3
Tiger baby : 1
George : 4
Other people's cats : 4
Feeding the cats : 4
The jump : 2
The fat cat, ate dad's hat : 3
And so the average turns out to be: 46 / 15 = 3 -
3.5⭐ " If they had to pick one person to keep, it would not be her. It would never be her, this ill-fitting, elusive thing.”
**spoilers**
If you’re following my reviews, thanks for rolling with me ♡
It’s the fifth season of Stitcher’s
LeVar Burton Reads, and we’re gifted with “Tiger Baby” by J.Y. Yang.
This is such a cool story, because it evoked some history in me. Stuff I forgot or felt so natural, I haven’t noticed in years.
I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced any kind of heightened body/identity dysphoria.
But I can remember at least three occasions, where I fixated on assimilating into something nonhuman.
When I was five, I curled my hands into paws so often, I can naturally assume my hands in that shape without feeling strange, the same way someone might flatten and point their hands to show you their manicure. I feel ready to walk around on them, it’s that embedded.
I refused to play with the other kids or speak English unless I absolutely had to. I loved to climb the stairs on hands/knees and look down at all the humans playing in the living room. I’d think, “I’m not a kid, I’m a lion cub.” My star sign is a Leo too.
When I was twelve, I decided I was a witch. I didn’t deliberate or try to convince myself that it was crazy and I made no outward announcements. I just decided I was a witch. I never could find the right conduit for using power though. Wands never felt right. Smooth stones were close. I never told anyone, but I tried to quietly will things. Sometimes it worked.
The last thing is still true, and probably goes back to the lion tendency. When I swim, I enjoy being at the depths, and I feel like a fish. At least until I have to breathe. I can never understand why people go to the pool and just sit and talk. Or toss beach balls around. Whatever. I came to be under water and that’s where I stay. The world is quieter and I feel part of the quiet. I like to move through it. It feels familiar and congruent with my movement.
I think all these things are just moments where I don’t feel particularly human. I have a friend who was once quite certain she was from another planet, so I’m not alone here. A lot of us feel at odds with humanity, and more to the point, with humanity’s rhythm. I think that’s why Feli lost her job. She can’t keep that rhythm. That song isn’t for everyone. And where does that leave the rest of us?
What happens when you’re at odds with where you’re born or what you are? I’m fortunately not trapped or confined, but some are. The solutions for them are sparse and complicated.
I think everyone deserves to live at peace and in their element. There's nothing comparable to that freedom, and anyone trying to suppress it, is a miserable excuse for a human.
Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet with us at
LeVar Burton Reads: The Community on Facebook.
- 📚☕♥
Goodreads Official Star Representation
5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.
*backdated to exclude from Goodreads challenge -
Would have loved to see more variations in tone and scope between the stories selected here but other than that, this book was calming and imaginative and a great way to escape from real life for a couple hours!
-
my favourite pieces:
- laundromat / amanda lee koe
- robotz attackz teh citeh / joshua ip
- george / jemimah james wei
- other people's cats / jon gresham -
Hilarious, heartfelt and bittersweet.
-
A mixed bag, as with basically all short story collections. Highlights for me include:
- "Cat Sickness" by Sabrina Huang (in sheer literary terms, the best one in my opinion, but also it hurts my cat-loving heart)
- "Feeding the Cats" by Melissa Powers (nicely signalled twist, had me crowing)
- "Tiger Baby" by J. Y. Yang (love me a surreal tale of a woman transforming/escaping)
Special mention to "Laundromat" by Amanda Lee Koe, which I first read and enjoyed in her solo collection, Ministry of Moral Panic. The cats (though portrayed very true-to-life) are rather incidental in it, otherwise it'd have been a contender for my top three. -
Loved the collection of short stories - a couple of good ones, the rest decent (wont say its boring which is pretty good). Also? Someone intentionally created a character that killed her cat on purpose. Are you trying to hurt us cat lovers?
-
Anthology of short stories related to cat, with Singapore as the background. Good book for a cat lover.
-
Nice little collection of short stories involving cats (not to be confused with the movie). 5 stars for ROBOTZ ATTACK TEH CITEH and Waiting for William.
-
paused @ p99.
-
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦: 𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠
✰᪥𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬♪✩
.
.
NYAN. I love this book🐱 -
From the Belly of the Cat is an interesting collection of short stories about cats set in Singapore.
The stories are varied, and they invite us to see our sunny island in different light and from different perspectives, with cats as the main focus.
I like how the stories serve as a form of prism to showcase the different shades of our Singaporean culture and way of living, through the lens of our cute and furry felines that are actually quite prevalent in certain housing estates.
As is recommended in the blurb, and I agree with it, this book is best read “at home on a sofa on a rainy afternoon, with a cup of warm tea within reach, and a cat by your side”.
If you’re a Singaporean cat-lover, I’ll recommend this book to you!
4/5
P.S. Thank you @amewreads for buddy-reading this with me! ☺️ Some of my favourites include Laundromat, Cat Sickness, Robotz Attackz Teh Citeh, Waiting for William, George and Feeding the Cats! -
I came across this book at the Singapore Art Book Fair at the BooksActually booth. I was struggling between getting this book, "I will survive" or both (which wasn't that feasible due to budget issues), but I didn't regret reading it. The short stories were a mix of genres between the gore and the imaginative, and they were really written really well and for most parts, captured pretty much the relationship between human owners and cats, and also life in the perspective of the cat. Haven't enjoyed a good fictional read for quite some time and it was an enjoyable read (unfortunately I didn't have a cat to accompany me while reading it as recommended. lol)
Highly recommended to cat lovers! -
For a cat person, and a self-proclaimed reader, I gotta read this one the first time I knew my BFF read it. Some of the stories are heartwarming, some leaving me sad (because I always overthink about stray cats that I met), and some are, mad (in a good way).
Cat changes many lives, touches many hearts, fills the gap of emotional needs for many humans. I cried for my cats that had passed away. After I finished this book, I really really hope that the rainbow up in the sky, is big enough for all the cats in the world.
As big as the heart of the humans who loved them, always and forever. -
From the Belly of the Cat contains stories relating to, with mention of, and about cats that may make you cringe in disgust, crave the comfort of a cat winding between your legs or let you step into the shoes (or paws) of cats and have a glimpse of how they think. It is indeed a wonderful collection of cat stories that will keep you entertained from beginning to the end.
-
Awesome collection of short stories chock-full of cats.
-
Cats are great. And this collection is beautiful so is the illustrations.
-
Finally picked this up in honour of #BuySingLit. After reading a life-changing book called Why We Write, it felt like a perfect time to read local literature anyway to see what I'm potentially competing with. Some stories were kinda fucked up, and I couldn't believe these were written by Singaporeans. A long time ago I would be jealous and a little bit angry at the thought of other Singaporeans actually having good English and great writing skills, but I'm all the more inspired in trying to get published now. I know this isn't a proper review of this book's content, but hell it's made me so damn determined to chase my more-than-a-decade-long dream right now.
-
Enjoyable overall, but as with most anthologies of short stories there exist a couple of mystifying inclusions.
