Customer Reviews

The Abandoned

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
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Young Peter Brown adores cats, but no one else in his family does. He is constantly trying to adopt cats, but his Nanny just tosses them out. While on a walk Peter's eye is caught by yet another cat, a beautiful striped kitten. He runs off to catch it, and steps right into the path of an oncoming truck. As he lies in bed Peter finds himself changing into an actual cat, and his Nanny promptly tosses him out of the house. Now a stray in an alien world, the terrified Peter runs through London. When he seeks shelter he has a near fatal run in with Dempsey, a mean tom cat. Then Peter is rescued by the lovely Jennie Baldrin, a people hating stray who is, nonetheless, quite taken with Peter. As Jennie teaches Peter how to think and act like a cat, a friendship develops between them that slowly grows into something far deeper and important. This is a wonderful fantasy that will delight cat lovers of all ages. Recommended.

I've been reunited with an old friend. I first read this book about forty years ago. At that age I had no use for cats; too independent, you know. My grandmother gave me the book for a birthday present. I read it and Jennie became a very special "person" in my life. I prayed nightly that I would be transformed into cat as was the little boy in the story. Of course, I would know what I was doing and I could help all the abandoned cats in the world. I lost my copy in a family move along with many other childhood favorites, and never replaced it.

As a sensible, rational adult, I now adore cats. But, I only help one at a time, (my husband never read the book). I don't remember who said it, "You don't have to like cats, but you do have to admire their attitude."

I am so pleased to be able to read it again. It will go on my list of special books to give to readers; young and old, cat lovers and those who don't know they love cats yet.

Paul Gallico is one of the best writers of cat stories ever. He understands them better than anyone I have ever read or known. My mother bought "The Abandoned" for me when I was a child, hospitalized in a Swiss hospital during a Christmas vacation. She read it to me. Then I read it. As the years went by we have given it as gifts over and over again to other cat appreciators. The chapter "When in Doubt Wash" is priceless and almost eerie in its human perception of how a cat's mind works. This story of Jennie the cat is written for people of all ages from children to adult. It is an adventure and a love story. Once you read this you will want to read more by the author and you won't be disappointed. Start with "The Silent Miaow."

I first read this under the English title 'Jenny' years ago and it remained in my mind - especially "When in doubt, wash" - and I have just reread it. My memory hadn't played ticks on me with the passage of time, and it remains the treasure I remembered from way back. All of Paul Gallico's books are wonderful, and no-one should miss 'The Snow Goose' and 'The Hand of Mary Constable' (sadly, I think out of print!). Also, his Mrs 'Arris series.

Gallico has entered the mind of the cat without destroying their integrity, mystery and independent natures - there's nothing Walt Disney about this book - and the way he writes is deceptively simple. You can read this book at face value and enjoy it as a 'nice' story, or appreciate it at a deeper philosophical level which is more rewarding.

More than a book about 'cats' for 'cat lovers', this book says a lot about humanity and the lack of it without without preaching. It creeps into your heart and head without any effort at all and, more importantly, without the cloying sentimentality that many writers about animals descend to.

Be warned, though! If you don't like cats, you probably will after this!

The Abandoned was read to me by my teacher in third or fourth grade (the dark ages), but it has stuck with me ever since. Whenever I am reminded of this book, I think back fondly on the story. Now that I have children of my own, I hope to share it with them. I have always believed cats possess a special magic - The Abandoned only confirms that belief.

Many years ago I read many of Paul Gallico's books. I found this book very charming. Quite different from the books I usually read.

Here a young boy is transformed into a cat and is thrown out of his home by his nanny who hates cats. He meets up with an older female cat who teaches him the tricks and rules on being a cat. The first rule she teaches him is how to wash. When you don't know what to do, she tells him, wash.

The book is a half-century old but is as fresh as today. A good read.

I read this book after it was recommended by a fellow teacher-librarian. I read it aloud to my daughter (then 10 years old), who loved it! Years later, I read it to my Grade 4 class. Events intervened over the month of June, and it was the LAST day of school before summer vacation. After a long assembly we had about 20 minutes left to finish the final two chapters. Alas, the bell rang and all the children were free to go for the summer. No one moved. They all wanted to hear the end of the story. I still see former students who recall that book as a formative one for them.

Although not a cat lover I read Jennie as a ten year old boy living and growing up in Glasgow during the late 60's. I remember borrowing a copy for the Castlemilk public library and read it several time during that summer. I now have two daughters who recently joined their local library, and during the summer holidays the youngest brought back a book called "Abandoned" and started getting really excited about a boy called Peter and a cat called Jennie, almost instantly I recognised it as Jennie. Well we bought a copy and one Sunday I read it again for the first time in 35 years, the memories came flooding back, Peter getting knocked down, the fight with the ginger tom, just wash, a wonderful book and an enduring story for all ages

I have been looking to find this book again since I first read it in 1976! I remember this book so well. I first picked it up so that I would have something to use for a book report in 5th grade. It was so well written that it was one of the first books that I could not put down and read from cover to cover. The details of cat behavior were facinating. I could not stop talking about the book and think of it often as I watch my cats. No one else seemed to have heard of or read this book. In this great era of computers I searched for and have finally found this book again. I look forward to finding a copy to recommend to my daughter (another animal lover). If you are also someone who likes a fun novel full of tidbits of factual information you will enjoy this book. It is an easy read for adults or children who are ready for longer chapter books. The way that the friendship between the boy/cat and the girl cat develops is beautiful and so sincerely written you can imagine it really happening. Enjoy this book.

In one of many 30 page newsletters written in Europe in the 50`s while my great uncle Sydney Morgan worked for the Army and state dept., my great aunt wrote that after she and my great aunt Laura Button, Margaret ( I think a dean at a woman`s college in the east), and Helen Trail from Johnstown, as well as my uncle had pass through the "storybook town" of Vaduz, Lichtenstein, she had learned that the writer Paul Gallico had lived or was living there. Had she known she would have looked up his place of abode. That his book "The Abandoned" was one of her all time favorites and that any body who likes cats should read it and those who do not like cats should also read it, because afterward they will surely like cats. She wrote that she had read that Mr. Gallico had said that he waited to write about cats until he could afford not to worry about money, after the success of his first books which were not about cats.