Customer Reviews

Blitzcat

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book in my 5th grade class when I was a little girl. It tells the story of a forlorn black cat looking for his owner who has gone to fight in the war. This book began my love affair with WWII and enthralled me so that I can't wait to read it with the children I teach.

There is only one word to describe this book...interesting. The author's tyle is very unique. He desplays the main character, a black cat named Lord Gort, differently than most writters of children's books would have. Unlike most animal fiction novels, you cannot read every exact thought running through the cat's mind and you tend to connect more to the human characters in the book. It is definately a weird book. It's written like a child's book: easy to read, short words, ect., but there is sex and violence in it. Also, the cat abandons her young, again unlike most children's books. This is really the type of book you'd have to read to understand. It's incredably unique. I personally think the author tried too hard to mix in the violence of the war, the passion of two lovers, the pain of a lost loved one and the nature of the feline species. I incourage you to read the book before giving it to a daughter or grandson or whatever.

This book mixes compassion and adventure in a winning and thoroughly interesting manner. It was simply a pleasure to read! I loved the cat as well as the way she brightened other's lives. A truly touching story for all ages.

Lord Gort is a cat. Separated from her person, she sets out to find him and in the process meets a number of different people on different situations. Against this backdrop we have a set of short stories, all connected by the cat, and all revealing so much about war time Britain. Westall has researched the events well and describes actual war time events, such as the bombing of Coventry, to create a novel that transports the reader into a bygone era. This is a very good piece of writing, rich in historical detail.

This is an excellent novel! It sparked my interest in World War II at a young age.

It tells the story of a lost cat traveling through England during the Blitz. Much like Jack London's White Fang, Westall's cat character behaves like an actual cat, and not like a humanized version of one.

As a child, she gave me a clear window into the strange world of history. It was hard for me to relate to foreign wars before my time, but I loved cats. Seeing the war through the eyes of a cat helped me to really understand it for the first time.

Robert Westall has a very straightforward writing style. He stays somewhat detached from his characters, allowing the reader to make their own connections and judgments. I found this approach very appropriate for the story - it keeps things feeling realistic instead of seeming like a Disney TV special about a lost cat.

If you like this one, check out Robert Westall's other books about cats or World War II!

First, Westall captures cats better than any writer of fiction around. Without descending to silly anthropomorphism, he presents the behavior and perspective of the cat with just enough distance so that anyone who knows cats will recognize the authenticity at once. Lord Gort is a clever, finicky creature who runs away to find her person rather than be stuck with her person's wife and baby during the war. "Psi trailing"-- where animals can find their way to their owners, even when they've never been to the place where the owner has moved-- is a documented phenomenon, and scientists still don't really understand it.

Second, Lord Gort's travels give Westall an incredible opportunity to present different episodes in the lives of ordinary English people during the way. So we spend time at a train depot, where Lord Gort is hailed as good luck by hollow-eyed returning soldiers. She lives for awhile with a Scottish captain whose division is requisitioning a small town, and we see through her proximity a wary but tender relationship develop between the lady of the house, whose officer husband is in Egypt, and the captain. I was surprised at such a clear depiction of sexual tension and complex emotions in a YA novel, but it's handled subtly and seriously. Lord Gort is also present at the bombing of Coventry, which many Americans may not really know about-- I didn't. I knew Londoners were evacuated during the war, but had not realized the extent of the devastation-- a whole town of displaced people on the brink of starvation.

There's also a wonderful story, complete in itself, about a young war widow on the brink of a life-killing depression, who is jolted by Lord Gort, somewhat against her will, back into life. Her story brought me to tears.

This book is a very quick read-- I stayed up all night to finish it-- but it has a lot of information in it. A great book to teach, perhaps at the middle school level, and an enjoyable read for pleasure.

The thrilling adventures of this courageous feline draw you in. You can't put the book down! Your heart will go out to Lord Gort as she faces challenge after challenge as she searches for her long lost master during World War II, and brings hope to those she meets along the way.

I have so enjoyed this book. Of course, I am a cat lover, but also a lover of fiction, literature and good stories. Robert Westall writes a lovely and wonderful tale ("tail") about a black cat "Lord Gort" and her travels during war torn England to seek her person (whom has been separated from her due to the war). Her adventures are enthralling, and you just keep turning page after page to learn more about her and the people and circumstances she encounters. Her spirit and tenacity are greatly admired and the book a thoroughly enjoyable read. Of course, it is a MUST for "Cat lovers", but for anyone else who enjoys a wonderful heart lifting story. An excellent book, try not to miss this one!

This feline odyssey is set in war-ravaged England starting after the evecuation of Dunkirk and continues for a year afterwards, Blitzcat is an extraordinary adventure story of heroism and stoicism, of compassion and brutality. Lord Gort is a female black cat (considerd lucky by servicemen) who travels around England seeking her beloved soldier master. (psi-trailing)

This plucky heroine will tug at your heart as World War II causes her to lose several of her legendary-allotted nine lives--with modesty and little fuss. She accepts all manner of major disasters and minor set- backs calmly, inspiring the various humans whose lives she shares to break the barriers of the limited existence. The touch of this gentle black cat changes lives for the better, by putting her temporary owners in touch with their inner selves--making them more human and caring.

Her peregrinations take her to Dover's mined beaches and Coventry's bombed old town; she endures war first hand by an open UXB pit and aboard a bomber. She endures sensory deprivation and travels internationally, always searching one or the other of her soldier masters. She keeps faith with her kittens and paradoxically the dream of her first hearth. Lord Gort is enchanting--capable of bringing out the best in her people, and helping them in their own physical and moral survival. An insightful tale which will educate and charm the reader.

My review of this wonderful book that I have read is that as you read along about the book it makes you feel as though you are on the journey with her. Reading this book has been a excellant, exciting, interesting moments for me. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!