A Cat, a Man, and Two Women [Paperback]

Junichiro Tanizaki (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 1992 | Series: Flamingo

The novella and two short stories in this lucid translation reveal Tanizaki at both his best and his most bizarre. "A masterpiece. . . . Don't miss this piece of brilliant drollery".--The Washington Post Book World.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A masterpiece.... Don't miss this piece of brilliant drollery." -- Washington Post Book World

"Even his lighter-hearted fictions ... make us hold our breath, and the endings don't let us quite exhale."--John Updike, The New Yorker -- The New Yorker

"Not only Japan's greatest twentieth-century writer but also one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century."--Los Angeles Times -- Los Angeles Times

"Tanizaki at both his best and most bizarre."--Boston Globe -- Boston Globe

"The title story is one of the finest pieces of literature concerning cats ever written."--Choice -- Choice

"World-class." -- Christian Science Monitor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Flamingo (July 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006544924
• ISBN-13: 978-0006544920
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for the "love" of the cat, April 5, 2000

By 

debbie kikuchi (moses lake, washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cat, a Man, and Two Women (Japans Modern Writers) (Paperback)

tanizaki is my most favorite author ever since reading some of his works in college. therefore, i have read "a cat, a man, and two women" for leisure. i would have to say this is one of tanizaki's shortest works but not short of complexities of relationships of all sorts. the main part of this book deals with the complexity of not only the relationship between a man and his present wife (cousin) and an ex-wife but with a long time cat companion named Lilly. i don't know if i can call this a love triangle, more like a love rectangle. the cat, Lilly, is used and abused in this story. Lilly becomes the reasons and emotional links of all the problems between the man (Shozo) and his women, Shinako and Fukuko. A helpless animal is being "abused" by these characters, the cat can be used to represent Shozo's "actual" wife, the cat was "used" to make both wives jealous by Shozo without him directly trying, and the cat was snatched by ex-wife to lure Shozo back to her. focus is driven away from the human players in this story and is mainly on helpless Lilly. I felt Shozo never needed a wife in first place, all he needed was Lilly, Shozo is a real cat lover and tanizaki did well describing all the feelings dealing with loving a feline.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rubbery dialogs and odd obsessions, December 30, 2004

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Cat, a Man, and Two Women (Japans Modern Writers) (Paperback)

Three stories make up "A Cat, a Man and Two Women," each displaying a roughly similar variation on a theme, the ever-present Tanizaki idea of domination and submission. An interesting riff in the selected trio is the various flavors of dom/sub, being both sexual and completely non-sexual. To paraphrase, sometimes a power-struggle is just a power-struggle.

The titular story, taking up two-thirds of the book, sees a man, Shozo, who is a typical weak-willed Japanese man, pampered and childlike, bounced around as a pawn between three scheming women who checkmate each other in an attempt to win the dubious prize of Shozo's affection. Shozo holds the ultimate trump, however, by bestowing his love only upon his cat Lily. From there the game becomes win the cat and win the man. Shozo is clearly a Tanizaki-character, with the main variation being his non-sexual obsession, finding love where it comes unconditionally. But Lily has a will of her own.

"The Little Kingdom" is a classic tale of "if you can't beat them, join them." A poverty-stricken teacher struggles to keep control of his life and his country classroom, in the face of a student who is a clear leader. Recruit the leader and win the class is his plan. A short, and semi-predictable tale, but written with enough variations that surprises can still hide around the corner.

Finally, "Professor Rado" brings in the perverse nature that is Tanizaki's hallmark. Professor Rado frustrates a curious journalist, who decides to look deeper than what the professor offers in an interview. Tanizaki manages to incorporate life into this little character sketch, showing that even perversities can have perversities.

All three stories are clever, with a wry sense of humor. Cat lovers will understand Shozo with no difficulties, and teachers will understand why sometimes it is easier to give into the Little Kingdom. As for Professor Rado, well...someone out there will empathize with him! A short but fun read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the man & the cat, the cat & the women, man & the women..., April 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Cat, a Man, and Two Women (Japans Modern Writers) (Paperback)

Tanizaki is one of my favourite eastern writers. He writes with a charming simplicity some of the most complicated relationships between human beings.

The present story involves a man and his pet cat, his wife and the other woman. The master and the pet are very attached to each other, so much so that the wife begins to feel antagonistic towards the cat. Can this antagonism drive her husband towards the other woman? Is the other woman able to accept the cat in its superior role in the eyes of man? The charaters are by themselves rather mute and colourless, only in relationship to each other do they evolve to paint a passionate picture of love and hate. The treatment of the various relationships: the man and the cat, the cat and the wife, the cat and the other woman, the two women towards each other, the man and the wife and finally the man and the other woman continue to evolve throughout the book.

This is like an Updike's short story where the relationships surpass the boundaries of country and tradition....become all too familiar and all too fearful.