Customer Reviews

Cat People

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have written a cat book similar to this one, and I've been trying to find an agent to represent it, so I was curious to see how this one read. Well, considering the author is an editor at a major publishing house, that explains how such a small book, 163 pages and of almost paperback book dimensions, got published. And how it got published despite a rambling storyline that doesn't seem cohesive at times, with chapters that seem to come from other books and stuck in at random.

In short, the plot is: two people who like cats well enough meet, marry, and because they live in the country, acquire more cats. They are very civilized people, so the book is told in a very civilized, high society way, which waters down the humor of it a bit.

And it seems their neighbors, who had more than 20 cats at one time, would make a better book than the Kordas, who seldom have more than five in the house at a time. I have eight rescued strays and I live in the suburbs, so I think even I have a more interesting story.

Mr. Korda's little cat drawings are cute, though, and occasionally some of the stories are endearing or made me laugh, but the careless editing and plotting just got me mad, especially when I think of all the agents that keep turning me down and yet THIS got published.

And my other major upset, and a warning to cat lovers who might be thinking about buying this book, is what the Kordas did to Mrs. Bumble, the biter. They had her put to sleep. No, they didn't try a behavioral therapist first. They didn't try anything. They had a barn and a tack room, for goodness sakes, and they didn't even transfer her to barn cat status. Because she would occasionally bite hard without provocation, they put her down! She was a beautiful, healthy cat and even the vet had reservations, but did what the Kordas wanted. Death to cat. That kind of turned me off on these people, and the Mrs. Bumble incident comes halfway through the book, so you're ruined for the rest of it. I don't think you get to call yourself "Cat People" when you do something like that.

Nice anecdotes -- though I felt they were "holding" their cats at arm's length at times.

Sad to read about cats getting run over by neighbors -- the great outdoors is usually not very kind to a small being trying to cross even the quietest of streets.

I was also put off by the almost flippant way in which the brutal dog meat trade was discussed (page 2), and also by the way in which the equally brutal cat meat trade was dismissed as non-existent (and this book was written recently, so it's not for lack of knowledge of these facts). This book would have been a great way to alert people to the utter brutality and suffering that cats, dogs and other meat-trade animals are being subjected to over there -- even if it's just in one or two well versed sentences.

I don't approve of what they did to Bumble -- you don't kill a cat for biting you.

I am a huge cat lover. Can't live without them, couldn't imagine even trying. So I was excited to get this book, as it seemed right up my alley. When I got it, I was disappointed in the size but good things come in small packages (or so they say) and I gave it a shot.

I'm still disappointed. For an editor-in-chief, Michael Korda is in serious need of one himself. Run on sentences and completely non-sensical paragraphs abound, and if he switched persons once he did it 50 times. One minute he's talking about his wife and her cat, and the next we're reading from his wife's point of view, and then all of a sudden it's 3rd person. I had to read sentences over and over just to get what was being said!

I didn't feel an emotional connection with the cats, either. How is it possible to desensitize a cat lover of my status? Bad writing, that's how. I was sad when the cat was hit by a car, but it was such a fleeting moment - given less than a paragraph of mention - that I couldn't feel THEIR loss.

Given what I know now, I wouldn't have bought this book. Take that as you will. I expected this to be funny and touching, much like Marley and Me (which I highly recommend) - but it fell much too short.

There's nothing really wrong with this book (unless you consider the 156 small pages and $20 price) but it's thorougly mediocre. After a brief and mildly-informative history of the domestication of felines, the remainder of the book is about Michael Korda and his wife living on their horse farm, the dozens of stray cats that roam it, and the half dozen or so they adopt as pets over the years. It's not a bad concept for a book, but the writing is mediocre, and the cat tales are uninspiring.

Cats have different likes and dislikes, cats puke on their carpet and sharpen claws on expensive furniture, cats sleep in different places, cats get old and die, new cats come in. It's kind of a hamster wheel of a book, with no plot or theme or rising action or resolution. Just short pieces about a lot of interchangable cats, written without any special insight or wit.

I got this from the library and read it in two idle 20 minute sessions, mostly with one of my two cats on my lap. It's not a bad book, but it's nothing special and I certainly wouldn't recommend it for purchase or a gift.

We read that ancient Egyptians worshiped cats. In fact, if one of the household cats died, the owners were so grief stricken that they shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning. Well, I'm not quite sure that Margaret and Michael Korda would go that far, but as revealed in "Cat People" they are inordinately fond of their felines.

Michael Korda, a best selling author and editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, not only has a way with words but also a way with line drawing - his whimsical illustrations accompany a thoroughly enjoyable narrative as the Kordas share anecdotes about cats - his, hers, theirs, plus those of their neighbors and friends.

As we discover with sometimes disastrous, frequently funny situations, each of the toms and tabbies has a distinct personality and definite predilections. There is super cat Napoleon who tumbled out of a four story window, "dropped four floors down, landed on top of the building's cloth canopy, thus breaking his fall, bounced on the heavy canvas then took a flying leap to the top of a dividing brick wall."
Once they were living in the country the Kordas were visited by any number of cat boarders, all of whom were well loved. There was Mumsie whose favorite meal was breakfast. She liked to take it seated at the table between the marmalade jar and the teapot. And, Chutney with his "Buddha-like wisdom and calm." When he died, the Kordas had him cremated and kept his ashes and bowl in a closet for many years.

The reminiscences go on, and one is sorry when they end. Cat lovers will want to invite the Kordas over for an evening and swap cat stories. Others will be entertained by the rich humor expressed. You don't have to be a feline fancier to enjoy "Cat People;" as it is stand alone entertaining. However, if you are a cat lover, you'll find yourself nodding your head in agreement and smiling with every page.

- Gail Cooke

While this short book is a pleasant enough companion for a long soak in the tub, it would have been greatly improved by some decent editing. Grammatical errors, repetition of anecdotes, and constant references to the authors' wealth abound. Since Michael Korda is editor-in-chief at Simon & Schuster, such lapses are appalling.

For me, this book caught me by the cover art, showing a couple together with their cats on the sofa watching the tv. It usually doesn't take much for me to get sucked in by things that involve cats, and I was pretty much prepared for a so-so read. Instead, I got a love story, of a couple and their ongoing houseful of cats, talking about how they acquired them, their tales and foibles, and the very unique personalities. It's charming, well-written and I was left with the impression that I had been sitting and listening to the Korda's talk about their feline companions. On a personal note, the setting of these stories -- the Dutchess County region of New York, also made the story come alive as I know quite a few of the places that are mentioned. The drawings scattered throughout the book are utterly charming, and will bring a smile to your face. Perfect stocking stuffer for the cat lover that you know.

This book started in a good way with a historical consideration of Cats and their domestication. Much was made of the Egyptian 's seeing in Cats models of Beauty. Cats independence and royal indifference is contrasted favorably with servile follower Dogs. All this was interesting to a point.
But then came the Kordas' anecdotes about the cats they adopted. These are supposed to be cute and humorous, but I found them somewhat inane. Perhaps this is an indication of my own less than whole- hearted involvement in the world of cats , but I felt here a kind of sentimental drivel which reminded of a definition Salinger once made . He said( and I am paraphrasing) that being sentimental about a thing is giving it more love than God gives it).
I unfortunately had that kind of feeling i.e. "They are your cats. Enjoy them. But why do I have to read about this stuff?"

Sometimes a title will intrigue me . . . that was certainly the case
with CAT PEOPLE by Margaret and Michael Korda, in that I wanted
to find out what made one a "cat person" . . . and whether I
now fit the bill.

This short book put a smile on my face . . . it is the account of how the
Kordas had cats before they got married, then wound up with even
more after their marriage . . . it seems that they are not alone, either;
many others apparently go the same route--including yours truly.

I had a cat a long time ago when my daughter was young . . . yet
when I remarried, I inherited my wife's three cats who have now
become "our cats" . . . and it is hard to imagine life without them.

The same thing seems to have happened to the Kordas . . . and
the other cat owners they describe . . . yet to the cat, it matters
little . . . as the authors note, "Generally speaking . . . . cats
prefer to observe human activity from the prone position, with a
skeptical eye. Either you find that comforting, or you don't. It's
all the same to the cat."

There were several other wry observations; among them:
Perhaps this spirit of independence, and the fact that they remain,
even when domesticated, essentially wild, is what gives them their
remarkable powers of survival--the proverbial nine lives. When
it comes to independence, survival skills, loyalty to your own
kind, and unconditional love, we humans have much to learn
from cats.

This may be another reason that some people dislike cats. Even
sitting quietly on your lap, claws sheathed, a part of them is still
wild. They may have come indoors, and agreed to accept your
caresses, but there's always the sense that one eye is ever so
slightly open and wary, just in case the cat changes its mind. If
there's one thing you can say about cats, they like to keep their
options open--not a bad thing to learn from them.

And lastly, as unbelievable as it may sound:
It helps to have friends who are as crazy on the subject of cats
as oneself (or crazier), and this is, very fortunately, easy enough
to achieve. Complete strangers, of course, are very often even crazier.
How else to explain the fact that a company called Genetic Savings
& Clone, in Sausalito, California, will clone your cat for fifty thousand
dollars, and is said to have a long waiting list of customers?

I think I'll pass on that cloning option . . . yet that said, don't
miss CAT PEOPLE if you're a cat fancier or know of one . . . it
will tug at your heartstrings, and an added plus are the many
drawings that accompany the many stories.

What I liked about this book is the authors' appreciation for the nuances of the various cat personalities. Like people, cats are uniquely individual and they have idiosyncrasies, habits, and personality orientation. One doesn't often find this attention to detail in a cat personality. In fact, the only writer I can think of who excels at this would be Cleveland Amory. Thus, these little cat personality sketches were much enjoyed.

I liked the book's setting, which provided us a means for knowing all these different cats. With soft hearts and an inability to turn away any cat who claimed them, this couple captures the hearts of animal lovers. Would that the world be made up of such loving and generous people as the Kordas.

The sketches of the guests who enjoy cats were hilarious, especially the one about the cat who went to Paris.