This audiobook features cats of all kinds, captured by some of literature's best-known and best-loved writers. The selection includes "The Cheshire Cat" by Lewis Carroll, "The Cat That Walked by Himself" by Rudyard Kipling, Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" and James Thurber's "The Foolhardy Mouse and the Cautious Cat.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From AudioFile
"Cats are not dogs," begins P.G. Wodehouse's "The Story of Webster," the droll tale of an ecclesiastical cat who bullies a feckless young artist into a life of probity.Unlike dog and horse stories, classic cat tales do not highlight human virtues such as loyalty, courage, endurance. Oh, no. Cats in literature, as in life, demonstrate elegance and grace, sagacity, languor, and a certain disdain for human prerogatives. Like the Cat Van Gogh that graces the cover of this collection, and our own midsummer issue, the cat tale features, in the words of Christopher Smart, "a mixture of gravity and waggery." Keats appears here, with the little-known "On Mrs. Reynolds' Cat," but this is one venue where he must cede his place to Lear and Carroll. And none can surpass Thurber, represented by three selections: the long, meandering story "The Siamese Cats" and two fables, one of which aptly concludes, "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud, in this little voyage from swaddle to shroud?" Hardly a message to be carried in the jaws of Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin. The highlight of this collection is that greatest of all cat stories, Saki's "Tobermory," in which the guest at an English country weekend teaches the household cat to talk--with dire consequences for everyone involved. Other celebrities include Carroll's Cheshire Cat, Lear's "Owl and the Pussycat," and Twain's "Dick Baker's Cat." And, of course, there's Poe's "The Black Cat," without which no collection of cat tales would be complete. As does Poe's story, Patricia Highsmith's suspense story "Ming's Biggest Prey" employs a cat as an agent of justice. However, what counts most in these tales isn't effective storytelling so much as the subtle and sardonic elaborations of wit and style that are the human equivalents of the cat temperament. Wonderfully read by Goddard and Griffiths in a range of accents, this anthology is one of the summer's delights. D.A.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
15 Stories about CATS,
By smartnurse123 (Slidell, LA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cats: Fifteen Complete Stories and Poems (Audio Cassette)
If you are a cat lover, I recommend that you read or listen to this book or audio cassette. I think you will find it entertaining. Each of the stories includes a significant story-line about a cat with a cute, mischievous or whimsical personality. I could see my cat or a cat that I know in many of the main characters. The stories and/or poems are told by readers with British accents each suited to the theme of the story. My favorite, though eerie, is The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe. I am amazed how brilliant the story sounded...like poetry, yet the end had an amazing, morbid twist. Definitely unforgettable.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
