Customer Reviews

The Complete Cats in the Sun

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book at a local boutique bookstore after leafing through the beautiful photographs. Silvester captures the essence of the cats' personalities and style. As anyone who has tried to photograph their own pet knows, it's not easy -- they don't always look as cute on the photo as they do in person. But in this book, each photo is a joy to look at, and in each one you are reminded what it is about cats we love so much. This is a thick book, filled with full-page color photographs, and very little text - only an eloquent forward written by the author / photographer. An excellent coffee table book. I'm planning to buy a copy for each of my cat-loving friends as Christmas presents, and was so happy to see it available at Amazon.Com at a substantial discount compared to what I paid. If you love cats, you'll love this book.

I was given this book as a present two months after my own kitty was put down. This is the most wonderful book on cats I've ever seen. It shows quite clearly how different their personalities are and seems to capture the essence of a cat's soul! These beautiful creatures will make you laugh because their personalities just shine through the pages of this wonderfully large coffee table book.

Just like cats, they don't need to say anything. There are no quotes within the book, just large beautifully artistic photographs with curious cats smiling, stretching, and being frisky. There is a touching introduction to these critters in the beginning, but then just sit back and make friends with these 400 cats!

I was a shelver at the library and one day I was shelving this book. I fell in love and HAD to buy it. The pictures are artistic and beautiful. The cat images capture the essence of cats, and are just simply wonderful. There are no Cat Fancy groomed cats, but just cats acting themselves - stretching, sleeping, curious - it's all there and with exceptional photography.

It is difficult to find words to describe this great book, so all I can say is that if you are a cat lover, or know someone who is, this book is the best you could buy. I normally wouldn't buy a book like this, but looking at it is so fun that I had no choice!

The photos in this book were beautiful. Even if you're not a cat lover, the backdrop of Greece is amazing. The book is a real picture book with very little text except for the author's foreword.

I am writing this review to let you know that the "animal lovers beware" review didn't tell you the whole story. I, too, was in Greece (recently) and I know what this reviewer is referring to -- I saw some very shabby cats in need of medical attention and food. However, that said, if the reviewer had bothered to read the author's foreword, they would have noticed that Silvester says that this "cat paradise" exists only in his book and he recognizes that the cats do not have it easy. He then goes on to explain the relationship that the cats have with the Greeks. Having been to Greece, I realized myself that over there cats are sort of like squirrels to us. We tolerate them, sometimes like them and feed them, but for the most part, we see them as part of the environment. That's basically what cats are in Greece, in my opinion.

So, take this book for what it is -- it's meant to be a beautiful picture book and not some misinformed statement on the plight of cats in Greece. Buy the book because you'll be amazed, amused, and awed by the pictures. Read the foreword, too, and you'll get a better sense of the whole picture.

I purchased it to gift to my niece for her 15th birthday. She has mania for cats and many books related with feline. This book is better than the others she had because the beauty of the scenery is in harmony with cat feature. She was suffused with delight when received this gift.
It seems that every photograph has mood and story so that is create imagination of beautiful world. If you take a look the picture of this book then you will cannot help but like cats. I strongly recommend people interested in feline to purchase this book.

I first bought this book at a library in downtown Montreal. I found this book so relaxing and so well done that i decided it'll be my gift to all my friends this year. I bought a second one through Amazon.ca. It was cheaper and arrived almost as i pushed the BUY button. This book contain the spirit of all cats. You see them acting for the kodak in their usual seductive ways in landscape that will make you dream you're one of them. It'll change your life !

As a cat lover, I wanted something cat-related in my office that didn't make me look like a loony. It's so easy to go overboard with squishy, sentimental nonsense about cats. This book is elegant and tasteful. The cats are photgraphed doing what cats do. Sleeping, watching, stretching, hanging out, eating fish, keeping a watchful eye on nearby dogs, etc. It's a celebration of cats the way nature made them. I use it as the conversation piece in my office and open it to a new cat picture every day. The photos are beautiful and the settings spectacular.

A stunning collection of beautiful photography and beautiful cats.

In the introduction Mr. Silvester describes how he has created a "dream island" that "exists nowhere else but in this book." He has populated this island with a wonderful array of cats in all their varied sizes, shapes, and colors. He does point out that the life of a stray in the Greek isles is a hard one--where in the world is it NOT hard for a stray? But here, Mr. Sylvester captures, in photo after photo, the amazing elegance and charm of the feline species for the cat lover to enjoy (and the cat skeptic to consider).

As a rescuer and owner of 7 cats I see this book as a superb art book as well as an inspiration to continue reaching out to help the feral cats of my community. No part of the world is exempt from this heartbreaking problem. I can only hope that others (including the residents of Greece) can be similarly inspired by this terrific book.

All of Hans Silvester's photography books of dogs, cats & kittens in the Greek Cyclades Islands are lovely examples of fine photography. As a fine art photographer myself, I respect Mr. Silvester's level of skill & artistry, and I find his other books very beautiful.

However, when I became aware of his books about the cats and dogs, I was thoroughly dismayed by his choice of subject matter and the way he has chosen to portray the lives of these dogs and cats as idyllic and carefree.

Having been to the Greeks islands, I have learned firsthand that the large majority of these poor animals are ignored, injured, or mistreated by people there-anything but "respected." The photographer has omitted portraits of the true conditions of most of the dogs & cats in Greece-crippled, starving, dying of thirst, hurt or maimed, with the humans around them barely taking notice.

The full horror of the story was revealed to me by locals on the islands. Each years the cats & dogs are allowed to breed uncontrolled, because tourists are fond of seeing the cute animals around the island & on the beaches. At the end of each tourist season, as many of them as possible are rounded up and killed (I couldn't bear to learn how), until the following year when the ones that survived begin the cycle all over again. I found this same story on all the islands I visited, including Mykonos, and I was so appalled I shortened my stay and left Greece altogether.

The situation is a tragedy, and my feeling, as a photographer & animal lover, is that Mr. Silvester should not be misrepresenting the condition of cats & dogs on the Greek islands, especially when it is to make a profit. I hope animal lovers around the world will agree, and send a message, spreading the word about these books.

I bought this fabulous coffee table book for my boyfriend's birthday last month, and we both think it is fantastic. The pictures are so luscious and colorful--now I can't wait to visit the Greek Isles and see some of these amazing cats.