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Editorial Reviews
Review
'A distillation of everything that makes her work such a joy to read...Lessing's intensely visual imagination and coolly precise style fleshes out this feline life. A work of exquisite tenderness and poignancy, thoroughly devoid of artfice, over-elaboration or mawkish sentimentality...Wonderful.' Scotsman 'Particularly Cats is not really about cats at all, it's about real characters.' Daily Mail 'An unsentimental and unwhimsical, but not unpartisan, study of cat-and-human relationships. An entertaining read for both cat and Lessing connoisseurs.' Observer
In the three sections of this charming little book, Doris Lessing has produced some beautifully written insights into the lives of cats and their relationships with each other and with the humans they allow into their lives. During her childhood in Southern Africa, Doris Lessing's experiences were of domesticated cats, perhaps 40 at any one time, which could be much more self-sufficient on a large farm than those she later came across in urban England. In Africa domesticated cats had different predators, including wild cats. Lessing's mother was the person to deal with these and any other problems, including snakes and ants, which required her practical, unsentimental approach. The loss of one particular favourite meant that Lessing did not own a cat again until she lived in London, where cats have quite different problems. She details in an affectionate and observant way the adaptations felines have to make to survive in an urban environment. Anyone who has ever been manipulated and outsmarted by a cat will recognize with delight and sometimes sadness the stories here of cats and food, cats and mice, cats and sleep, cats and motherhood; their eloquence, their fastidiousness and dignity; their rivalries and foibles. Who would willingly spend six hours driving to Devon with a continuously miaowing cat, knowing the return will be the same, and describe that journey with humorous resignation? Only a cat lover. Yet these stories are not just about cats' antics but pose interesting questions about what makes the relationship between two species work; at the same time they are also little vignettes of the author's life, and a record of things past: the winter of 1962/63, for example and an England seen through an incomer's eyes. Lessing's prose is as powerful and evocative as it is in her much-acclaimed novels, and this delightful memoir will be enjoyed by many. (Kirkus UK)
Review
"Ms. Lessing applies her formidable powers of observation to the beasts she calls 'exotic visitors, household friends.'" (Wall Street Journal )
"[Lessing] captures the passionate gregariousness of her cats...What she does best is describe their relations with one another...Doris Lessing...opens our eyes to the world of cats." (New York Times )
"Lessing's prose catches at the heart, close-ups of cats in unforgettable word paintings." (Pittsburg Tribune Review )
"Endearing and wise." (San Francisco Chronicle )
See all Editorial Reviews
'A distillation of everything that makes her work such a joy to read...Lessing's intensely visual imagination and coolly precise style fleshes out this feline life. A work of exquisite tenderness and poignancy, thoroughly devoid of artfice, over-elaboration or mawkish sentimentality...Wonderful.' Scotsman 'Particularly Cats is not really about cats at all, it's about real characters.' Daily Mail 'An unsentimental and unwhimsical, but not unpartisan, study of cat-and-human relationships. An entertaining read for both cat and Lessing connoisseurs.' Observer
In the three sections of this charming little book, Doris Lessing has produced some beautifully written insights into the lives of cats and their relationships with each other and with the humans they allow into their lives. During her childhood in Southern Africa, Doris Lessing's experiences were of domesticated cats, perhaps 40 at any one time, which could be much more self-sufficient on a large farm than those she later came across in urban England. In Africa domesticated cats had different predators, including wild cats. Lessing's mother was the person to deal with these and any other problems, including snakes and ants, which required her practical, unsentimental approach. The loss of one particular favourite meant that Lessing did not own a cat again until she lived in London, where cats have quite different problems. She details in an affectionate and observant way the adaptations felines have to make to survive in an urban environment. Anyone who has ever been manipulated and outsmarted by a cat will recognize with delight and sometimes sadness the stories here of cats and food, cats and mice, cats and sleep, cats and motherhood; their eloquence, their fastidiousness and dignity; their rivalries and foibles. Who would willingly spend six hours driving to Devon with a continuously miaowing cat, knowing the return will be the same, and describe that journey with humorous resignation? Only a cat lover. Yet these stories are not just about cats' antics but pose interesting questions about what makes the relationship between two species work; at the same time they are also little vignettes of the author's life, and a record of things past: the winter of 1962/63, for example and an England seen through an incomer's eyes. Lessing's prose is as powerful and evocative as it is in her much-acclaimed novels, and this delightful memoir will be enjoyed by many. (Kirkus UK)
Review
"Ms. Lessing applies her formidable powers of observation to the beasts she calls 'exotic visitors, household friends.'" (Wall Street Journal )
"[Lessing] captures the passionate gregariousness of her cats...What she does best is describe their relations with one another...Doris Lessing...opens our eyes to the world of cats." (New York Times )
"Lessing's prose catches at the heart, close-ups of cats in unforgettable word paintings." (Pittsburg Tribune Review )
"Endearing and wise." (San Francisco Chronicle )
See all Editorial Reviews
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