In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England – a ‘castle that was to cross the sea’. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly ‘Cat's Table’ with an eccentric group of grown-ups and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys become involved in the worlds and stories of the adults around them, tumbling from one adventure and delicious discovery to another, ‘bursting all over the place like freed mercury’. And at night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner – his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.As the narrative moves from the decks and holds of the ship and the boy’s adult years, it tells a spellbinding story about the difference between the magical openness of childhood and the burdens of earned understanding – about a life-long journey that began unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage, when all on board were ‘free of the realities of the earth’.With the ocean liner a brilliant microcosm for the floating dream of childhood, The Cat’s Table is a vivid, poignant and thrilling book, full of Ondaatje’s trademark set-pieces and breathtaking images: a story told with a child’s sense of wonder by a novelist at the very height of his powers.
--This text refers to the
Kindle Edition
edition.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Stanley is advertising manager of a London newspaper. The women are his ex-wife Nowell (```a not very good actress who isn't very beautiful'''), new wife Susan (```You certainly do marry some extraordinary people, Stanley'''), his dreadful mother-in-law, and psychiatrist Trish Collings, who's maltreating his son for schizophrenia. Rumor has it that Amis's new novel was rejected by several American publishers whose (female) editors took offense at its aggressively sexist tone. ```Would you assent to the proposition that all women are mad?''' a (male) psychiatrist asks Stanley. ```Yes. No, not all. There are exceptions, naturally.''' But in this tightly constructed, biting comedy no one comes off very well. Highly recommended for most fiction collections. Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"He was a genuine comic writer, probably the best after P. G. Wodhouse... He had a lasting influence and was a very good novelist."
—John Mortimer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
—John Mortimer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Really A Diatribe Against Women,
By Ted Fontenot (Lafayette, Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stanley & the Women (Hardcover)
A excellent book, although many ideologues would try to con you into believing otherwise. The PC feminist set in America tried to keep it from being published here in this country. But, it's not hatefully misogynistic so much as it an expression of an utter state of befuddlement and confusion when it comes to men figuring out the female sex. Stanley is an engaging and thoughtful fellow who assumes everyone else is trying to be the same. The book is about how he realizes everyone has his/her interests, and they will often conflict with yours. He learns a lesson, yet isn't render bitter. It's an amusing novel, but with an edge. Although Amis could be infuriating in life, he knows had to use that in his work. He's rarely truly affronts, mostly because he's without guile and is cunningly artful.. Even when he's trying to deceive he can't help giving himself away as likable.Stanley is rather a naif, and this is about how he comes to lose his innocence about both men and women. The characters are all well-drawn and the sad subplot involving Stanley's son is affecting, yet rather affirmative in its acceptance of hopelessness. Like in all Amis novels, everything often revolves around drinking. One of his buddies and he get soused, and when he brings him home, his wife (Stanley's ex-wife, too, as I recall) has a nifty way of getting him into the house. It involves a rug with handles. Pretty droll as described, and tells a lot about the relationship and about the attitude and tone of the book. Read it. You'll like it
1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stan in 100 words,
By Ian Harris (Hampton Hill) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stanley And The Women (Audio Cassette)
Stanley Duke's teenage son, Steve, has gone mad. Stan is a perplexed misogynist surrounded by women - ex-wife Nowell, Trish (Steve's doctor), his wife Susan and her snotty mother. Trish, as she treats Steve, thinks and speaks in a voguish but threatening psychobabble. The diatribes of Stan and his mates against this inability to call a madman a madman - indeed, all offences against common sense - and against the strangeness of 'females' provide the most enjoyment - a coherent but increasingly extreme rage. Stan finally loses all faith in women - and Steve ends the story as mad as he began. Rating 64.2%
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