"I'm a cat, although I don't have a name yet." Thus begins the first and most hilarious novel by Natsume Soseki, an authentic masterpiece of Japanese literature, which chronicles the adventures of a disdainful feline who accidentally cohabits with a group of grotesque characters, all members of the well-thought-out Tokyo middle class: the dyspeptic Professor Kushami and his family, theorists who own the house where the cat lives; the teacher's best friend, the charlatan and irritating Meitei; or the young scholar Kangetsu, who day yes, day no, tries to manage to conquer the daughter of the neighbors. Written just before his acclaimed novel Botchan, I'm a Cat is a braided satire of the Meiji bourgeoisie. Endowed with a bomb-proof wit and a sardonic humor, she travels through the adventures of a fickle catmanic philosopher who never tires of making the most incisive comments about the c...read more
