Grace Notes @ Snarkattack

The word honden means ’shrine’ in Japanese, in case you were wondering. And in case a particular ‘Magic’ pal of mine is wondering, yes, I did know the word before discovering the delights of the ‘Kamigawa’ block.

Anyway, this is about a book I am trying to read. Lately, I’ve managed to finish a few books that have had bookmarks in them for a very long time. I have (attempting to no longer have) this dreadful habit of starting books based on my mood, meaning several unfinished, reading-in-progress books everywhere. Well, no more. This year, it stops. One of the reasons it’s hard for me to ‘commit’ to a book is that a lot of what I want to read is very mentally challenging and draining. Stimulating, yes, jam-packed with knowledge, double yes, but not always good for someone of a delicate mental constitution.

So, this morning, I find myself reacquainting myself with Natsume Sōseki’s deliciously snarky I Am A Cat. It is told from the point of view of a kitten who is adopted, has no name (and seems to not ever acquire one), cannot catch a mouse for the life of him but has the talent to observe and communicate to the reader the truly baffling phenomenon that is human existence. He is hilarious, nasty, witty, learned, cheeky - he’s lots of things I like. He might start off by narrating the last stupid thing his master did and end up hurling various philosophical beliefs at you, in order to explain his master’s behaviour.

One thing I don’t recommend: if you’re embarrassed easily, don’t read it on public transport, or in public! You will laugh out loud (and if you don’t, clearly there is something wrong with you). Oh, how I aspire to be as masterful at snark rhetoric as that cat! Like T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, it’s not just a bunch of interesting stories, but is gently infused with concerns and ideas that would have been current in the writer’s social landscape. He is not only critiquing his contemporaries, but documenting them.

It would have been a fascinating time to be alive in Japan, when the book is set and when the author lived. The period often referred to as that of European modernism (at its peak from 1880-1920) roughly coincides with the Meiji era in Japan, when Japan was as open as she had ever been to Western influence. That meant ideas, knowledge, aesthetics, modernity. It also meant having to give up the more traditional Japanese ways: bushido, the warrior code that samurai had lived by for centuries. Why fight with swords when now there were guns and cannons? Such social upheaval would have been difficult to say the least.

Sorry, enough crapping on. Modernism is one of my pet likes. If you have the chance, pick up this fantastic book and be prepared to be amused, and dazzled by a very intelligent cat. Here are full bibliographic details: Natsume Sōseki, I Am A Cat (Boston & Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002). Translated by Aiko Ito & Graeme Wilson. This book brings together all 3 volumes of the work.