A Cat, a Man, and Two Women

Legendary cat gentleman and sometime writer, Tanizaki leans fully into his combined interests in this novella. A little jealousy, a little greed, a little haughtiness and Machiavellian planning. Are we talking about the human characters here or the cat? Or does the cat and people's personification of cat qualities allow these characters to embrace their own cat-like qualities? Or is the book secretly written by a cat to show off how it can manipulate the people around it? Some classic Tanizaki familial interactions and quotidian realism (Shozo borrows a broken lantern and makes some food for his obsessive cat stakeout!) feature here.

A lovely miniature piece about a man who allows himself to be manipulated emotionally by his scheming tortoiseshell cat Lily, to the detriment of his relationships with both his first and his second wives. Tanizaki was obviously a close observer of cats as well as human beings...

I don’t have a cat (yet) but I have friends who are cat owners and I recognized a lot of the cat owner’s habits described so accurately that I smiled to myself quite a lot. Through these 100 pages (it’s a really short novel) the love for cats, the detailed description of a cat’s every move, every blink and every sound or tone of voice, every mood is touching. You feel like you know the animal, like it’s your own This cat Lily, is the center of Shozo’s life, a man in his early 30s, married for a second time to a cousin of his, Fukuko (this is in the pre-WWII Japan), after banishing his first wife, Shinako. Because his love and connection to the cat are so strong, both women are jealous, and try to make the animal a pawn in show more their attempt to keep or reconquest the man. How or whether they will succeed seemes of less importance compared to the time dedicated to the cat by Shozo, since Lily is the only thing he truly loves and his home, in a way. The book exudes such a charm - probably because of Mr. Tanizaki’s simple and concise writing - that it’s a shame not to read it, especially since it’ll take only a couple of hours.

http://meerchant.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/a-cat-a-man-and-two-women/ show less

The title story (written 1936) is an in-depth study of the motivations of a man, his ex-wife and his current wife related to the ownership of the pet cat. Each expresses their feelings toward the cat and their understanding of the other two’s feelings. Complicated but very well done. The second story, The Little Kingdom, (written 1918) deals with a poor teacher who moves from Tokyo to a smaller city and the students he teaches, especially a certain student who seems to control the other students. The last story written in 2 parts in 1925 & 1928) covers the interactions between a journalist and a professor whom he tries to interview. The professor being a very difficult and eccentric subject. All three held my interest, but the first show more was the best. show less

My first foray into Japanese literature. Written between the First and Second World Wars this is a collection of one novella and two short stories.

The first is "A Cat, a Man and Two Women". In this we see the relationship between Shozo and the women in his life — his mother, first and second wives and Lily, the cat of the title. The second story is about a schoolteacher and how his aspirations wither as the demands of family life overpower his dreams. The third is a strangely voyeuristic piece written in two parts — the first part is an interview between a journalist and a professor and the second is about what happens when they meet again a few years later.

All three pieces are interesting snapshots of life. Of the three my show more favourite is the first. It is a story of love and rivalry and I like the descriptive nature of this. (4 stars) The second with its schoolteacher losing control of his own life I give 3 1/2 stars. The third was slightly disappointing, only a 3 star read. So overall a worthwhile introduction to Japanese literature. show less

Unlike many others, I found the title story to be the least enjoyable. It is by no means bad as it explores some unique territory, but it doesn't hold me as well as most other works I've read by Tanizaki. I found the familiar flavor of the author's charm in "The Little Kingdom" and his usual weird meditations on obsession in "Professor Rado", but in the title story these two trademarks of his style were muddled if not absent altogether.

Loved it. Loved the description of the cat and how he is portraied in the novel. The relationship that estabelishes this love triangle is amazing. How both women are so geously of the little cat Lily and how the man perceives that. Truly geniously. The two other short stories are fine, but not compared with the first one in my opinion.