The Goodbye Cat

My favourite stories were "Cat Island" and "Finding Hachi" as they were well-structured and emotionally engaging. Some of the other stories seemed a bit all over the place and "random" and didn't make me connect with the protagonists, but this could also be due to cultural differences and the unique Japanese writing style. I liked the insight into how cats might perceive family life and their role in it.

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa is a gentle, touching collection of seven stories that capture the quiet but profound ways cats influence human lives. Warm, reflective, and sometimes bittersweet, each tale explores themes of love, change, and connection. A comforting read for cat lovers and anyone who appreciates small, meaningful moments.

I read the Traveling Cat Chronicles and was very excited to read the Goodbye Cat as a result. This wasn’t what I expected. I was expecting a novella rather than a series of shorter stories, but I loved the book regardless.

The only part that gave me pause was when I realized the final story in the book was retelling the Traveling Cat Chronicles. I was a little disappointed at first that the author chose to recycle material in a previous work, but the author told parts of the story that weren’t in the original book. I thought this was very clever as it kept me interested, and I was happy to hear more from the first story I loved so much.

The author has such a great way of capturing the essence of a cat, I couldn’t help but smile show more throughout the book. Although sometimes bittersweet and sad, this book is mostly filled will good feels and warm fuzzies. It was a very lovely way to spend an afternoon. show less

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa (translated by Philip Gabriel) is a collection of seven stories revolving around the relationship between cats and their humans as told from the perspectives of seven cats and their families with much wisdom, heart, and humor. Written in simple prose, the stories vary in length and tone and touch upon themes of love, loyalty, companionship, family and grief.

In the first story, The Goodbye Cat (4/5), we meet an elderly cat who endeavors to change into a supernatural spirit so that death won't separate him from his human family. A new father rescues a kitten from a recycling bin and in caring for it, learns much about fatherhood. Bringing Up Baby (4/5). A family is perplexed by their new cat’s devotion to show more their indifferent father in Good Father/ Bad Father (4/5). In Cat Island ( 5/5), we follow a young boy’s experiences on a trip to an island inhabited by cats with his father and his new wife. Her cat’s nightly visits are a cause for a woman’s annoyance in The Night Visitor (3/5). In Finding Hachi (4/5), we follow a young boy as he adopts an abandoned kitten and the events that led up to his having to give it up. In the final story, Life Is Not Always Kind(4/4), a young man visits his former professor in the hope that he will adopt his cat.

Heartwarming, emotional and bittersweet, these stories will strike a chord in your heart, irrespective of whether you are a cat person or not. I will admit to having shed a few tears along the way. I enjoyed this collection of stories but didn’t love it as much as The Travelling Cat Chronicles, which was a 5⭐️ read for me.

I would recommend reading Hiro Arikawa’s The Travelling Cat Chronicles before picking this up, given that we revisit the characters (human and feline) in the final two stories.

Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. show less

I don't have words to adequately express how much I loved this beautiful beautiful book. I only loved it the teensiest bit less than the predecessor, The Traveling Cat Chronicles. Two of these stories cover the human and cat characters from that book.

From amazon:
Against the backdrop of changing seasons in Japan, we meet Spin, a kitten rescued from the recycling bin, whose playful nature and simple needs teach an anxious father how to parent his own human baby; a colony of wild cats on a popular holiday island show a young boy not to stand in nature’s way; a family is perplexed by their cat’s undying devotion to their charismatic but uncaring father; a woman curses how her cat will not stop visiting her at night; and an elderly cat show more hatches a plan to pass into the next world as a spirit so that he and his owner may be in each other’s lives forever.

Bursting with love and warmth, The Goodbye Cat exquisitely explores the cycle of life, from birth to death—as each of the seven stories explores how, in different ways, the steadiness and devotion of a well-loved cat never lets us down. A huge bestseller in Japan, this magical book is a joyous celebration of the wondrousness of cats and why we choose to share our lives with them. show less

Με φόντο την εναλλαγή των εποχών στην Ιαπωνία, επτά γάτες προσφέρουν πολύτιμα διδάγματα ενώ διατρέχουν τη ζωή των αφεντικών τους σκαρφαλώνοντας, παρηγορώντας, χουζουρεύοντας και κάποιες φορές απλώς αναπηδώντας πάνω απ’ όλους...
Θα συναντήσουμε την παιχνιδιάρα γάτα Σπιν, που μαθαίνει με την απλότητα των αναγκών της σε έναν αγχωμένο πατέρα πώς να φροντίζει το μωρό του· μια παρέα από αγριόγατες σε ένα show more δημοφιλές θέρετρο δίνει μάθημα ζωής σε ένα αγόρι πώς να σέβεται τους νόμους της φύσης· μια οικογένεια προβληματίζεται από την αμείωτη αφοσίωση του γάτου της στον χαρισματικό αλλά αδιάφορο πατέρα· μια γυναίκα αναθεματίζει τον γάτο της που δεν παύει να την ενοχλεί τις νύχτες· και ένας ηλικιωμένος γάτος συλλαμβάνει ένα σχέδιο ώστε να περάσει το πνεύμα του στον άλλο κόσμο και να παραμείνει για πάντα στη ζωή του αφεντικού του.
Η πολυαναμενόμενη συλλογή ιστοριών της Hiro Arikawa εξυμνεί την αξία της φιλίας και τη δύναμη της αγάπης, υπενθυμίζοντάς μας ότι η σταθερότητα και η αφοσίωση ενός αγαπημένου γάτου δεν μας εγκαταλείπουν ποτέ. Γι’ αυτό άλλωστε επιλέγουμε να μοιραστούμε τη ζωή μας μαζί τους. (Από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου) show less