![]() ![]() ![]() The devil, a seemingly amiable character, has beach-worthy style and aesthetic, and is pretty intent on sealing deals with the main character, who is his 107th client. That is the kind of deal the narrator is offered when the devil appears to him, after he’s been told he’s at the very last stages of cancer and has no more than six months to live. IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD has a scary title, but it is a poignant tale about what it means to be alive and what things we’d be willing to give up in exchange for just one more day. Now that his own death is near, the narrator is faced with the finality of life. A postman by profession, it’s been four years since his mother died, leaving their cat Cabbage in his care. In this novel set in Japan, the unnamed narrator’s days are numbered. They simply allow us the pleasure of their company.” – IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD by Genki Kawamura And what you realize when you’ve lived with a cat for a long time is that we may think we own them, but that’s not the way it is. ![]() “Cats and humans have been partners for over ten thousand years. IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD by Genki Kawamura, translated by Eric Selland ![]()
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![]() ![]() She seamlessly interweaves scenes of everyday Indian life and the magical and supernatural world of their legends and beliefs. Erdrich's writing is as poetic and strikingly imaged as before, and even more crystalline. ![]() Pauline, who becomes a nun dedicated to martyrdom, has a role in hastening Fleur's destruction. Nanapush gives his name to Fleur's daughter Lulu, counsels Eli who loves and woos Fleur, and watches the betrayal of her pride and power. Rescued by Nanapush after her family dies in an epidemic, and already rumored to have infuence over men's lives, Fleur ironically is the victim of gang rape when she leaves the reservation to work in the nearby town of Argus. Both tell the story of Fleur Pillager, a magnificent woman who is rumored to be a witch, and whose life mirrors both the conflicts within the Indian community banded together in the face of an encroachingy white world, and the eventual supremacy of that world over their culture. The narrative voice alternates between Nanapush, a wise old man of the Chippewa tribe, and Pauline, who abandons her Indian heritage in an obsessive conversion to Christianity. Some of the characters in the previous books are here, but with a new dimension that renders this story the most riveting of the three, again set in North Dakota in the early 1900s. Erdrich's literary reputation, already formidable after Love Medicine and The Beet Queen, will be enhanced with this beautifully fashioned, powerful novel. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It will be impossible for them to settle somewhere else as a family because they have different passports and rights of access to different countries. They also fear they will lose each other. Yet if they leave they will lose the family business - a source not just of income but of pride. Uganda is their home but if they stay they will be rounded up and killed. To Stay Is To Dieīut Amin’s decree puts them in an impossible position. They live on Kololo Hill, the city’s most desirable suburb, and enjoy the friendship of many other successful Asian business people. ![]() Their dukan (a general store) is doing well. Newly weds Pran and Asha Pran’s mother Jaya and younger brother Vijay have until now enjoyed a comfortable life in Kampala. ![]() They can take little with them - all their property and their money will henceforth belong to the government. A night time curfew is in force and soldiers patrol the streets of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.įear turns to panic when Amin issues a decree expelling all Ugandan Asians within ninety days. Rumours abound of bodies dumped in rivers. The book begins in 1972 when Idi Amin is tightening his grip on power, eliminating anyone who dares to criticise his regime. One of the most notorious events in recent African history is given a human face in Neema Shah’s debut novel Kololo Hill. ![]() |