The Guest Cat: Takashi Hiraide

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Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. One day, their quiet way of life is unexpectedly and pleasantly interrupted by Chibi, a neighbouring cat. The garden has been carefully planted so that different flowers come into bloom at different times of the year; we notice the tadpoles becoming froglets, and a dragonfly, copulating with its mate while flying, in the shape of “a distorted heart”. This mid-aged couple's life is not that eventful and most of the time they pass their days without much talking among one another. Everything timed to the rhythm of illumination and concealment” - in a chapter almost entirely devoted to windows.

You can imagine how these questions can become particularly important in a society as formalised as Japan. I found in The Guest Catthe reality of an endless chain of Sundays, and for the first time I eagerly awaited Monday. The terms of their lease preclude children and pets, so the couple works in semi-isolation from their home, a section of which abuts a tall wooden fence with a knothole separating the grounds from a narrow alley. The full moon shone through the glass eaves above us with their slits like a bamboo screen, so that the image was drawn out, flowing there like a milky white river.Didn't like the writing, didn't like the setting (very confusing descriptions), the characters were less than interesting and the cat was not appealing at all! The Brat Pack meets The Bacchae in this precious, way-too-long, and utterly unsuspenseful town-and-gown murder tale. He has also written a biography of Meiji poet Irako Seihaku, and a travelogue that follows the traces of Kafka, Celan, and Benjamin in Berlin.

I strongly disagree: I think the book's ending masterfully illustrates how the passage of time affects us all while providing closure to its readers. He has also written a novel, A Guest Cat; a biography of Meiji poet Irako Seihaku; and a travelogue that follows the traces of Kafka, Celan, and Benjamin in Berlin. The idea of transient company – of transient love, even – is so entrenched in Japanese society that several businesses have been set up around the idea.The Guest Cat, is written by acclaimed Japanese poet, Takashi Hiraide and his poetic approach to the narrative definitely comes through. In The Guest Cat, whether due to a lack of financial stability or simply out of preference, the couple are childless and never mention the possibility of having a baby.

peva Aljoša Vučković u Srećnim ljudima, dok mu brk podrhtava od muke u nadi da je honorar za snimljene epizode makar dobar, a Hiradeov roman jeste upravo to - ne priča o jednoj slatkoj mački, nego priča o onim prelomnim trenucima u životu, kada se nešto bespovratno promeni, i nikada ništa više ne bude isto kao pre. Hiraide is a professor of Art Science and Poetics as well as a core member of the new Institute for Art Anthropology at Tama Art University. Chibi is a friend with whom I share an understanding, and who just happens to have taken the form of a cat.You will want to read The Guest Cat more than once, so you notice more details – seeing as you can’t do this with life.