The Cat Who Came for Christmas (Cleveland Amory) Conclusion

The last two chapters; “His Foreign Policy,” referring to his modes of interaction with other species of animals, and “His Domestic Policy,” referring to his modes of interaction with people, both bring the focus mostly back on the story of Polar Bear and his first year as Mr. Amory’s pet/owner.  Cats are, of course, creatures of habit, and do not like anything that interrupts their routines.  Mr. Amory is, however, very involved in animal rescue activities and often needs to house a stray animal overnight, which interrupts the routine in a huge way, especially when the guest is a dog.  The tale of Bouncer, a large puppy invading the apartment – though a traumatic one for Polar Bear – is only the beginning of a series of guests which include other dogs, cats and even a pigeon.

But when it comes to people, anyone new is bad news.  This is another area in which the Cat and the Author differ: the author rather likes meeting and getting to know new people, is in fact rather partial to them:  ‘And why, may I ask, should I not be? After all, when you come right down to it, there is a great deal to be said for new people.  You can, to begin with, tell them all your old stories without worrying whether or not you have told them to them before, and you can also tell them, as long as you can remember the punch lines, your old jokes.’

We meet Benedict, the cat at the office of The Fund for Animals where Mr. Amory spends much of his time, who is one cat that loves new people.  ‘Benedict particularly likes making friends with people who do not like cats.  At one time we had a bookkeeper who admitted he was scared to death of them.  Benedict had apparently given some thought to the problem and had come up with a solution.  One day he watched, well hidden, while the man, seated in one of the offices and attempting to do his work, was at the same time nervously keeping a lookout for him.  Benedict outwaited him and, when the man eventually relaxed his vigil, he crept in from behind his chair, shot up and leapt into his lap.  He had apparently decided that the cure for the fear of cats was, like hiccups, a matter of a good surprise.’  And, of course, it worked.

Polar Bear didn’t mind so much when one of Cleveland’s chess playing friends came over to play chess.  ‘He saw some virtues in it such as the lack of noise associated with it… But there were also two things he did not like about chess.  One was what, to him, was the interminable length of it, the other the ridiculous seriousness with which people took it.’  As an ex-chess-tournament player myself, I can attest to both the lengthiness and the “ridiculous seriousness” of chess as demonstrated in the large halls and gatherings in which such tournaments take place!  ‘…he never could understand why everybody made such a fuss about a few little pieces being knocked to the floor…’

‘I am well aware that in most books about individual animals, the animal dies in the end.  I have never liked this – indeed that was one of the reasons why, even as a child, Black Beauty appealed to me so much.  It is true there was misery and suffering in the book.  But, in the end, Black Beauty has not died.  Neither, I am happy to say, has Polar Bear.’  In fact, the author went on to write more “Cat” books featuring Polar Bear, including The Cat and the Curmudgeon and The Best Cat Ever.  My copy of the present book, Cleveland Amory’s Compleat Cat contains all three books in the series, and yes, I will be reading the other two books before too long!

January’s book of the month:

“Garnethill,” by Denise Mina!

Amazon.com Review

Garnethill (the name of a bleak Glasgow suburb) won the John Creasey Memorial Award for Best First Crime Novel--the British equivalent of the Edgar. It's a book that crackles with mordant Scottish wit and throbs with the pain of badly treated mental illness, managing to be both truly frightening and immensely exhilarating at the same time. -- Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

From its opening pages, this winner of the 1998 John Creasey Memorial Award for best first crime novel pulls readers inexorably into the tortured world of sexual abuse victims and their struggle to survive as whole people. Eight months after spending almost half a year in a Glasgow psychiatric hospital devoted to treating sex abuse victims, Maureen O'Donnell is desperately trying to hold together her shattered life. Bored with her job at a theater ticket office and depressed because her affair with one of the hospital's doctors, Douglas Brady, is over, Maureen and a friend get drunk. The next morning Maureen finds Brady's body in her living room, his throat cut. With bloody footprints matching Maureen's slippers at the scene, Detective Chief Inspector Joe McEwan sets out to prove the woman's guilt … Maureen's valiant struggle to act sane in an insane world will leave readers seeing sex abuse victims in a new light. -- Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Week 1:  Chapters 1-8 

(First post, 1-9-15)

Week 2:  Chapters 9-20
Week 3:  Chapters 21-27
Week 4:  Chapters 28-38