A Reading Vocation

This isn't usually the kind of book I would read -- it's sort of a humorous murder mystery, I guess? But it had a talking cat, and that was really all I cared about going it.

And the best part about this book is the cats. The humor fell flat for me -- it just wasn't my style, and I have trouble laughing at anything that involves people's sisters and wives and friends getting murdered, even if they are killed in bizarre or ironic ways. I'm of the mind that death should always be treated with respect, and the overall absurdist tone of this piece interfered with any of the characters' really feeling their grief over losing their loved ones, so that sadness over death seemed to be an afterthought when it did occur.

But there were talking cats! And a funny theory about how they were once powerful beings who could hypnotize you with their purr and kill you with their hiss, and about a few who remained that had not been to "softened" by their relationship with humans to lose all their powers. Yet despite the fact that all cats used to, basically, be in service of the devil, this book does not demonize them (pun intended), which was refreshing. There are some cats doing some rather horrible things in this book, but they're "humanized" in spite of it.

I listened to this while I was working, and I don't think it would be worth spending time reading through. But it was enjoyable enough rolling by in the background for a week or so.