Dei gatti e degli uomini

by Patricia Highsmith, Giulia Niccolai (Translator)

« Un chat fait qu’une maison soit un foyer. Un écrivain n’est jamais seul avec un chat, tout en étant suffisamment seul pour pouvoir travailler. Qui plus est, qu’il déambule ou qu’il dorme, un chat est une œuvre d’art vivante, en perpétuelle métamorphose. » Ces mots de Patricia Highsmith disent bien la passion que ce grand écrivain a nourrie pour les chats tout au long de sa vie. Elle en a eu jusqu’à six en même temps – des siamois pour la plupart. Ils dormaient sur son lit, la regardaient travailler, assis sur son bureau, et parfois lui inspiraient une intrigue.Ce petit recueil célèbre le chat dans tous ses états : en personnage de fiction, en inspirateur de poème, en sujet d’étude, en modèle d’artiste.Trois nouvelles amusantes ou troublantes comme le sont les chats, qui laisseront au lecteur un arrière-goût étrange et pénétrant.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Cats, Poetry, Humor

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.

She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.

Shortly after graduation her short story 'The Heroine' was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 pay-check. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.

Her first suspense novel 'Strangers on a Train' published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.

In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid 'The Talented Mr Ripley', a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in 'Ripley Under Ground' in 1970, in 'Ripley's Game' in 1974, 'The boy who Followed Ripley' in 1980 and in 'Ripley Under Water' in 1991.

Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan , plus a work of non-fiction 'Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction' and a co-written book of children's verse, 'Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda'.

She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel 'Deep Water', 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."

She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, 'Small g: a Summer Idyll', was published posthumously a month later.

Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2010

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

short review for busy readers: three cat stories: 1 an action thriller, 1 a creepy paranormal, and 1 a typical Highsmith pseudo-mystery. All three originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in the 1950s. The cat characters are excellently done in all of them. Suitable also for dog people!

In detail:
Even as a dog person, I enjoyed all of these fictional cats quite a lot. Only the final - and longest - story was a bit too bland in plot to really convince. The cat, though,...spot on!

Story summaries:

In the thriller "Ming's Biggest Prey," a pampered kitty outwits a cat killer who wants its lady owner all to himself. High ninja cat action!

In the paranormal "The Empty Birdhouse," a mysterious vole-like creature invades a couple's house and their solution? Borrow a cat to find and kill it. Only the cat they manage to borrow on short notice is decidedly NOT like other cats! *cue Twilight Zone music*

In the pseudo-mystery "Something the Cat Dragged In," a cat brings home the severed hand of a fresh human corpse and, instead of calling the police, its family tries to identify and catch the killer on their own. Typical Highsmith, this one.

Completely recommendable for an interlude between longer reads.

[Eliasdgian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Τρία, μάλλον αδιάφορα, ποιήματα, ισάριθμα διηγήματα, δύο από τα οποία είναι αρκετά καλές ιστορίες μυστηρίου, κι ένα δοκίμιο, με κοινή θεματολογία αυτή που μαρτυρά ο τίτλος της συλλογής: τη γάτα, αυτό «το έργο τέχνης που κινείται, κοιμάται και διαρκώς αλλάζει.» Καλαίσθητη έκδοση, όπως συνηθίζει η Άγρα, θα μπορούσε να είναι ένα πρώτης τάξεως δώρο για τους απανταχού γατόφιλους.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was nothing made for me,
No, not even the fireplace,
For sometimes I am cold and there is no fire,
And other times I am not allowed here.
Shadows bore me, and if they are a mistery
It is a dull one. My great-great-great grandchildren
Play foolish around me, but I know by now
The undersides of things are just the undersides,
And behind the half open door
Is another room like this one.
I like to sit with my eyes half shut,
Because I have seen everything.
Even the mice can come within inches,
Knowing I have forgotten our old war.
Only my great-great-great grandchildren
Annoy me sometimes, pulling at my tail,
Slipping and sliding over me.
I give them a good box on the ears,
And go back where I left off thinking.
I am at peace with everything.

[Good Books Good Friends · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une lecture très agréable pour les amoureux des chats et les autres aussi !

[Diandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

uma gracinha

[May Luchs · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should rather be called "creepy morbid storys that might have a cat in it" because the story's aren't really about cats (they might appear for a second in the book but aren't really relevant to the plot either) and definitely not suitable for children. Also as a person who also occasionally enjoys thriller and murder mysteries. This book wasn't a good "creepy morbid story" either. Absolutely disappointing.

[Carolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Erste, was mir zu diesem Buch einfällt: ein furchtsamer Seitenblick auf meinen Kater.

Das Besondere an diesem Buch: In diesen drei Geschichten werden die Samtpfoten mal von ihrer gar nicht so samtigen Seite gezeigt. Sie haben die versteckte Hauptrolle und beeinflussen den Verlauf der drei Geschichten und das Leben ihrer Herrchen/Frauchen massiv ohne sich in den Mittelpunkt zu drängen oder wirklich VIEL zu tun. Und dabei kommt nicht unbedingt das Beste für die Menschen heraus... ;)

Das nicht so Schöne an diesem Buch: Ich kann eigentlich nichts Genaues benennen. Die Geschichten waren gruselig und einfallsreich, aber nicht TOTAL herausragend. Ich werde sicher noch ein Patricia Highsmith-Buch in die Hand nehmen. Um die Autorin kennenzulernen ist das Mini-Büchlein super, um sich ein wirkliches Urteil erlauben zu können, muss man aber sicher etwas mehr lesen.

Einfallsreiche und ganz ungewöhnliche Katzengeschichten - ein Kontrastprogramm zu all den süßen Katzenbüchern da draußen.

[Maria Fernanda Melgaço · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não sou muito chegada em livros de suspense/policiais, mas gostei bastante dos contos da Patricia Highsmith! Também acho muito bom que ela tenha sido uma grande escritora desse gênero literário muito protagonizado por homens ainda em meados do século XX! Recomendo a leitura!

[H.d. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crimes, humanos em conflito, animais selvagens e gatos. Da criadora do velho Ripley, não poderia ser melhor :)

[Evi Routoula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τρία διηγήματα, τρία ποιήματα, ένα δοκίμιο και αρκετά σκίτσα με γάτες. Ένα βιβλιαράκι 130 σελίδων με ιστοριούλες με πρωταγωνιστές γάτες. Διαβάζεται πολύ ευχάριστα. Η Πατρίτσια Χάισμιθ δεν εμπιστευόταν τους ανθρώπους αλλά εμπιστευόταν πολύ περισσότερο τις γάτες. Η ίδια σε όλη τη διάρκεια της ζωής της, είχε γάτες και είναι φανερό ότι είχε μελετήσει τη συμπεριφορά τους.
Άλλωστε πολλοί συγγραφείς λάτρευαν τις γάτες. Όπως εξηγεί και η ίδια, οι γάτες αποτελούν την καλύτερη παρέα ενός συγγραφέα, αφού δεν χρειάζονται τόσο ελεύθερο χρόνο όσο τα σκυλιά, αλλά προσφέρουν την συντροφιά τους στις μοναχικές ώρες της συγγραφής.

[Lydia Theochari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολύ μικρά διηγήματα με γάτες, σε πρωταγωνιστικούς και όχι μόνο, ρόλους, με πολύ δυνατή γραφή.
Είμαι τρομερή φαν των γατιών αλλά ανεξάρτητα από αυτό, η Highsmith δημιουργεί μία ένταση και μια ατμόσφαιρα που δεν με άφηνε να σταματήσω να διαβάζω. Σαν να με έβαλε μέσα σε τρεις ταινίες μικρού μήκους.
Δεν είχα διαβάσει κείμενά της και με έκανε να θέλω να διαβάσω κι άλλα και last but not least, καταλαβαίνω μετά από αυτό το βιβλιαράκι γιατί οι γάτες την αγάπησαν και γιατί τις αγάπησε κι αυτή : )

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are three stories in this little book. I found the first one very strange. I understood the larger ulterior motive, but it still confused me.
The second one was... Macabre! 🙈 You expect anything, but not this!
Story three was written in a crazy, funny way, with typical English characters that I really laughed at. The denouement was crazy.
On the whole, I liked it a lot.

[André Sollitto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livrinho simpático sobre gatos. Três contos breves, com leve suspense e centrados ao redor de felinos, desenhos divertidos espalhados pelas páginas, três singelos poemas e um ensaio que diz muito, em poucas palavras, sobre a relação de escritores com seus gatos. Pequeno (são pouco mais de 100 páginas), vale a leitura para os gateiros de plantão.

[Tina Secondo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Preso in biblioteca il 17/02 giorni della Festa Nazionale del Gatto. Non mi è piaciuto molto, pensavo a qualcosa di più originale; dei tre racconti ne ho apprezzato soltanto uno, quello che secondo me aveva un senso. Gli altri due non ho capito a quale pro siano stati scritti. 🐾🐾

[Thomaz Amancio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Os contos são melhores que o ensaio, que é melhor do que os poemas.

[Alvaro Salles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Highsmith falando da única coisa que ela não odiava nesse mundo de um jeito as vezes fofo e as vezes mórbido. Curti.

[emma ✰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think this book is basic

[Sarah Cytrangulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

ein gutes Buch, um den Geist zu leeren
die letzte Geschichte war die beste

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο αγέρωχος και υπέροχος χαρακτήρας της γάτας αφορμή για τρία διηγήματα.

[jen ♦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thousand stars, if I could!

It's an amazing book! I just couldn't stop reading! Ok,I'm suspect to talk about it, after all, I'm in love with cats. It is the first reading of a work of P. Highsmith: although it is not the custom of reading the genre, loved the stories! In particular the second: "The biggest prey of Ming", I was anxious about the risk that Ming was running, locked me from the first line. The illustrations are wonderful and the essay, full of tenderness, gracefully ends the little volume.

I won another bedside book, no doubt!

-----

Daria mil estrelas, se pudesse!

É um livro incrível! Sou suspeita pra falar, afinal, sou apaixonada por gatos. É a primeira leitura de uma obra de P. Highsmith: embora não tenha o costume de ler o gênero, adorei os contos! Em especial o segundo: "A maior presa de Ming", fiquei angustiada com o risco que Ming estava correndo, me prendeu desde a primeira linha. As ilustrações são maravilhosas e o ensaio, cheio de ternura, encerra graciosamente o volumezinho.

Ganhei mais um livro de cabeceira, sem dúvida!

[Simona Dreca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Piacevolissimi e inquietanti i racconti contenuti in questo volume della Highsmith Dei gatti e degli uomini.
Di solito non apprezzo molto la forma del racconto, ancor meno quei racconti incompiuti che sembrano romanzi abortiti sul nascere, questi invece sono decisamente compiuti, racchiusi.
Il volume contiene 3 racconti (Qualcosa che il gatto ha portato in casa, in cui il gatto mette in moto una sorta di giallo con tanto di assassini e ricerca del colpevole; La più grossa preda di Ming, in cui un gatto non apprezzato si difende; La casetta degli uccelli vuota, il più inquietante dei racconti contenuti nel volume con la sua ineluttabilità dell’eterno ritorno dell’identico), 3 poesie (Gattino; Gatto e Gatto vecchio) e un saggio (A proposito di gatti e di stili di vita, in cui l’autrice cerca di spiegare la sua passione per i gatti); completano il volumetto 7 disegni.

[Libraia Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racconti! ma forse perché questa volta si trattava di gatti o perché non erano cosi tanti da poi non ricordarsi qual'era il primo racconto, comunque sia questo libro mi piacque, soprattutto quella in cui si parla di quello che il micio può pensare o sentire, credo che amiamo cosi tanto loro che veramente ci crediamo capaci di scodificare il loro linguaggio, i loro movimenti, i loro sguardi. E ricordo che ci fu uno che una volta affermò che non possedevano un'anima! Ja!

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

I really enjoyed one of the short stories, the rest of this short book did not really resonate with me...