Kucing Bernama Dickens

by Callie Smith Grant, Istiani Prajoko (Translator)

Aku penyayang kucing. Selalu. Aku menganggap kucing adalah hasil ciptaan Tuhan yang paling indah. Jadi, membuat buku yang berisi kumpulan cerita singkat tentang kucing kurasakan sebagai tugas yang sangat menyenangkan, dan aku mulai mencari cerita-cerita tersebut.

Setiap orang yang memiliki kucing pastilah punya kisah tersendiri, dan kisah-kisah tersebut begitu beraneka warna seperti warna bulu kucing. Aku tidak hanya menginginkan cerita yang beragam, tapi juga cerita-cerita yang menonjolkan betapa berartinya kucing dalam kehidupan seseorang. Cerita-cerita yang memperlihatkan keberadaan serta peranan kucing sesuai tugas dan peranan yang diberikan ketika mereka diciptakan di dunia. Cerita-cerita bahwa kucing akan muncul ketika dibutuhkan.

Dapatkah kau membayangkan hidup tanpa seekor kucing? Tidak, jika kau membaca buku ini. Kenangan lucu tentang kucingmu sendiri pasti akan terbangkitkan. Kau akan teringat pada suara dengkuran atau desisan atau meongan lirih. Kau akan teringat pada bayangan yang sudah lama berlalu ketika kucingmu memanjat tirai atau bersembunyi di pancuran. Bahkan mungkin kau akan teringat pada perasaan panik ketika kau tidak dapat menemukan kucingmu selama beberapa jam, atau beberapa hari. Dan, kau akan teringat pada tikus mati di bawah kakimu yang sebetulnya dimaksudkan sebagai hadiah dari pemburu imutmu yang bangga.

Kucing memiliki cara tersendiri untuk meramaikan hidup kita. Dalam Kucing Bernama Dickens, kau akan bertemu dengan kucing-kucing yang menakjubkan beserta manusia-manusia pemiliknya, membaca kisah mereka, dan terpikat pada kelucuan mereka.

Ada kucing yang meringankan luka-luka batin masa kanak-kanak, menciptakan kerukunan dalam keluarga, melindungi anak-anak, juga menghibur orang-orang yang tengah gelisah. Kucing-kucing itu benar-benar ‘menyelamatkan’ jiwa manusia dengan cara khas kucing—dengan tenang, merunduk ke tanah, berjinjit agar tidak ketahuan, dan sambil terus mendengkur.

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction, Animals, Short Stories, True Story

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Callie Smith Grant is the editor of A Prince among Dogs and A Dickens of a Cat. She is also the author of several nonfiction books for young readers and adults as well as many animal-themed stories and poems which can be seen in Guideposts anthologies and in magazines such as Small Farmers Journal.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some books out there that just make you feel good: this is one of them.

Editor Callie Smith Grant has collected a set of stories about real people and their real cats. Some of them are childhood friends; some of them are companions in adulthood and illness. But every single one of them helps a broken-hearted human to become whole again.

I related to so many of these tales; as a lonely kid whose best friend was the family cat, I know the comfort of being able to whisper a secret into a twitching ear, and of feeling a rumbly purr.

[Shari Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features both funny and touching stories of people who have had their lives touched by cats. I especially liked the stories of the cats that helped people to heal, like the woman who had breast cancer and the little girl with the eating disorder. I also liked that there were very few stories in which the death of a cat were mentioned; most of the stories had uplifting, happy endings.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short stories of how cats contributed to our lives.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our cats are more than pets. They are our best friends when times are tough, our partners when we are lonely, our pillows to cry on when we are sad. Cats bring companionship, humor, and a sense of mystery to our lives that no other pet can match. A rumbling purr or a tender meow can change our moods and warm our hearts.
In this charming collection of true stories, you will find cats of all shapes, sizes, and demeanors. Each of them has played an important part in the lives of their humans.

You'll meet a scrawny kitten who helps an anorexic girl get well, a selfless mother cat who gives up her kitten to a little boy who needs a friend, a cat who acts as a partner down the lonely road of cancer recovery, and many more ordinary and extraordinary felines. So grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable chair, and curl up with the special cat in your life, and enjoy these uplifting tales.

Mom and I both loved this book very much! We love reading these uplifting stories about felines and their humans.

[Rahmadiyanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orang nggak suka kucing boleh saja bilang kalau kucing hewan tak berguna, cuma bisa bermanja-manja doang, nggak seperti anjing yang lebih bermanfaat. Huh, I don't care! *lho kok belum apa-apa sewot?? hahaha*.

Well, buat pecinta kucing, hidup begitu sepi dan tak berwarna tanpa kucing (saaahh...). Seperti yang dikatakan oleh penyusun buku ini, mungkin anjing dapat menyelamatkan manusia, tapi kucing pun dapat menyelamatkan manusia dengan cara yang khas... ya cara seorang eh seekor kucing.

Maka di dalam buku ini kita akan menemui beragam kisah persentuhan dan percintaan (idiiihhh! maksute rasa cinta) manusia terhadap kucing, dan sebaliknya. Terutama kisah-kisah kucing yang menyelamatkan hidup seseorang dengan caranya yang khas (kayaknya kalimat ini sudah ada deh di atas...). Kisah favorit saya: Hanya Butuh Mocha, Sang Pendamai, Penulis dan Kucingnya, Di Pinggir HUtan, dan TIga ekor Kucing dan Ayah Tiri (eh, kok banyak? ;p)

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my flavor. When I finished I read through all the contributing authors biographies in the back and saw that a lot of them had written for Guidepost and Chicken Soup for the Soul sort of publications. Ahhhhhhh. Now I get why almost every story was thanking Jesus for the cats. I admit I choked up once or twice - but honestly that could have been because it was finals at school and I had raging PMS. With those conditions and reading about a cat stuck in a storm drain - I dare you not to tear up!

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

One time I was too lazy to change the channel, and ended up watching a show about how to save a relationship, or something. After some testimonies, out of nowhere the announcers started talking about how believing in God is important to having a good relationship.
This book is like that.

[Jonicat Motoike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok. If I had known it was a religious/inspriational book, than I would not have wasted the money on it.

[Karrie N · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be one of the best cat books in the world. Go kitties!!!!!!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet stories. I laughed and cried.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good cat stories.

[Adi_Toha · Rating 3 out of 5]

jadi hayang boga ucing ...

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

[Kumala Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kumpulan cerita tentang kucing yang tak hanya menggemaskan tapi juga berisi banyak pelajaran kehidupan. Kucing-kucing dalam buku ini tak hanya membantu pemiliknya untuk menemukan bahagia, tapi juga rasa ikhlas dan keberanian.

[Sekar Kusumaningtyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dari puluhan cerita yang ada, intinya sama, kucing dengan perilaku misterius mereka yang selalu membuat hidupmu lebih berwarna.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is a compilation of cat stories that not only is here to warm the heart of the reader but also to provide some religious Christian encouragement as well to readers even thought that isn't mentioned in the title.

The book starts off with a brief introduction into how this book was compiled and the focus that the author had for the stories that would be told within the pages. And then the reader is taken into the book where each chapter is its own story as well as provided with the name of the author, which I may feel some have contributed more than one time. Furthermore since of the various authors and tales being told the reader will find some stories are brief while others are a bit longer.

What makes this book particularly unique for me is the fact that since it is a God-based book I found the authors to not only share their own unique voices but also to allow the reader more intimately into their lives than is normally shared. As such even though I didn't find myself laughing or smiling at these kitty antics of which there were a lot I did find myself in tears a few times that made it hard to read while I was most fervently hoping my weird reading style for this book would also mean I didn't finish the book on a sad note.

Meanwhile there are black-and-white photographs not of the story's subject included while creatively the story was printed around their forms. At the same time the reader can find other factual information boxes, quotes and little poems also tucked into the stories thus providing the reader with a break if they wish or just a variety of reading material to choose from.

There was only one story where the telling of the story was a bit weird to me, and I felt quite awkward. To me, gleaning from her story's clues, I take it that she was the wife of the human protagonist even though she wrote as if she were reviewing everything from a non-intimate witness' view. Perhaps she is still grieving the loss of her husband. Perhaps she didn't want an emotional connection to show, but since of that, it made me feel a bit invasive as well.

In the end, A Dickens of A Cat is an engaging and nice quick read with bonus simplistic thoughts of God. It will show to the reader that He Who Created Us can still teach us about Himself via the unorthodox means of His most stubbornly free-willed creature - the cat.

[Ceelee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful collection of cat stories! All had a general theme of cats who rescued their humans and made their lives better. There were 24 stories ranging from humorous to heartbreaking. My personal favorites were "Small Miracles", "A Mocha's Just What I Needed", "One More Time" and "Out of the Woods" but all touched me in some way. Some of the stories took me back to my own childhood and the cats that I lived with and all the happiness, fun, frustration and heartache loving those cats entailed. There was a lot of humor in the stories but a lot of times the stories brought me to tears as I remembered my own cats and identified with the writer's loss. The editor, Callie Smith Grant, also had lots of little tidbits throughout the book such as poetry and quotes and short articles about cat care and behavior. Some readers might be a little put off by the heavy dose of Christianity in the stories but it didn't bother me as I believe that no matter what religion you are you will pray to a higher power of some kind. To me the book was filled with love and magic because I think cats are full of love and magic. It is not often I read a book of short stories and not find one dull one in the bunch but DICKENS OF A CAT was a rare exception. Highly recommended as a gift to a cat loving friend (which is how I obtained mine (thanks Roo and Val!) or if you are a cat loving person a gift to yourself.

[Joevarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baca ini di gr*m*d** untuk menghabiskan waktu sampai buka puasa. Tentu, bagi mereka yang memelihara kucing pasti tahu bahwa hewan ini adalah hewan yang angkuh, tetapi ketika kita berada dalam keadaan tertekan atau menderita, mereka datang bak malaikat untuk menghibur kita. Saya sendiri pernah mengalaminya, walaupun kisah saya tidaklah sebegitu menyentuh seperti kisah-kisah dalam buku ini. Ya, buku ini sangat pas sekali bagi mereka pecinta kucing. Ada beberapa kisah yang cukup mengharukan dan membuat saya merasakan gejolak emosi walau tidak sampai keluar. Terlepas dari itu, saya tidak menyarankan buku ini bagi siapapun yang tidak menyukai kucing.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of heart-warming stories about cats and how they have changed the lives of their owners. Even some very reluctant pet owners and self-identified "dog people" share how they were touched by having a cat in their lives. Well-known authors, including Melody Carlson, Tracie Peterson, and Robert Benson, as well as new voices share their inspirational true stories of these otherwise ordinary cats and dogs whose presence in the lives of humans make them remarkable.

[Murni · Rating 5 out of 5]

ada 24 cerita pendek yang akan membuatmu bahagia dan mengerti akan kebesaran Allah dalam hidup seorang manusia melalui tangan dan kaki mungil kucing-kucing itu. ada tips tentang kucing juga. sebenarnya saya 'takut' sama kucing dan hewan bertaring tajam lainnya.. tapi setelah membaca buku ini,saya mengerti bahwa kucing itu selain bossy dan cuek,juga ada sisi penyayangnya. buku bagus untuk para penyuka kucing maupun yg 'takut' seperti saya. :-D

[Martha Mcgill · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm not usually so mean, but, this book was supposed to be about cats. the stories were riddled with
a Christian theme. it started after the first story and snow balled into a crescendo.
i don't think Christian books should mascaraed as anything else. i resented them trying to force that on readers who picked up the book because they just love cats.
we get enough of religion being forced on people everywhere else. Enough is ENOUGH.

[Sita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semacam chicken soup stories tapi bintang utamanya kucing! Cayang Ucing!!! Intinya cerita2 bagaimana kehidupan berubah menjadi lebih baik dengan hadirnya sosok ucing cayang dalam kehidupan mereka. Suka? Ya jelas, wong saya suka banget ama hewan yang namanya kucing :D

Jadi pengen tau klo disini kira2 mungkin ga ya bikin buku kompilasi cerita ucing kayak gini?

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is simply short stories about cats. It's a nice little book. Quick to read. Similar to the Chicken Soup books. I laughed in parts, cried in parts, and smiled in other parts. I especially like stories of dog people turned cat people. This book had little quotes, haikus, tips and some photos included, in addition to the stories.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about cats and how they found thier humans. Some humans reluctant and others very open to the idea of having a cat in their life. Stories are uplifting, inspirational and a couple of tear jerker. All show how the simple addiction of a cat can warm a heart. Highly recommend to all animal lovers.

[Dinda Astrida · Rating 3 out of 5]

saya sudah baca buku ini. ini adalah semacam kumpulan kisah nyata dari beberapa pecinta kucing. sayangnya kucing-kucing yang dikisahkan ini adalah kucing di bumi belahan lain. ceritanya ada yang biasa, ada juga yang mengharukan, juga lucu. selamat membaca

[Vikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Dickens of a Cat and Other Stories of the Cats We Love is edited by Callie Smith Grant. This was a simple little book of short stories about our furry friend, the cat. These were lovely little stories-some funny, some heartbreaking but all interesting for a cat lover.

[Nadya]

Thx mas anton kurnia atas buntelannya.

[Susan Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute collection of cat stories - fast & easy read.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little books with inspirational stories all involving cats.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short true stories about the role cats have played in people's lives.