City of Rats

by Copi, Kit Schluter (Translator), César Aira (Introduction)

“The Holy Mountain” meets “Ratatouille” in this X-rated fable by French provocateur Copi


Life isn’t easy for a Parisian rat. But Gouri is getting with his best friend Rakä, he’s got a small business selling worms to pigeons, a cozy bachelor nest at the local florist, an—as spring blooms in the City of Lights—a budding love interest. But after a double date goes horribly wrong, Gouri and Rakä, along with the royal Rat Court—the princesses Iris and Catarina, and their hilariously unpredictable mother, the Queen of Rats—find themselves adrift on the Seine, accessories after the fact to a double homicide, using their new ally, a small human child, as a life raft. From there, the hijinks metastasize. French police collar the gang along with Mimile, a sadistic murderer who never remembers his crimes. But having escaped lock-up (from the cell they'd been tossed into with their arch-enemies, a snake and a terrier), they pay a visit to the God of Man (a homeless recluse hiding out in the Sainte-Chapelle), but then the giant Rat Devil makes his appearance, full of fiery flatulence and threatening cataclysm…


Told in a series of letters purportedly written in rat language and posted from Gouri to his former master, City of Rats is the second novel by French-Argentine exile, novelist, cartoonist, playwright, actor, and queer provocateur Copi to be translated into English and perhaps his most madcap work, an X-rated fable where his high-velocity prose smashes through societal taboos—moral, sexual, or otherwise—like a bullet train hitting a glass house. Whimsical, smutty, and surprisingly profound, City of Rats will leave no reader unscathed, and every reader awestruck.

Genres: Fiction, France, Literature, 20th Century, Magical Realism

126 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Raúl Damonte Botana, better known by the nom de plume Copi (for "copito de nieve", Spanish for "little snowflake"), was an Argentine writer, cartoonist, and playwright who spent most of his career in Paris.

Reviews

[Uzma Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talking rats and deadly floods and perverted men in Paris. When I feel my books are the most boring versions of themselves, I know I’m having withdrawals from the surreal, and I must return to my roots, tout de suite, asap, pronto! Yet my attempts to relapse (1. Ghost Roots, 2. City of Rats) have left me…dissatisfied…scraping my tongue to get the bad taste out. It’s not that the latter failed to deliver, as the former did, but rather, it descended into such abject recesses of thought that I found myself ostracized. Like getting denied from a club I’m not freaky enough for. But if this book did have a bouncer, it might have been best. He would have known I didn’t want to witness child r*pe and turned me away, no matter how much I’d admire the atmospheric prose and miniature observations from a small worldly creature. I’d realize this fact and say, “You know what? Thank you!” And we would have nodded and went along our way. Alas reader, that was hypothetical. This is real. Although I’ve not been one to shudder at perversion, the exact fact of our rat narrator detailing gross nonsense with such innocence (for the rat knows nothing of good and bad, those are human contrivances, and my disturbance admittedly reflects the author’s skill) disturbed me (expectedly so). Still, I am who I am. Be that as it may. Be me as I may. I can applaud the character of the “translator” who received these rat letters and transcribed them into this book. I can marvel at the winding pages-long paragraphs that blend internal and external events so smoothly. I can do all these things and still not like it that much. Look at me. Holding two truths at once.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 50%

I have zero desire to finish this. I was enjoying the ridiculousness of it, but a completely unnecessary and graphic scene occurred involving something happening to child that obliterated the fun of the book for me. I kinda thought I knew what I was walking into, but it wasn’t this.

Edgy can be fun, but not in this way. I’m out.

[SJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trust a polite, mannered little rat to throw up a mirror to the most depraved, unhinged and absurd sides of humanity. I have no idea who I would recommend this to, but I can’t deny its inventiveness, even if it did make me want to vomit a couple of times.

[Andy Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here’s something a bit different.. a bizarre and often grotesque view of life in Paris written by a rat.

It’s a story of survival in the nooks and crannies of the Parisian streets. Translated from the language of rats, the author, Raúl Damonte Botana, describes the chaotic existence of this small community of rats in a captivating and often humorous manner.

With an ankle height perspective, the world feels massive, threatening and oppressive. At the heart of the short novel is the theme of the struggle and resilience of the most vulnerable in society.

If the book needs additional praise, it comes in the form of an introduction by César Aira, one of my favourite contemporary writers. Copi, Raúl Damonte Botana, also lived in Argentina, though Aira describes him..

He was not a Frenchman born in Argentina, not an Argentine exiled in France, nor a Franco-Argentine acting in Italian, nor an Italian in Uruguay.

Aira goes onto say how he was ‘highly undefined’, as he wrote in all of those languages, and lived a good part of his life in each of those countries. Perhaps best known as a cartoonist, he was a playwright, actor and illustrator also. He died in 1987. This was first published in Spanish in 1979, and has only just received a long awaited English translation.

[Ashley]

Jessy picked this out at the indie bookstore for me so I could fill my library summer reading BINGO square of a book I discovered at an indie bookstore, and now I'm scared.

[Jensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

No

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the rest of us have to work to make a living, the rats are consistently finding new and creative ways to remain mooches. Join them on their adventures to drink, lounge the day away, eat out of dumpsters, marry into a rich political family, and meet Rat Satan. Things get weirder and weirder the deeper this goes, and it's already pretty weird from the get-go.

[Shalyn Falloon · Rating 2 out of 5]

City of Rats by Copi is certainly absurd—but not in the playful/surreal way I had hoped for. Instead, the novella leans heavily into the grotesque and depraved. Every now and then the social commentary briefly lands, but unfortunately those moments are rare. For most of the story I found myself more confused and grossed out than engaged. An interesting idea for a story in theory, but in practice mostly off-putting.

[Christopher Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put, quite special ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I did wonder what I’d gotten myself into with a back cover blurb promising a “hilarious and disturbing, x-rated fable” told from the perspective of Parisian rats, I was drawn in by the concept and engaging voice of the writing. I found the book very readable and even rather mild until events in the middle with a human toddler character crossed a line, exploiting the innocence of a child for shock value. All I’m saying is a woman would not have written a child in that situation.

If it kept to only animals and human adults, I think this could have been a surreal and amusing adventure, certainly gross and boundary-pushing in many ways, but ultimately 1 or 2 pages did irreparable harm and soiled the story for me. Using a toddler character as an amoral plaything, excused as with everything else by the “human translating correspondence from a rat ignorant of human ways without correction” framing device, was a bridge too far and while I finished the book, I could not in good faith reread or recommend this. Two star backwards = 2 rats for creative premise at least.

[Christian Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

City of Rats bills itself as an x-rated ratatouille. Seeing as much of my personality has been shaped by Saturday morning cartoons and having liked Kit Schluter’s book, Cartoons, this seemed like a slam dunk.

However…… around halfway through this book, there is a graphic, disgusting scene involving a very young child that was so off putting and disturbing it made me want to put the book down. This scene is framed by a book with consistently wacky or absurdist humor and refuses to take itself seriously, which makes me wonder why anyone thought it acceptable to include it. Then the character involved in this scene continues to pop up throughout the book and is portrayed as an endearing but misguided man. Confusing, gross, and in deeply poor taste.

I’m now understanding the skeptical look the woman at the book store gave me when I bought this 😮‍💨

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, possibly the full 5 were it not for a few overtly grotesque things

[Diego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como si Ratatouille lo hubiera escrito Osvaldo Lamborghini.

[Gigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulls it off by sheer audacity of imagination, which mostly remains endearing in its derangement despite some—ok one in particular, very questionable and frankly unnecessary choice. Nevertheless, fabulist hijinks ensue and accelerate, and remain surprising and mostly fresh: the Queen of Rats singing the national anthem, a snake with a wristwatch, a jail for animals, a talking white whale, the Emir of Parrots in his little outfit, a mobile floating island slowly sinking under the weight of Notre Dame, an Escher city for the rats inhabited for a million years, and so on. My advice would be to read it in a single sitting if you can because it works best when accumulating and stacking its absurd momentum in jenga blocks. For me, I think the tower fell about fifteen pages too early. Still, this was an anarchic and welcome change of pace and a great reminder that in fiction, you really can just sort of “do things” for the hell of it, even really crazy things, often without much justification, so why not get a little weird?

[Kane Perry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated pretty much every minute of this. Poorly written and poorly translated. The author clearly wrote this as ideas popped into his head as it’s completely nonsensical even within the bounds of the fact we are talking about talking, sentient rats.

Not to mention it features some disgusting scenes that in no way necessary to the story including one thing half way through involving a 2 year old CHILD (I won’t subject anyone by elaborating) which made my stomach turn. I am all for and can appreciate good transgressive literature but there is a line and this book crosses that.

So bad. Would’ve DNF’d it at that half way point if it wasn’t only about 100 pages but lowkey I wish I had because it was a waste of time.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

If The Borrowers were made rats in the grimy chic underworld of a Jean Genet novel set in 70s Paris, you might begin to approach this bizarre, apocalyptic book. The tone scampers between the charming and grotesque, at times entirely depraved (I’m not exaggerating), like the sylvanian families thrown into a Clive Barker novel. It runs through plot points a mile a minute and shoots out the other side. Is it a fable, an allegory, an anti-moral lesson? Couldn’t tell you, but it’s certainly memorable.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that uh. That sure was something. Definitely heed the X rating if you're considering reading this book, it could've benefited from some specific content warnings. Overall a bit of a mindfuck, and despite the meandering storytelling, it kind of came full circle in the end.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

What DID I READ?? Incredible start, got so weird so fast & uncomfortable as well. But I truly don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it.

[Sylvie Pingeon]

fundamentally Meek and Misunderstood

[Facundo Melillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es Copi, siempre es bueno. Acá, quizás, tan delirante pero más medido que otras veces (aunque hay un par de momentos que son de una desfachatez absoluta)

[Kevin Coduto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun idea, somehow annoyingly political.

[Ally Bonhaus · Rating 1 out of 5]

truly a terrible book. pedophilia, cannibalism, noah’s ark-like event that pits rats v humans but all of this is mentioned casually

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea of a story from the perspective of a rat in Paris was interesting to me and I liked the first half. But I really wish I had read the trigger warnings before I started. I’ve read disturbing things in books before but that was disgusting and went way too far. I get the point is supposed to be that the rat doesn’t understand the evil things humans do because he’s a rat, but I wanted to throw up.

[mia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer i spoil the whole thing:

Apparently i need to start researching more about the books i get because this is not even close to what i was expecting.

oh where to even start. does it even deserve a 1 i can’t say. let me paint a picture for you… follow me… so i’m reading, aw rats so cute wow… oh the rats are having a bit of sex but that’s normal enough… okay cute fun… oh they are facilitating a double homicide and kidnapping, that’s so silly! they really didn’t mean to or know better so that’s fine. oh the kidnapped orphan (2 years old) is being rather graphically sexually abused by an intoxicated homeless man ????? (now obviously this is where they lost me, i’ll circle back.) police take homeless man… nothing happened for a long time… child is back in custody of rapey homeless man??? okay.. bored… rat satan! oh rat animal farm kinda thing with a side of religious psychosis. and then a few more sexual assaults happen. everyone’s happy the end including the orphan and homeless molester who live happily ever after .

so really i can’t even describe what im thinking here. it reallly bothered me how graphic and nonchalant the initial sexual abuse scene was (rightfully so) but it was so icky that the few others in the book didn’t even really stand out. which is crazy. the nastiness of these scenes did not add any value or depth or characterization to the book, so i really wonder what the point was if not just a deeply issued author (and translator- see next paragraph).

so something that stood out to me (for the worst) was that in many pages there was a translators note explaining briefly that they had removed some paragraphs (many of which described as far more interesting than the included pieces), to further the story. also included in translators notes were funny little critiques of the original author, such as oh i think he may have confused this fact, or his geography is wrong, he meant this word, or just plain judging his story telling skills. my question is, why would the translator leave these graphic child rape scenes in (which served nothing to the plot of the story) when he could have A. Cut it and Summarized it , B. Acknowledge that it was disturbing and explain what it serves to the plot, or C. Veto it completely???? I don’t even know man. i’m left to believe that the author and translator simply had no aversion to graphic child sex abuse and it was written in purely for fun. hate this book

[Anaia Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is really the best part of this book. In between moments of unnecessary vulgarity, were rare and fleeting moments of poignancy about the intermingling of nature with urban society and how we treat creatures and the lower class which is really the only reason this book gets 2 stars instead of one. These moments, however, rarely sit in the book long enough to have much substance. There were even interesting references to Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno (possibly others such as Robinson Crusoe but maybe that's a stretch), but, once again, we don't linger on them long enough for these references to feel substantial. The book is absolutely absurd but quickly dwindles from being a playful type of absurd to becoming nearly incoherent and overly graphic. (Honestly, why was the Mimile-Vidvn plot even necessary? That alone made this lose a star for me) I guess you can make the argument that the 'joke' is that the rats don't understand how horrific these acts that occur right in front of them are but even that's giving much to the benefit of doubt. I almost dnf'd this book about 20 pages to the end but decided to stick it out. Less vulgarity and more of that rare poignancy would've made this novella a lot better. (Also better female characters since the only ones appear to be bickering 'ball-and-chain-type' rat wives, a delusionally oppressive monarch, and "madwomen" who are lowkey treated like servants).

[Derian · Rating 5 out of 5]

la ciudad de las ratas es como ver ratatouille (aunq no la vi), leer un comic y un libro de copi

[Camila Caraballo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te quiero tanto Raúl Natalio Damonte Botana, ojalá esta novela no se terminara nunca (a pesar de mis sueños extraños con roedores)

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What, and I say this with absolute respect, the f***
—————

Minimal spoiler commentary on the TW section: yeah of course this grossed me out/was deeply disturbing. The “translator” character notes that this was dealt with appropriately by human authorities. So then I found that the fact that the rats had a different approach was allowed to be social commentary: how easily we overlook deep wrongs bc a bad man is seen as loyal or otherwise upstanding, how a child might innocently not understand what is happening to them, how abusers can have complex motivations/not be Obviously Evil. Don’t read if it will be too triggering but I could see the merit and did not think it was there (just) for shock value.

[Erika S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3ish/5 -- I am so conflicted on my rating. Part of this book is such a solid 4+/5 for me; Gouri is a delightful narrator, the plot is wildly deranged and fascinating, the commentary on humanity is engaging, and the story format is creative and compelling. It really is functionally such a fabulous story. Now for the other part -- I was prepared for an x-rated read and some gratuitous grotesqueness. What I was not prepared for was the "story line" (if you can even call it that) between Mimile and the child). Just extremely unnecessary, disturbing, and too far past the line -- a 0/5 for this whole situation. Overall, if you are aware (more aware than I was going in) of just how far this book tilts into depravity and are down for the ride, it's a great read. I just had a hard time getting past one certain element. Also, read the translator's note at the beginning, it's fantastic.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

¿Y?