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Birds Are Not For The Cat
Arbitrary rules, convoluted instructions, invisible management, horrific *accidental* all part of the deal in the workplace for Pete and Sam, two factory floor stooges who experience dissatisfaction on an elemental level.
Their primal sense of entrapment blossoms into full-blown paranoia when the hand-drawn safety posters, plastered profusely throughout the factory, begin to predict the future/deaths of their colleagues. Still, it’s only paranoia if you’re crazy, and Pete and Sam soon lose track of the difference between their waking nightmares and the actual dangers of the factory. They’re pretty sure someone—if not everyone—is trying to kill them. But they discover abandoning ship is problematic, and filing a complaint to management, it becomes clear, would be unhealthy.
Birds Are Not For the Cat was inspired by vintage, hand-painted, Dutch factory safety posters. The two young lunatics who conceived of and composed this story will be impressed if you manage to squeeze a drop of meaning out of it. Seriously. Challenge issued.
Their primal sense of entrapment blossoms into full-blown paranoia when the hand-drawn safety posters, plastered profusely throughout the factory, begin to predict the future/deaths of their colleagues. Still, it’s only paranoia if you’re crazy, and Pete and Sam soon lose track of the difference between their waking nightmares and the actual dangers of the factory. They’re pretty sure someone—if not everyone—is trying to kill them. But they discover abandoning ship is problematic, and filing a complaint to management, it becomes clear, would be unhealthy.
Birds Are Not For the Cat was inspired by vintage, hand-painted, Dutch factory safety posters. The two young lunatics who conceived of and composed this story will be impressed if you manage to squeeze a drop of meaning out of it. Seriously. Challenge issued.
113 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 14, 2015
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December 9, 2025
General thoughts: This book was unlike anything I've ever read. Based on the description, I really had no idea what to expect. It was fairly easy to read with some wild twists thrown in using the safety posters. The authors challenged to finding meaning in this story: I say, that sometimes even when things feel "safe and normal" like a job that you show up for every day might not be as it seems and so tread carefully - and always remember the safety posters!
Characters: 4/5 - The characters were good and had a twist of "real identity" for two of them at the end.
Atmosphere/Setting: 5/5 - For having a factory being the only major setting in this book, it was spot on.
Writing Style: 4/5 - The writing was good. Nothing spectacular but not bad either. It seemed to fit the story.
Plot: 5/5 - This plot was wild!
Intrigue: 3/5 - As crazy as this story was - and as short as this book is - my intrigue still waned at times.
Logic: 4/5 - It didn't make logical sense at times - but then again, it wasn't supposed to.
Enjoyment:
Characters: 4/5 - The characters were good and had a twist of "real identity" for two of them at the end.
Atmosphere/Setting: 5/5 - For having a factory being the only major setting in this book, it was spot on.
Writing Style: 4/5 - The writing was good. Nothing spectacular but not bad either. It seemed to fit the story.
Plot: 5/5 - This plot was wild!
Intrigue: 3/5 - As crazy as this story was - and as short as this book is - my intrigue still waned at times.
Logic: 4/5 - It didn't make logical sense at times - but then again, it wasn't supposed to.
Enjoyment:
Displaying 1 of 1 review