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Cats: An Anthology of Stories and Poems
A wonderful selection of writing on cats, from Aesop to Oscar Wilder, and from ancient Egypt to twentieth-century New York.
From beautiful lyrics to madcap waggery, from the prime suspect in a partridge killing in ancient Greece to the medieval monk's cat Pangur Ban and encompassing odes, fables, stories, limericks, songs, nursery rhymes and more, Mark Bryant has compiled a wonderfully evocative collection of writing of all kinds on cats.
There are poems from Chaucer, Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth; humorous pieces by Lewis Carroll, Ambrose Bierce, Edward Lear and Jerome K. Jerome; and other delights from writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Saki and Mark Twain.
Covering every genre, from humour and fantasy to romance and horror, and drawn from every part of the world, these stories, poems and excerpts from essays, letters, diaries and journals provide a collection to delight any cat-lover.
From beautiful lyrics to madcap waggery, from the prime suspect in a partridge killing in ancient Greece to the medieval monk's cat Pangur Ban and encompassing odes, fables, stories, limericks, songs, nursery rhymes and more, Mark Bryant has compiled a wonderfully evocative collection of writing of all kinds on cats.
There are poems from Chaucer, Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth; humorous pieces by Lewis Carroll, Ambrose Bierce, Edward Lear and Jerome K. Jerome; and other delights from writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Saki and Mark Twain.
Covering every genre, from humour and fantasy to romance and horror, and drawn from every part of the world, these stories, poems and excerpts from essays, letters, diaries and journals provide a collection to delight any cat-lover.
364 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 28, 2021
ENGLISH: A very good compilation of short anecdotes, stories and poems about cats. Among the anecdotes, I've selected the following:
a) A moving vignette written by Mary Dickens about her father's (Charles Dickens) cat and deaf kitten.
b) Three excerpts from Jerome K. Jerome's book Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, which, by the way, is dedicated to one of Jerome's cats.
c) Several excerpts from Ménagerie intime by Théophile Gautier. One of them (Madame Théophile), which recounts the confrontation between a cat and a parrot, is hilarious.
d) A piece of Henry David Thoreau's "Journal," which tells how Thoreau and his daughter saved a lost just-born kitten, although in fact the kitten actually saved itself.
e) Several anecdotes from the book A Shepherd's Life by W.H. Hudson.
The stories I liked most were Saki's "The Reticence of Lady Anne" and "Tobermory." Also "The black cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, which I had read many times. Then there is "The Squaw" by Bram Stoker, a horrible story about a vengeful cat.
And among the poems: "The Sphinx" by Oscar Wilde (a review of the history of the cat in ancient Egypt) and "To a cat" by Hartley Coleridge, son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and also a poet, which ends with these winged words: "The world would just the same go round If I were hanged and thou wert drowned; There is one difference, 'tis true: Thou dost not know it, and I do." By the way, the list of authors of this section looks like a roll-call of English poetry.
In addition, a very short poem by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92), an epitaph to a dead cat, which says this: "To whom none ever said scat, No worthier cat Ever sat on a mat Or caught a rat: Requies – cat."
The list of authors in this section looks like an honor roll of English poetry.
ESPAÑOL: Muy buena recopilación de anécdotas y cuentos breves, y poemas sobre gatos. Entre las anécdotas, he seleccionado las siguientes:
a) Una viñeta conmovedora escrita por Mary Dickens sobre el gato y el gatito sordo de su padre (Charles Dickens).
b) Tres extractos del libro de Jerome K. Jerome Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, que por cierto, está dedicado a uno de sus gatos.
c) Varios trozos de Ménagerie intime de Théophile Gautier. Uno de ellos (Madame Théophile), que cuenta el enfrentamiento entre una gata y un loro, es desternillante.
d) Un fragmento del "Diario" de Henry David Thoreau, que cuenta cómo Thoreau y su hija salvaron a un gatito recién nacido que se había perdido, aunque en realidad el gatito se salvó a sí mismo.
e) Varias anécdotas sacadas del libro A Shepherd's Life de W.H. Hudson.
Los cuentos que más me gustaron fueron "La reticencia de Lady Anne" y "Tobermory" de Saki. También "El gato negro" de Edgar Allan Poe, que ya había leído muchas veces. Luego está "La Squaw" de Bram Stoker, una historia horripilante sobre un gato vengativo.
Y entre los poemas: "La Esfinge" de Oscar Wilde (un repaso a la historia del gato en el antiguo Egipto) y "A un gato" de Hartley Coleridge, hijo de Samuel Taylor Coleridge y también poeta, que termina con estas aladas palabras: "El mundo seguiría girando aunque a mí me colgaran y a ti te ahogaran; Pero hay una sola diferencia: Tú no lo sabes, pero yo sí." Además hay un poema muy corto de John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92), un epitafio a un gato muerto.
La lista de autores de esta sección parece una lista de honor de la poesía inglesa.
a) A moving vignette written by Mary Dickens about her father's (Charles Dickens) cat and deaf kitten.
b) Three excerpts from Jerome K. Jerome's book Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, which, by the way, is dedicated to one of Jerome's cats.
c) Several excerpts from Ménagerie intime by Théophile Gautier. One of them (Madame Théophile), which recounts the confrontation between a cat and a parrot, is hilarious.
d) A piece of Henry David Thoreau's "Journal," which tells how Thoreau and his daughter saved a lost just-born kitten, although in fact the kitten actually saved itself.
e) Several anecdotes from the book A Shepherd's Life by W.H. Hudson.
The stories I liked most were Saki's "The Reticence of Lady Anne" and "Tobermory." Also "The black cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, which I had read many times. Then there is "The Squaw" by Bram Stoker, a horrible story about a vengeful cat.
And among the poems: "The Sphinx" by Oscar Wilde (a review of the history of the cat in ancient Egypt) and "To a cat" by Hartley Coleridge, son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and also a poet, which ends with these winged words: "The world would just the same go round If I were hanged and thou wert drowned; There is one difference, 'tis true: Thou dost not know it, and I do." By the way, the list of authors of this section looks like a roll-call of English poetry.
In addition, a very short poem by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92), an epitaph to a dead cat, which says this: "To whom none ever said scat, No worthier cat Ever sat on a mat Or caught a rat: Requies – cat."
The list of authors in this section looks like an honor roll of English poetry.
ESPAÑOL: Muy buena recopilación de anécdotas y cuentos breves, y poemas sobre gatos. Entre las anécdotas, he seleccionado las siguientes:
a) Una viñeta conmovedora escrita por Mary Dickens sobre el gato y el gatito sordo de su padre (Charles Dickens).
b) Tres extractos del libro de Jerome K. Jerome Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, que por cierto, está dedicado a uno de sus gatos.
c) Varios trozos de Ménagerie intime de Théophile Gautier. Uno de ellos (Madame Théophile), que cuenta el enfrentamiento entre una gata y un loro, es desternillante.
d) Un fragmento del "Diario" de Henry David Thoreau, que cuenta cómo Thoreau y su hija salvaron a un gatito recién nacido que se había perdido, aunque en realidad el gatito se salvó a sí mismo.
e) Varias anécdotas sacadas del libro A Shepherd's Life de W.H. Hudson.
Los cuentos que más me gustaron fueron "La reticencia de Lady Anne" y "Tobermory" de Saki. También "El gato negro" de Edgar Allan Poe, que ya había leído muchas veces. Luego está "La Squaw" de Bram Stoker, una historia horripilante sobre un gato vengativo.
Y entre los poemas: "La Esfinge" de Oscar Wilde (un repaso a la historia del gato en el antiguo Egipto) y "A un gato" de Hartley Coleridge, hijo de Samuel Taylor Coleridge y también poeta, que termina con estas aladas palabras: "El mundo seguiría girando aunque a mí me colgaran y a ti te ahogaran; Pero hay una sola diferencia: Tú no lo sabes, pero yo sí." Además hay un poema muy corto de John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92), un epitafio a un gato muerto.
La lista de autores de esta sección parece una lista de honor de la poesía inglesa.
September 22, 2024
The tallest book on my OWLs To-Read list, 'Cats: An Anthology of Stories and Poems', edited by Mark Bryant, was my pick for Transfiguration (shapeshifting). It's a collection of writings from the 1500s to the 1800s, all focused on cats.
The chapters are divided by themes, and there were a few standout short stories for me:
+ ‘The Squaw’ by Bram Stoker
+ ‘The Black Cat’by Edgar Allan Poe
+ ‘Calvin, The Cat’ by Charles Dudley Warner
+ ‘Jim Wolf and the Cats’ by Mark Twain
While the short stories were enjoyable, what detracted from my overall experience were the excerpts from diaries, letters, journals, and essays. These pieces were interesting, but since most were pulled from larger works, they often lacked context and satisfying conclusions. I felt like I was only getting snippets of something bigger, which left me a bit unsatisfied.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with this anthology, but I’m still intrigued by Bryant’s other collections on cats and might give them a try. It’s clear there’s potential here for cat lovers, but this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
The chapters are divided by themes, and there were a few standout short stories for me:
+ ‘The Squaw’ by Bram Stoker
+ ‘The Black Cat’by Edgar Allan Poe
+ ‘Calvin, The Cat’ by Charles Dudley Warner
+ ‘Jim Wolf and the Cats’ by Mark Twain
While the short stories were enjoyable, what detracted from my overall experience were the excerpts from diaries, letters, journals, and essays. These pieces were interesting, but since most were pulled from larger works, they often lacked context and satisfying conclusions. I felt like I was only getting snippets of something bigger, which left me a bit unsatisfied.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with this anthology, but I’m still intrigued by Bryant’s other collections on cats and might give them a try. It’s clear there’s potential here for cat lovers, but this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
January 20, 2024
some of the stories/poems were very fun and cute, but most of it felt like filler, which is why it took me so long to get through this. this book could’ve easily been 100 pages shorter, if not more. context or rationale for choosing these specific stories would’ve also been nice to get more out of them
October 11, 2022
3.5/5⭐️
July 18, 2020
[4] Got this book from a big book sale. I bought it out of impulse because I saw stories and poems at the cover HAHA 😬.However, I have TBH I’m more of a dog person than a cat person but I was still able to enjoy most of the selections included in the book. Some are very light and fun while the other half hold much deeper meanings that make the journey of reading more pleasant and eye-opening. This was a very interesting experience. I loved it
P.S. The last part of the book made me miss my pets, who passed away already. May all our lovely babies rest in peace and treats.
P.S. The last part of the book made me miss my pets, who passed away already. May all our lovely babies rest in peace and treats.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews