Joyous Song’s Comments (group member since Aug 01, 2017)

Joyous Song’s comments from the Nordic Book Club group.

So glad to read some thoughts of others on this book, which I really enjoyed. 1. I thought the title inferred that cats symbolize Yugoslavia - they represent ancestral home, safety, familiarity, culture. 2. In the case of Bekim's lover cat, that culture is harsh, judgmental, patriarchal, like village life in Kosovo. Emine's decision to adopt a kitten is related to her love of her culture because it is hers, not because it helped her flourish: she knows she is meant to be a wife, leave home, put up with abuse...yet she loves her culture. The kitten at the end of the novel reperesents her heritage and plans to not lose touch with her roots. The stray cat? Bekim gives it love, but unlike his mother he does not intend to stay connected to it or his Kosovar culture, and thus loses it. As to snakes - yeesh some of it was hard to read because I am afraid of them! I thought perhaps the snakes symbolized his father, maybe even male culture in rural Kosovo - Bekim wants to love his father but he is afraid of him, does not like when his mother is beaten by him. He tries to love the boa, who does seem to love him back. But boas have killing instincts, sort of like his father's violent nature. The snake in the bag....yikes that was scariest of all to read. (Author's descriptive abilities are terrific!) Bekim throws it not at his father, but another patriarchal figure=his grandfather, a representative Kosovar male 6. Themes. Alienation and loneliness, tradition vs. modernity, obstacles to multiculturalism, acceptance (or lack) of "differences" in looks, sexuality, language, behavior.