Need a change of pace? Bob Moyer reviews a novel that is probably unlike anything you’ve read in a long time.

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer

THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS. By Sosuke Natsukawa. Translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Harpervia. 208 pages.  $15.19, paperback.

A cat. Books. What more do you want you want?

Well, what you get in this novel, first published in English four years ago, is a bildungsroman: a coming-of-age tale with a  cat as a guide. Teenager Rintaro Natsuki has just inherited his Grandfather’s eclectic used book store. Brought up by his grandfather, Rintaro is a hikikomori, or one who has removed himself from society. In other words, a teenage book nerd. Into his life strides a talking tabby cat named Tiger, who says peremptorily that Rintaro must help him save books.

In the company of Rintaro’s only friend, Sayo, Rintaro and Tiger  embark on a series of adventures. The trio does so without ever really leaving the bookstore, because the rear wall dissolves into a blue light, and they descend into labyrinths. These lengthy halls lead them to people who are mistreating books in ways that are memes for current publication malpractice — only publishing bestsellers, cutting the prose into pieces, etc. Tiger leads Rintaro into meeting each of these challenges, and our hikikomori grows in stature each time he does.  When he has to meet the last “master” in a labyrinth.  he must do so by himself, sans cat, sans Sayo. He meets the challenge. of course, and when he returns to the bookshop, he knows he has the capacity to be the owner of Natsuke Books.

This is a classic tale, peppered with references to great texts, many of them Western classics. A pleasant short read, it is perhaps best aimed at an audience consisting of the hero’s peers — hikikomori.