The Cat's Table

Critics

• Something Went Wrong on That Voyage: 'The Cat's Table'

  Eleven-year-old Michael has no expectations for his three-week journey from Ceylon to England, where he will attend a new school. His uncle and aunt, whom he lives with, do not make a big deal about it. He’s not given any advance details about the sh ... (read full critics)

  popmatters published on Thu, 16 Feb 2012

• The Cat's Table

  "Who realizes how contented feral children are?" 
In Michael Ondaatje's seventh novel, three boys run unsupervised through paradise, as attracted to evil as it is to them. Hannah Arendt's insight notwithstanding, the evil they encounter turns out to ... (read full critics)

  barnesandnoble published on Tue, 11 Oct 2011

1 Review

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Finishing a book and feeling compelled to turn to the first page again to reread it is not something I do a lot but The Cat's Table is that sort of book. The writing is quietly beautiful and the description of the long vanished world of a 1950's trip on an ocean liner is perfect. The reread offers e ... (continue)

  Finishing a book and feeling compelled to turn to the first page again to reread it is not something I do a lot but The Cat's Table is that sort of book. The writing is quietly beautiful and the description of the long vanished world of a 1950's trip on an ocean liner is perfect. The reread offers extra insights into that world and underlines the complexity of Ondaatje's story telling. There are many hints of the events to come but they remain quite subtle, not at all menacing. In fact the dramatic events which enfold are always secondary to the descriptions of the passengers and the slices of their lives which we are offered so compellingly. And anyway, Ondaatje doesn't really bother too much with tying up the loose ends of the plot - he leaves some things to our imagination.

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  Top of the pile said on Feb 2, 2012 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (6)
  • 5 stars
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• English Books
• Others 304 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0224093614
• ISBN-13: 9780224093613
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape
• Pub date: Sep 15, 2011
• Also available as: Library Binding and eBook

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