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umbrtgris's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this significantly more on the reread (and more than junky).
Makes me think of the cats who I've loved and shared my life with, including the one who was sitting on my lap with me while I read this this evening.
Makes me think of the cats who I've loved and shared my life with, including the one who was sitting on my lap with me while I read this this evening.
palindromers's review against another edition
We are the cats inside. We are the cats who cannot walk alone, and for us there is only one place.
I read this one slowly because I wanted to pay attention to what I read and my, am I glad I did. This little, 94 page book, was filled with anecdotes about William Burroughs's cats and his thoughts on them. It's not written plainly or cheesily though; it's still a Burroughs book, though quite different from his other work at the same time. I recognised so much as a cat owner and rec this to any cat lovers out there.
I read this one slowly because I wanted to pay attention to what I read and my, am I glad I did. This little, 94 page book, was filled with anecdotes about William Burroughs's cats and his thoughts on them. It's not written plainly or cheesily though; it's still a Burroughs book, though quite different from his other work at the same time. I recognised so much as a cat owner and rec this to any cat lovers out there.
crows_and_books's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
sloatsj's review against another edition
3.0
I was downtown today and decided to stop in the bookshop with a good English section and comfy chairs. I looked for the shortest book I could find, determined to sit down and read. I found this, 93 pages, none of them full, and read it in an hour or so. It was serendipity, being not too heavy but also not too banal, a very managable lozenge of a book.
In it Burroughs muses affectionately on his cats, and on cats in general as companions, 'familiars,' and life's company. He is a confirmed Cat Person, and considers cats superior to dogs, so that old, tedious, self-serving argument comes up a number of times. Burroughs thinks humans have made dogs in their image and thus sullied them and made them "self-righteous" and even into a "lynch mob." Ah yes, we all need a little justifying rant sometimes. (Whatever! I am neither Cat nor Dog Person.) Nevertheless, Burroughs himself transforms his cats into people, who represent to him particular lost lovers, friends and family. I found that kind of sad, and it seems to me he did, too, not because of the projection but because he just misses people.
I enjoyed the format of this, which reads like journal entries on one topic. Some of it is very funny. I'm sure Cat People would like it more than I did.
In it Burroughs muses affectionately on his cats, and on cats in general as companions, 'familiars,' and life's company. He is a confirmed Cat Person, and considers cats superior to dogs, so that old, tedious, self-serving argument comes up a number of times. Burroughs thinks humans have made dogs in their image and thus sullied them and made them "self-righteous" and even into a "lynch mob." Ah yes, we all need a little justifying rant sometimes. (Whatever! I am neither Cat nor Dog Person.) Nevertheless, Burroughs himself transforms his cats into people, who represent to him particular lost lovers, friends and family. I found that kind of sad, and it seems to me he did, too, not because of the projection but because he just misses people.
I enjoyed the format of this, which reads like journal entries on one topic. Some of it is very funny. I'm sure Cat People would like it more than I did.
michellekmartin's review against another edition
4.0
Delightful! Burroughs takes the reader through the mind of his cats and does so with both humor and a deep understanding of the feline mentality.
kilburnadam's review against another edition
4.0
I thought a book about cats would be boring. I was wrong.
versmonesprit's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
5.0
The Cat Inside is a tiny, tender book full of emotion, an ode to not just cats, but also the transformative quality of loving animals. In it Burroughs reflects on how cats changed him as a person, and immortalises his beloved cats through both heartwarming and heartbreaking anecdotes. He’s an excellent writer, able to evoke full images in few words.
Unfortunately it turns out he felt a lot of disdain for dogs. He explains it by saying it’s what people have made of dogs (in his eyes, brutish beasts) that he hates. There’s truth in that sentiment: about how humans can turn dogs bad — but as someone who adores dogs, I can’t deny it hurt to read dogs being despised.
Unfortunately it turns out he felt a lot of disdain for dogs. He explains it by saying it’s what people have made of dogs (in his eyes, brutish beasts) that he hates. There’s truth in that sentiment: about how humans can turn dogs bad — but as someone who adores dogs, I can’t deny it hurt to read dogs being despised.