Read it in English
Il primo motivo per cui ho scelto questo libro è ovviamente il titolo… quando vedo ‘gatto’ non resisto. Il secondo motivo era la curiosità verso un lato di Lynne Truss meno conosciuto, quello dalle atmosfere dark, gotiche, misteriose. Mi incuriosiva soprattutto l’unione dei due elementi che, da lettrice di Edgar Allan Poe, già riuscivo a immaginare.
L’introduzione di un personaggio assolutamente ordinario non lascia presagire il risvolto giallo-thriller della vicenda: Alec Charlesworth, bibliotecario, vedovo ancora in gramaglie per la perdita della moglie, induce il lettore ad arrendersi all’idea di una storia noiosa, quando all’improvviso l’atmosfera si tinge di giallo ed assume toni soprannaturali. Entra infatti in scena un misterioso ed inquietante gatto... parlante. Il dettaglio è che Roger (il gatto) ha la voce di Vincent Price, divo dei film horror dell’epoca d’oro della Hammer.
Questo gatto ha una storia da narrare ed il racconto diventa in qualche modo catartico: come in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner l’atto del raccontare è importante quanto la vicenda raccontata ed è controverso, poichè il narratore è combattuto tra il desiderio impellente da un lato, la maledizione dall’altro. Come in Coleridge, il prescelto (che nel libro si chiama Wiggy) all'inizio non ha alcun desiderio di ascoltare la storia, totalmente preso da altri eventi (se nel Rhyme è il matrimonio di una parente, nel libro della Truss è la sparizione di una sorella). Ma nel nostro caso esiste un secondo narratore, con il compito di dipanare la storia dando significato ad una serie di fonti diverse (un copione, una serie di lettere, delle foto, dei file audio…).
L’incontro con il Capitano, che strizza un occhio a Lestat, gli cambia la vita: gli viene infatti offerta la possibilità di diventare immortale e da qui la separazione, il tradimento, l’amaro ritrovamento ed il tragico finale.
Con un protagonista bibliotecario è naturale che i libri pervadano il racconto. Oltre all’omaggio dichiarato alla Rice, è possibile riscontrare la presenza di atmosfere alla Edgar Allan Poe … soprattutto per quanto riguarda la morte di Joanna, in vero stile horror, che ricorda proprio la fine del racconto ‘The Black Cat’.
Viene tirato in ballo perfino Sherlock Holmes, seppur in maniera scherzosa. Il cane del protagonista e della moglie, infatti, si chiama Watson e i due utilizzano citazioni dai noti romanzi per chiamarlo…
- COME, WATSON, COME! THE GAME’S AFOOT!
- YOU HAVE A GREAT GIFT FOR SILENCE, WATSON. IT MAKES YOU QUITE INVALUABLE AS A COMPANION
- WATSON. COME AT ONCE IF CONVENIENT. IF INCONVENIENT, COME ALL THE SAME
L’addio di Roger al narratore è ispirato da Shakespeare (HAMLET IS RIGHT. A MAN’S LIFE REALLY IS NO MORE THAN TO SAY ONE) ma anche da Sherlock Holmes, visto che saluta il cane con l'ennesima citazione (EDUCATION NEVER ENDS, WATSON. IT’S A SERIES OF LESSONS WITH THE GREATEST FOR THE LAST) e sceglie di farla finita con un gesto ispirato a The Final Problem (1893).
LYNNE TRUSS AND INFERNAL CATS
The first reason why I’ve chosen this book is obviously its title… whenever I read ‘cat’ I can’t resist. My second reason was because I was interested in a less talked-about aspect of Lynne Truss’s nature, the dark, Gothic, mysterious writer. I was also curious about the mixture of these two elements -cats and Gothic- and, as a reader of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales, I could imagine the outcome.
The introduction of an ordinary character at the very beginning is against all expectations of horror-thriller implications: Alec Charlesworth, a librarian, is also a widower who is still mourning his wife and when the reader is about to give up to the idea of a boring story, the atmosphere changes, the tone becomes darker with supernatural elements. A mysterious and unsettling talking cat makes an entrance. A detail: Roger (the cat) has the voice of Vincent Price, star of Hammer horror films.
This cat ha a story to tell and the telling becomes somewhat cathartic: like in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner the act of storytelling is as important as the events that are being told. But it’s also controversial, because the narrator is divided between the urge to tell and the curse on him. Like in Coleridge, the listener (in the book his name is Wiggy) doesn’t want to listen to the story at the beginning, there are better things to think of (a marriage in The Rhyme, the disappearance of a sister in Truss’s book). There’s also a second narrator, whose task is to unravel the events from different sources (a screenplay, some letters, photos, audio files…) As soon as Roger begins his story, another literary parallel is revealed, references to Interview with a vampire (by Anne Rice) turn the atmosphere into horror with the introduction of Captain (a second and more fearsome cat): at this point the reader learns about Roger’s terrible initiation after the death of his little brother … at this point the readers understands how much the character is similar to Rice’s Louis… and Wiggy is none other than the reporter’s alter ego.
The meeting with Captain, Rice’s Lestat, changes his life forever: he can choose immortality and from this moment on the events will lead him from loneliness, to betrayal, until the tragic ending.
With a librarian as a protagonist it’s quite natural that books permeate the story. Besides the declared homage to Rice, it’s also possible to feel the gloomy atmophere typical of Edgar Alla Poe’s stories. In particular, the details about Joanna’s death are truly horrific and recall the final part of ‘The Black Cat’.
Even SHerlock Holmes is quoted here and there, as a joke. The dog, in fact, is called Watson and the protagonists use famous quotations from Sherlock Holmes stories when they talk to their dog:
When Roger takes his leave he is inspired both by Shakespeare (HAMLET IS RIGHT. A MAN’S LIFE REALLY IS NO MORE THAN TO SAY ONE) and Sherlock Holmes (EDUCATION NEVER ENDS, WATSON. IT’S A SERIES OF LESSONS WITH THE GREATEST FOR THE LAST)... but his final act is taken from the latter and inspired by The Final Problem (1893).
LYNNE TRUSS AND INFERNAL CATS
The first reason why I’ve chosen this book is obviously its title… whenever I read ‘cat’ I can’t resist. My second reason was because I was interested in a less talked-about aspect of Lynne Truss’s nature, the dark, Gothic, mysterious writer. I was also curious about the mixture of these two elements -cats and Gothic- and, as a reader of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales, I could imagine the outcome.
The introduction of an ordinary character at the very beginning is against all expectations of horror-thriller implications: Alec Charlesworth, a librarian, is also a widower who is still mourning his wife and when the reader is about to give up to the idea of a boring story, the atmosphere changes, the tone becomes darker with supernatural elements. A mysterious and unsettling talking cat makes an entrance. A detail: Roger (the cat) has the voice of Vincent Price, star of Hammer horror films.
This cat ha a story to tell and the telling becomes somewhat cathartic: like in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner the act of storytelling is as important as the events that are being told. But it’s also controversial, because the narrator is divided between the urge to tell and the curse on him. Like in Coleridge, the listener (in the book his name is Wiggy) doesn’t want to listen to the story at the beginning, there are better things to think of (a marriage in The Rhyme, the disappearance of a sister in Truss’s book). There’s also a second narrator, whose task is to unravel the events from different sources (a screenplay, some letters, photos, audio files…) As soon as Roger begins his story, another literary parallel is revealed, references to Interview with a vampire (by Anne Rice) turn the atmosphere into horror with the introduction of Captain (a second and more fearsome cat): at this point the reader learns about Roger’s terrible initiation after the death of his little brother … at this point the readers understands how much the character is similar to Rice’s Louis… and Wiggy is none other than the reporter’s alter ego.
The meeting with Captain, Rice’s Lestat, changes his life forever: he can choose immortality and from this moment on the events will lead him from loneliness, to betrayal, until the tragic ending.
With a librarian as a protagonist it’s quite natural that books permeate the story. Besides the declared homage to Rice, it’s also possible to feel the gloomy atmophere typical of Edgar Alla Poe’s stories. In particular, the details about Joanna’s death are truly horrific and recall the final part of ‘The Black Cat’.
Even SHerlock Holmes is quoted here and there, as a joke. The dog, in fact, is called Watson and the protagonists use famous quotations from Sherlock Holmes stories when they talk to their dog:
- COME, WATSON, COME! THE GAME’S AFOOT!
- YOU HAVE A GREAT GIFT FOR SILENCE, WATSON. IT MAKES YOU QUITE INVALUABLE AS A COMPANION
- WATSON. COME AT ONCE IF CONVENIENT. IF INCONVENIENT, COME ALL THE SAME
When Roger takes his leave he is inspired both by Shakespeare (HAMLET IS RIGHT. A MAN’S LIFE REALLY IS NO MORE THAN TO SAY ONE) and Sherlock Holmes (EDUCATION NEVER ENDS, WATSON. IT’S A SERIES OF LESSONS WITH THE GREATEST FOR THE LAST)... but his final act is taken from the latter and inspired by The Final Problem (1893).
