Book Review: Cat Country

I just finished reading this short book by Lao She, a Chinese author, published in 1933. I saw it in an old bookstore and even though I have a huge reading backlog, being the way I am about anything cats-related, I felt the need to buy it. I finished it in a few days, it was a quick read.

The book tells the story of a human survivor on planet Mars, the home of humanoid cat species, on the brink of corruption and extinction. He meets a few cat-people and witnesses their “magical leaf” addiction and the poor state of their civilization. It’s a thinly-veiled political commentary on the author’s home country.

The book had its fun moments, right from the foreword. However, there were also large passages and monologues that I had trouble going through. I don’t know the state of China around the time the book was written though, which explains my trouble understanding the critique being made. And its ideas didn’t resonate without the cultural context.

The book’s language felt foreign to me from time to time. I should mention that I read the Turkish translation, as I don’t know Chinese and prefer direct translations to my native language over English translations. So I don’t know if it’s poor translation, poor writing, or maybe the culture gap was simply too large. It’s my first Chinese novel so I don’t have any reference point, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.

Lastly, I should mention the sad fate of the author Lao She. He was tortured¹ by the Red Guards due to his political beliefs, which caused him to lose his sanity. He is thought to have committed suicide by drowning himself in Taiping Lake the same year. This fact was a shock to me, which I found out at the half of the book and changed how I perceived the rest of the book. The bleak ending was a tragic fit.

I can recommend it if you want a quick and fun read, and would like to expand your horizons a bit.