Description
Zheng Tan somehow returns to the year 2003, turning into a black cat. Picked up from a rubbish heap by the Jiao family, he is given the name “Charcoal”, and so begins the life inside Professor Jiao’s family. Zheng Tan remembers that he was once a person, but currently his body is that of a cat. He has no way of speaking the human language, but can understand it, and even retains the thinking and IQ of a young 20 year old youth. Read along as he adapts to this new world, and somehow tumbles from a group brawl to catching a thief.
Associated Names
回到过去变成猫
I love cats. I love dogs as well, but currently I have three cats at home.
Since this site is about novels and not a zoo, on most days, then let’s talk about a wonderful novel, Strange life of a Cat.
Well, to start with, Strange life of a Cat was the first novel I fully read even in mtl. It was definitely worth it, at least in my cat-lover mind.
The novel starts off rather slowly, and I must admit that it is rather complicated in places. The good thing is, and that author actually is good at writing in different genres btw, the novel doesn’t just focus on the fluffiness of feline species, but actually has a rather interesting and deep plot.
There is adventure, family love, animal cruelty, secrets, clandestine meetings and drunken singing. Oops, I hope this doesn’t count as a spoiler. Oh well.
The author did a great job with tying up many, as far as I have noticed, loose ends and topped it off with a very interesting ending. I swear, that ending made me feel like going all the way to China (?) and asking that author to write a sequel. It was that good, even in mtl.
As mentioned above, the author of Strange life of a cat, Chen Ci Lan Tiao (陈词懒调), has written several other books you may have seen on NU: Star rank hunter, Chronicles of primordial wars and Superstars of tomorrow. Although I’m not as obsessed about those novels as I am about the novel containing cats as the main theme, but all three of them are good. Truly.
Oh yeah, why I decided to write this post. Purring. It is loud when you are trying to sleep with a furry blanket warmer beside you. So somehow I remembered that lovely cat novel and thought that that author probably was inspired by some purring creature and started writing it in the middle of the night when the author couldn’t fall asleep as well.
I guess overall Strange life of a Cat is a slice of life type novel, but what an interesting and exciting life it was. Technically real life cats like to sleep and sunbathe for most part of the day, thus the many adventures the MC of that novel took part in would have been really taxing on the cats in real life.
However, luckily for the fluffy creatures the MC of that novel was actually a human soul that ended up in a cat’s body. Thus with a human’s view on things it is not that easy to see the world like real cats do. I sympathize with the MC in that sense.
Real cats can scratch you for no reason one moment and rub against your legs the next just because you have passed by the cupboard or fridge where their food is stored. Hmmm. Evil little creatures. But hey, I still love them *puts a plaster with ointment on*. And the novel’s MC also warms up to cats over time, even though he was not a cat personas a human.
But humans are still humans, this the way MC interacts with humans around him is rather interesting to read about. Yeah, another tag I would have placed on this novel would be adventure, as the MC had many adventures due to his interactions with humans around him.
Some parts of that novel were actually rather sad and even disturbing. But, sadly, those parts were most probably based on real life circumstances. I really disliked going for a walk in the town my parents used to live as there were too many stray cats there. My heart was bleeding for them, but I am not in a position to adopt a hundred cats. The one sleeping on my bed right now was a homeless cat over ten years ago as well. So it’s not like you must pick up a baby kitten for it to adapt to you.
Actually I think there was a part in the novel where the MC expresses his gratitude for the family he lives with for picking him off the streets as well. Perhaps maybe if people read that novel they would adopt one or two strays, be it cat or dog.
I think there should be more novels like Strange life of a Cat out there. Thumbs-up for the author’s efforts.
\^=^/
AK88
If I were a character in a novel I would have been the type to climb up high, then crash right down to the bottom only to pick up the pieces of the puzzle which is my life and remake it into something different, hopefully something better. Then rinse and repeat, haha.