Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life
By: John Gray / Narrated By: Simon Vance
Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
Warning: More Philosophy than Feline. Oh and oooone more thing, just a bit of a heads up….?
Here’s what I gotta tell ya. My sister, who started Feline Philosophy waaaaay afore I did, had me reeeeally worried with just how atrocious she was finding the audiobook to be.
Turns out? In the beginning (And she’s right; I can attest to it!)? Author John Gray seems to have no problem, and no point, in describing in exCRUUUUUciating detail how viciously cruel humans have been to cats throughout history. Such bloodbaths he describes, such torture, such tearing apart, limb by limb, the poor animals have suffered. Cruelty beyond words. And for some reason Gray thought graphic words of torture were a jolly addition to a book of philosophy. I mean, let’s all live the way cats live… Uhm, after all that?!? Are we all to hide under the sofa lest we be torn apart, have our guts ripped from us as we still live, screaming the whole time?
Nope, dunno WHAT all that was about. But if you’ve a sensitive nature, you miiiiight wanna fast forward through it all, or else you’re going to find yourself sick and weeping. SERIOUSLY. Now, I’m a greeeeat ol’ lover of all creatures (Except our downstairs neighbors… so sue me…), and I pretty much steel myself against feeling too much. I’m the person who buries cats she’s found who’ve had holes drilled in their heads, tails cut off. I’m the person who went to New Orleans after Katrina where (some) people thought it delightful to shoot arrows through abandoned animals roaming the streets. Crap like this neither surprises me nor does it bring me to my knees. One has to stay knowledgeable if one is to do any good for them, and besides: One HAS to discover that there’s a reason to loathe Descartes and to NEVER quote the vile wretch by expounding I Think Therefore I Am… said here only to make my point, but I’m hacking up phlegm balls as I type…
So there’s THAT ooooh soooo AGAINST this little book….
But I was sooo surprised to find that I liked the book. Cuz after going through despicably unnecessary depictions of horror, there’s quite a bit of charm to be had. Tho’ most of the Feline Philosophy comes in the last bit.
Prior to the last bit? Yes yes yes, there are a few stories of rescued kittens/felines who grew into amazing animals who saved/inspired their owners. My favorite is the one of the starving, flea-infested kitten rescued from the jungles of Vietnam, one person doing SOMEthing decent in a hellhole of a place and time. War has devastated so many, we had to destroy the village to save it, and so much more that one man reaching out and finding still hopeful innocence, of being able to show at least a bit of compassion means so much. And there are more tidbits like that.
Alas, prepare for a lot of info on philosophers through the ages, their bios, their context within history. Things of that ilk. Each section staaaaarts with what we can learn from the way cats live, but then there are long and winding rabbit holes the author goes down with maybe CAT mentioned here and there as a dangled carrot..
But my favorite parts were of cats passing as ‘twould seem death has been on my mind, which is strange because I lost two of my buddies in 2019, but 2020 only brought two MORE to our home. Still, what I liked was the stories of how each feline we know, each we bring into our homes and allow into our hearts changes our very souls. Gray does a good job with little feline bios that I found to be touching. Then too, during the final minutes he FIIIIIINALLY gets around to listing the Ten Feline Hints on How to Live Well. So huzzah! for the point of the book, the WHY we all have for choosing this danged book in the first place.
I dunno what it is, but Simon Vance doing Philosophy-ilk audiobooks just flat-out knocks me out. During the verrrrry short The Tao of Pooh, I fell asleep twice. During this book? Oh my holy cow try, like, FOUR times I conked out, only to wake up to hear CAT and find drool on my pillow. Back to the last point I remembered hearing, then off to (p’raps) conk out again. Still, this is Simon Freaking Vance for cats’ sake, and he’s a simply marvelous narrator. Such a warm voice, adding a bit of feeling when all is cold and men are tearing cats apart, then going onto a woman waking up and thinking her lost and dying cat’s last thoughts, then going on to authors who wrote stories where cats are the only wise and truly-loved characters.
Nope, never a problem with Mr. Vance.
…just that oooooooone thing you have to be (VERY) wary of… if you’re sensitive, you might wanna stay away.
And good heavens: If you find philosophers boring? Stay AWAY from this book!
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