Nana
Book 2012 · The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
A wry, fiercely loyal former stray who narrates his own road trip with dry wit.
Short summary: Nana is the narrator and feline hero of The Travelling Cat Chronicles, a bestselling novel by Japanese author Hiro Arikawa first published in Japan in 2012 and widely translated into English in 2017. Nana is a street-smart stray adopted by a young man named Satoru, who names him for the hook-shaped kink in his tail that resembles the Japanese number seven (nana). When circumstances force Satoru to find Nana a new home, the pair set off on a road trip across Japan to visit old friends, with much of the story told in Nana's wry, observant first-person voice. The tender narrative about loyalty, memory, and goodbye became an international literary sensation and was later adapted into a 2018 Japanese film.
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Tags
stray cat
hook-shaped tail
observant
devoted
narrator
Names like Nana
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