The English Student

OK, yes, I read a whole book of cat stories. Because cats.

It's a nicely varied collection: there are some heart-wrenchers (Doris Lessing's "The Old Woman and her Cat"), some funny ones (Angela Carter's bawdy version of "Puss-in-Boots", which made me think of the cat from Shrek), fantastical ones, postmodern ones - still can't get my head around Ursula Le Guin's "Schrodinger's Cat" - and, of course, some that are just generally cute.

Some of my favourites: Neil Gaiman's "The Price" (between that and The Ocean at the End of the Lane I might try Gaiman again), lucid and just a bit unsettling; Alice Adams' "The Islands", a sweet memoir-style story; the aforementioned "Schrodinger's Cat". Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" kind of struck a wrong note for me, as an obsessive cat lover, but then I don't like Poe that much anyway. And Algernon Blackwood's "Ancient Sorceries" was just a bit too long and a bit too unsatisfying.

But this is, on the whole, a really well-balanced collection; every story is different, and most are delightful or unsettling or amusing or simply enjoyable.

Also, cats.