(2007) Genre: Children's, Fiction
Synopsis: A cat's nine lives are full of adventure and excitement and none more so than Montezuma, the farmyard cat. From a young kitten to a grand old cat, he is cunning and proud while establishing his kingdom, but to Matthew, he's always loving and adorable.
***
Review: I picked this one up specifically because it was short, and I figured it would be relatively light (which is an unfair assumption when it comes to Michael Morpurgo, I suppose), as it seemed to be aimed towards younger audiences. It definitely is - but it was still a beautifully written book, even if the story didn't entirely enthrall me the way some of Morpurgo's other books have done.
Each of the 9 chapters was a short tale about Montezuma, referring to one of his 9 lives. I actually loved this idea - the idea that cats don't have to have a near death experience to lose one of their 9 lives, but in their lives they go through distinct experiences which are lives in and of themselves. Of course, being that it covered all 9 lives, it did of course conclude inevitably with the death of Montezuma which, despite my general lack of attachment to the cat, still made me tear up.
If I have one criticism of Morpurgo's writing in this book, it's that there seems to be no sentiment attached to any of the characters - while the writing is very lyrical, the the expression of emotions is almost entirely absent.
Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment