I had already put books in a "book box" (boite à livres, in French), this old telephone booth converted into a self-service library, but I had never taken anything from it.
For a challenge at LucieBulle, I decided to change and take some, it was this fairly short novel, especially since it only starts on page 9 - and ends at 122.
The title both caught my eye, while revolting me a little; What do you mean, a man who no longer liked cats?! Why ?! So, when I read the back cover, I said to myself, ah, a dystopian novel, it must just be a metaphor and there won't even be any cats!
Well, hold on: the cats are there, but after a few chapters of introduction to a peaceful town on an island, the narrator announces that they have simply disappeared, for no apparent reason, except the words of a child who tends to lie, or at least exaggerates facts, you know, like the one who cries wolf.
The narrator ultimately addresses Thomas' grandson, the lighthouse keeper, who died before the long-awaited arrival of his children. He tells us about the inhabitants of this island, their jobs, the consensus of their arrival which was voluntary exile from France, but above all, of the sudden disappearance of the cats from this island, and government agents, who insist that the dogs they brought (as replacement) are actually cats.
This is how we see the dystopia part: the attempt to enslave a population by giving them a false need, whether commercial or emotional, and dividing them by those who accept the new narrative of those who are doubtful. We see it very quickly by the same effect that I was able to experience as a person who walked his dog, to whom other people with their own, spoke, and afterwards: I am no longer just a person walking alone, and (since I no longer have a dog) I'm ignored, exactly like in this novel.
Although his style is fluid, it took half the novel to arrive at something that really seemed to take the path of 'Farenheit 451' and '1984', both of which each have a quote at the beginning of the novel.
Indeed, in chapter 4, the narrator gives the backstory of Sergei, the village poet-musician, and ends with 'we cannot compare the communist dictatorship with our book world. We couldn't, could we?'. Unfortunately, I feel a bit of a lack, as the sequel and the resolution happen a little too quickly and above all, without any explanation of why, especially not the praise that The Man Who No Longer Loved Cats entered into the lineage of these great dystopian novels...
I find that a bit of a shame, because apart from the philosophical aspect of how close people who know each other well, can change sides more than once depending on the circumstances, we don't have enough information on the causes of the event , nor a real rebellion as in the great dystopias, precisely. Of course, the villagers learn, especially the narrator, but it doesn't have the same magnitude at all and I therefore think it's a bit of an over-sale to announce this lineage, whereas otherwise, the novel is just a dystopia that holds to itself, well composed, but which nevertheless leaves one wanting more, and also misses a fundamental aspect:
the realism in the number of people questioning what is happening is completely absent. Where F451 and 1984 gave movements attempting to bring back the truths hidden by their respective states, here we have a narrator who asks questions, who tries, and who is ultimately detached from a cohesive whole.
Without the comparative hype, this is a novel of good quality and good style, but which lacks narrative bits - I'll go as far to say that it's full of plot-holes. With the hype, this novel disappoints by the too hasty comparison. I warn you.
Also watch out for a passage of a violent attack by a dog, and two small emetophobia triggers.
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