[Bookpossum]

Thanks very much for your post, astrangerhere. I was particularly interested that this was a first in Japanese literature for the unreliable narrator. Perhaps his unreliability shows up in the latter half of the book, as it wasn't something that had struck me.

I got as far as the end of Chapter 3 in Volume II, and just couldn't face reading any more. I found what was presumably supposed to be humorous to be laboured.

The misogyny which is rampant throughout the book was no doubt quite normal for the time, and not only in Japan of course. The long section towards the end of Volume I concerning Mrs Goldfield was horrible. However unpleasant a character might be, pages and pages of nasty comments about the fact she has a large nose is not funny - it is disgusting. As the cat thought to himself: "He's still going on about noses. What a spiteful bore he is." I could only agree.

Actually, I quite liked the cat, unreliable or not. I just wished he would get on with telling me the story, instead of waffling on interminably!