Are you a cat owner? Have you ever wondered how your cat seems to rule the household? Then this is the book for you. For cat owners everywhere or just to be kept informed I introduce "The Silent Miaow", translated from the feline by Paul Gallico.
~*~ Introduction ~*~
*****************
First ... Read review
Advantages: Any cat owner will love it, any cat lover will own it! Disadvantages: None its a good read
...your cat seems to rule the household? Then this is the book for you. For cat owners everywhere or just to be kept informed I introduce "The Silent Miaow", translated from the feline by Paul Gallico.
~*~ Introduction ~*~
*****************
First published in 1964, "The Silent Miaow" subtitled 'A Manual for Kittens, Strays and Homeless Cats' purport's to have been written by an unknown cat. Yes ... ...The original manuscript is supposed to have come into the Paul Gallico's possession from a neighbour of his. The neighbour claimed to have found the roll of typed repose on his doorstep. Not knowing what it was and knowing that the editor had been in decoding during World War II, he had brought it to him.
The original title was like this;
£YE SUK@NT MUWOQ
Q Nab8al Dir Kottebs Dra7d abd J1/4n14dd ca6s
Are you a cat owner? Have you ever wondered how your cat seems to rule the household? Then this is the book for you. For cat owners everywhere or just to be kept informed I introduce "The Silent Miaow", translated from the feline by Paul Gallico.
~*~ Introduction ~*~ *****************
First published in 1964, "The Silent Miaow" subtitled 'A Manual for Kittens, Strays and Homeless Cats' purport's to have been written by an unknown cat. Yes you read right an unknown female cat to be exact. The original manuscript is supposed to have come into the Paul Gallico's possession from a neighbour of his. The neighbour claimed to have found the roll of typed repose on his doorstep. Not knowing what it was and knowing that the editor had been in decoding during World War II, he had brought it to him.
The original title was like this; £YE SUK@NT MUWOQ Q Nab8al Dir Kottebs Dra7d abd J1/4n14dd ca6s
At first he could make no sense of it and almost gave up. A couple of months later he looked again and thought that he could read the first sentence. Using this as a guide he went to his type writer. There were no computers in those days. After studying it for some time he came to an astonishing conclusion. The code base was so unusual because it appeared whoever or what ever wrote it had depressed the keys not with a digit but by using a five- toed paw. This meant that any of the keys would be depressed first such as hitting the 'g' might of instead hit the 'h', 'y', 't', or 'f'. Using this guide so the story goes he was able to translate the book. The book therefore is done ALL in the perspective of a cat.
~*~ The Contents ~*~ *****************
The contents is split into sections covering any eventuality of a cats life. This covers nineteen sections and I will cover each section on its own but try not to re-write the book.
Take_Over ++++++++ It really is as it sounds a cat moving into an area and making it, its own. The cat talks about making sure it is an affluent house as she wanted to be well looked after and making sure there are no children. It didn't mind children coming along later, because by then the cat would have established its place in the home. It is quite funny how the kitten (as it was then) interacts with the woman and man in order to make them fall for her.
People +++++ This is broken down into Men, women and children. · Men - it deems to be the easiest to manipulated. As the kitten so eloquently puts it they can be manoeuvred in the twinkling of an eye by a clever woman , or even sooner by a clever cat. · Women - the cat warns you against. It explains that women are clever and use some of the same methods to ensnare men that a cat employs. It really seems to say that think of a woman as though she were a cat and you wont underestimate her. · Children - the kitten has decided are a nuisance. This is nothing unusual. As a parent you realise this quite quickly. When you are single you promise never to have kids 'like that'! It warns about retaliating tooth for claw if a child does something to you. Unless of course the child is deliberately cruel in which case the cat recommends you vacate the premises or you dont deserve to be a member of the cat species.
~*~ Property Rights ~*~ *****************
Well we all know about finding the cat on our bed or it jumping onto our seat the minute we stand up. This gives a whole knew slant to it and is quite well written.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It then goes on to cover going to the vet, food, titbits at the table, attitudes, doors, Christmas, travelling, and motherhood before getting onto the next real category ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~*~ Speech ~*~ ***************** The Silent Miaow - The silent miaow is exactly that. It is opening the mouth as though the cat is going to but making no sound. The look is supposed to be so pitiful that the human feels shaken by it and wonders what is wrong.
The Active Miaow - When the cat needs to draw attention to itself in order to get something done. The purr - Cats purr when they are contented and happy. It is as simple as that. The purr can be used to placate man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The final chapters are manners, love, two-timing, errors, games & recreations and finally the preparation & training of the young.
~*~ Conclusion ~*~ ****************
This book was actually recommended to me by someone. The person was trying to show me that the book had a hidden agenda and that was how people could be controlled and conditioned to not only accept what happened to them but to expect it. If you read the book actually using this surmise the book takes on a completely new meaning.
It is not known if Paul Gallico meant to do this. It could well be he did. What is obvious is how well he knew cats. The man was an expert. The book is witty, enchanting and down right annoying when you actually realise how you are being manipulated. It really is a very nice read and some amazing observations of human nature from a cat's perspective. The whole concept of this book seemed fresh and inspiring to me
The book I bought came with updated photos by Jane Burton. Prior to this I think they were in black and white. Thirty seven plus years has not really dated the book. In fact it holds up very well. The photos are cute and professional and the book leaves you with a feeling of well being.
~*~ The Author ~*~ ****************
Name - Paul Gallico Born - 26th July, 1897 in New York City Died - 15th July, 1976
Famous for asking Jack Demsey the World Heavy Weight Champion at the time if he could spar with him. Within two minutes he was knocked out but had his story and a reputation which opened doors for him as a sports writer for newspapers.
Famous books: · Snow Goose - 1941 · The Poseidon Adventure - 1969 - went on to become a movie starring Gene Hackman
159 pages long including photos.
Price UK £8.99 ISBN 0-330-30150-0 (Pan) Price US $9.60 ISBN 0-517-55683-9 (amazon.com)
...screenplays. His most famous story, The Snow Goose has become a literary classic, indeed I can remember reading this at school and being entranced. Gallico was also a huge cat lover and his books Jennie and Thomasina are fabulously insightful when it comes to the workings of the feline psyche. The Silent Miaow was first published in 1964 and has been a success since, no self respecting cat lover should be without it! The Silent Miaow, is quite possibly ... ...apart from the John and Jane series of course! I appreciate now I had not a clue of what the book was telling me, until I re read it later in my teenage years. Having owned cats for as long as I can remember I can see how on target everything in this book is. The title states it is ‘A manual for kittens, strays and homeless cats’ this should be extended, in my opinion anyway, to include every cat. To say it was ‘written’ by ...
LICARUS 09.03.2001
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