The narrator’s voice was authentic and credible, making me frequently forget “The Cat’s Table” was a work of fiction and not an autobiography. The narrator tells of the escapades he has with two new friends as they interact with other passengers seated at the cat’s table- the table furthest from the captain and designed for the lesser passengers. These hijinks are enjoyable and comical, but there was something about the book that made it distant and hard for me to connect with. The easy writing style made for a quick read without sacrificing an intellectual element that was present in each sentence. Somehow the author managed to write in a way that captured a young boy’s experience while still meeting the literary expectations of a mature audience. The voyage is told in a flashback, which alerts the reader early on to a deeper meaning to the occurrences described. The voyage changed the lives of many passengers, although the impact is hard to grasp until the very last pages. Overall this was an ok book, but never really pulled me in.
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