Review: Pushkin the Pontifical Puss

There's a book which I got a few days after my 21st birthday (a parish friend gave it to me). It's a book for cat-loving adults and children alike, and it has very, very good witticisms in it.

Here is the story of Pushkin the Pontifical Puss, which dates back to 2010, on the day of Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK. Oh, and better still: this story is told from the cat's point of view, at least for the most part.

Now, I'll state this as clear as day. The only downside with this book is that Pushkin's story is presented to the human characters as a daydream, more than anything else. I guess it's a classic story ending for children, but for us adults, there could've been a bit more punch. After all, Pushkin is the awesome cat, his awesomeness even oversteps that of Chuck Norris! One could've made do with a warm ending featuring Fr Anton himself. I guess that's just me, though.

But nearly everything else about the book is refreshing. There is delight in this story, and in some parts, adults can pick out things that children would not yet understand, making it very Disney-like. The story tells, with  great hilarity, about how a black half-Persian cat takes a young boy to his room "decorated with ancient pictures and smelling distinctly of cabbage" to tell his fascinating tale.

And it is fascinating: it tells us what cats like and what they don't. Apparently Pushkin doesn't like the idea of stuffed catnip mice.  The story goes on to say that human weaknesses are cats' strengths — "(vanity) for us cats... is a way of achieving our ambitions". Pushkin's tale covers his encounter with a mouse, being knocked by a car in the middle of the road, hating cars with a passion after that incident, becoming Parish Cat, Oratory Cat, Cat by Royal Appointment and finally Pontifical Puss. He 'tells' us about "cat TV" — which is round, filled with water and monotonous, but which has the advantage of Pushkin picking out a character and stuffing it in his mouth!

It is also delightful to read Pushkin's encounters with HRH Princess (Marie-Christine) Michael of Kent, and with Pope Benedict XVI himself — all through the eyes of a cat who loves to please. The clergy, parish churches and oratories are given a new perspective through Pushkin's eyes. Whether or not Pushkin gets lots of fanmail as claimed in the story is yet to be seen; I'd ask anyone coming from Birmingham to confirm this with me. :D But the cat has certainly gained the affections of L'Osservatore Romano.

Just so you may get an idea of how awesome this book is, here are some samples:

(On the customs in the Oratory)

One: An Oratory Cat is the protector and guardian of an Oratory House. His or her presence is essential for its wellbeing.

Two: All visitors to the House must meet with his or her approval. For this, a thorough inspection is necessary. The presence of those who do not like cats, or do not lavish on cats the respect they deserve, will not be tolerated.

Three: The Fathers of the Oratory must ensure that the Cat is able to visit them as necessary, and have suitably clawable furniture. This is because a Cat will never claw in its own room. Elegant surroundings are conducive to health and peace of mind.

(On Pushkin's favourite word)

...My favourite human word is Magnifi-cat, which I think means "magnificent cat", and I love to hear it as often as I may. So, one very hot morning, I found the humans had left the doors of the church wide open, so I sneaked inside.

There seemed to be something going on. Candles were burning and my Human was talking to lots of other humans, and I waited patiently for the word 'Magnificat' to appear. After some minutes, I realised this wasn't going to happen, so I decided to protest. Forming my mouth into a beautiful rounded O shape, I walked to the top of the church to where my Human was standing and I began to howl. To my great indignation, one of the humans picked me up and carried me out of the church and closed the door. Why he did it is beyond me. The humiliation that we cats are obliged to suffer! The shame! Of course, if you are human it is important to do as you are told, but for us felines, freedom knows no bounds.

There. Evidence of how well-written Pushkin's tale is, coming from his point of view. 

The book is 61 pages long and is published by the Brothers of St Paul. The illustrations are hand-drawn, and quite nice, to say the least. They give a sort of homely feel to them. Let's just say, the day I got this book, I decided to read it, and I read it from cover to cover, and I just couldn't get enough. 

I recommend reading this and sharing it. The book gets one star less because of the ending, but I absolutely adore it.

Score: ★★★★

P.S.: I believe I've read the book at least ten times now and I've never gotten fed up of it.

See also:

Pushkin and Her Royal Highness by St Paul's Bookshop 

Review : British History for Dummies

In case you missed my Twitter update, I wish all readers a Happy New Year ! ^_^

I paid a visit to the Rochford Library in the afternoon and I borrowed three books - I read the first one, and I'm doing a review of it... for the sake of those of you who love reading.

Presenting... British History for Dummies.

Several months after I arrived in the UK I had the gut feeling that to be a well-rounded Briton, there needs to be a good foundation of the history of Britain (and to a certain extent Ireland), among other qualities. So when I came across this book, I had it in my mind that I would pick it up and get a grasp of the contents.

The book, written by Sean Lang, co-editor of the Modern History Review, features the history of Britain from prehistoric times (read : Stone Age) right up to the 21st century. He tells it in a rather colloquial fashion for the layman to understand, similar to most, if not all For Dummies books. Lang has written mundane history textbooks before, and according to him, there is no completely "objective" history book : history, particularly that of Britain, he says, is written from the points of view of several leaders, historians and theorists.

The good

• Very catchy titles : first, The British are Coming ! then, Everyone Else Is Coming ! (This particular title described Britain when the Romans, Angles, Saxons and Normans invaded the isle.) If you think that's not enough, try some quick wit. There's a section in the book which talks about Julius Caesar not conquering Britain. Every time Caesar invaded Britain, he would return to his home in Gaul (presently France). Lang says "he did more than enough to show that he could have conquered Britain if he'd wanted to, but really there was no need". The title ? I came, I saw, I decided it wasn't worth conquering.
• Simple language was used, but there's the occasional use of flamboyant vocabulary, which makes this a very pleasant read. Sometimes, expressions in English are (deliberately) translated literally into the language of the invading fleet. In the page about the Gallic wars,  Lang recounts how Caesar embarked on a massive migration through Roman territory to find somewhere else in Gaul to live. And the quote used here was : "Migration my foot ! (or more likely, migratio meus pedus !) This is an invasion. Sound the trumpets !" Now, we wonder whether the actual Latin phrase was migratio meus pedus... but it conveyed the message well enough. :P
• Lang takes the trouble to list down the stories whose veracity is doubtable, different opinions on historical facts, and even odd facts and small details.

The bad

• Lack of citations. Historical fact, where available from archaeological or written evidence, should be cited. But here's the question : are there any citations in a For Dummies book ?

The ugly

• Nothing that I can point out... OH WAIT : The entire story of Henry VIII has appalled me, no matter by whom it was retold. So it'd be no wonder that whenever it is retold in this book, it'd appall me too. In the introduction to  Part IV : Rights or Royals ? The Tudors and Stuarts, there's a comic where the dialogue goes like this :

Nobleman : How about this one, Your Highness, "Successful royal seeks long term caring relationship with fertile young female....... AGAIN.

Henry VIII : *thinks to himself* What is this - the age of sarcasm ?

But it isn't the fault of the book or the writer anyway. Oh, and let's not forget the 1135 Anarchy in the UK (page 111) :

"Empress Matilda's husband Geoffrey of Anjou invades Normandy and Queen Matilda (Stephen's wife) attacks Empress Matilda's supporter Robert of Gloucester at Dover while King David of Scotland, who supports Empress Matilda, invades England to get some of his father Malcolm III's lands back, but David gets beaten at the Battle of the Standard ; then Stephen attacks Empress Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou at Arundel, but they escape, and the Earl of Chester takes Lincoln, and Stephen has to go and besiege it, but he gets captured, and the barons have to accept Geoffrey of Anjou as king until Geoffrey swaps Stephen for Robert of Gloucester, after which Geoffrey goes off to get Normandy and won't come back to help Empress Matilda, so their son Henry comes to lend her a hand, which is just as well since she's been thrown out of London and has had to take refuge in Oxford, but Stephen comes and besieges Oxford, and Empress Matilda has to escape down the walls over the river which - luckily for her - was frozen over, during which time the Welsh take the opportunity to chuck the Normans out, and King David of Scotland takes over a huge area of northern England - from Cumbria to Northumbria - and people say God and his angels slept, and Stephen is exhausted, and Matilda is exhausted, too, so exhausted, in fact, that she gives up her claim and goes to live in France, but her son Henry vows to jolly well make sure he is next in line when Stephen dies and WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU STOPPED READING THIS AGES AGO ?!"

The ending line : "Well, you can see why they called this period the Anarchy." Yes, we can see alright. We have one entire paragraph made out of only one sentence.

My last words before ending this post : READ IT.

Troisnyx's rating : ★★★★☆