She has now added a chapter on a sick old tom she named Rufus who came to live with her.

Lessing's attractive book is a revised edition of a small volume, 'Particularly Cats,' she first brought out some 25 years ago. On the contrary, she was irritated with me and with the whole process.' She crept up those stairs with her ears back - almost as a dog does when it is being scolded or in disgrace: but she had none When the cat had come downstairs in search of human company, abandoning her kittens. 'Her face, the lines of her body said, unmistakably, What a damned nuisance! Go upstairs! I ordered,' and Rufus,' on a part-Siamese she used to own who didn't enjoy being a mother. Pillow in shame until I pat him on the head and assure him I'm O.K.'Īnd here is Doris Lessing, in 'Particularly Cats. 'It is retainedīy its extraordinary adhesion to the comforts of the house in which it is reared.' Galton's attitude persists to this day, particularly among people who prefer dogs for their responsiveness to people.īut Peter Gethers, in 'The Cat Who Went to Paris,' tells of a cat who if he accidentally claws his owner's hand while roughhousing on a bed, 'will freeze at the sound of my yelp, put his paws over his eyes and bury his nose under the He cat is the only non-gregarious animal,' observed Francis Galton, the English scientist, in the late 19th century. No other writer conveys so truthfully the real interdependence of humans and cats or convinces us with such stunning recognition of the reasons why cats really matter.OctoOne Cat Is Contrite, Another Calculating By CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPTīy Doris Lessing Illustrated by James McMullan.

And she tells the story of herself in relation to cats: the way animals affect her and she them, and the communication that grows possible between them-a language of gesture and mood and desire as eloquent as the spoken word. She tells their stories-their exploits, rivalries, terrors, affections, ancient gestures, and learned behaviors-with vivid simplicity. On Cats is a celebrated classic, a memoir in which we meet the cats that have slunk and bullied and charmed their way into Doris Lessing's life. Her fascination with the handsome, domesticated creatures that have shared her flats and her life in London remained undiminished, and grew into real love with the awkwardly lovable El Magnifico, the last cat to share her home. Doris Lessing's love affair with cats began at a young age, when she became intrigued with the semiferal creatures on the African farm where she grew up.

On Cats by Doris Lessing