[XFI]⋙ PDF Cats of Copenhagen James Joyce Casey Sorrow 9781476708942 Books

Cats of Copenhagen James Joyce Casey Sorrow 9781476708942 Books

Download As PDF : Cats of Copenhagen James Joyce Casey Sorrow 9781476708942 Books

Cats of Copenhagen James Joyce Casey Sorrow 9781476708942 Books

The idea of a children's book by a famous modern novelist is very exciting, and the cover illustration is very droll-looking -- it put me in mind of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot. I thought I would be getting something of that caliber. I was wrong. They gave the book the deluxe art book treatment with the nice paper and binding, but it can't disguise the fact that the story (if you can call it that) is short, uninspiring, and not humorous in the least. Someone had fun with the typography and the illustrations aren't bad, so I gave the book two stars, but after I paid $16, I flipped through the few pages, said "Is this it?" and felt extremely ripped-off. Don't waste your money on this one.


Tags : Cats of Copenhagen [James Joyce, Casey Sorrow] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <B>The first-ever U.S. edition of this delightful gem based on a letter Joyce wrote to his grandson, revealing the modernist master’s playful side—filled with one-of-a-kind illustrations—the perfect gift for Joyce fans and cat lovers alike.</B><BR><BR><I>The Cats of Copenhagen </I>was first written for James Joyce’s most beloved audience,James Joyce, Casey Sorrow,Cats of Copenhagen,Scribner,1476708940,Animals - Cats,Classics,Cats;Fiction.,Copenhagen (Denmark);Fiction.,Cats,Children's BooksAges 4-8 Fiction,Children: Grades 1-2,Copenhagen (Denmark),Fiction,JUVENILE FICTION Animals Cats,JUVENILE FICTION Classics,JUVENILE FICTION General,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile FictionAnimals - Cats,Picture books

Cats of Copenhagen James Joyce Casey Sorrow 9781476708942 Books Reviews

a lovely little story - wonderful illustrations. Who knew we'd be getting something new from JJ in the 21st century?
Not quite up to Ulysses. OK, I guess that's unfair. But I was hoping for something on par with T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum...". Joyce is my favorite author and I suppose I was just expecting too much.
I love this book -- the story, simple illustrations, fancifulness of it all. My only gripe is that (with the ebook) the illustrations are black on white background instead of the yellow of the hardcover book. In my opinion, if is going to charge $9.00 for an ebook, it should be exactly the same as the print version. And the snapshot preview is misleading because it shows the cover in yellow, but then does not give examples of the interior pages. If I had known, I would not have purchased it.
The publisher would have us consider this a hitherto unknown "story" by Joyce, but the designation is a bit of a stretch. We are told it was discovered in a 1936 letter from Joyce to his grandson, but the text, while amusing, doesn't read like anything other than an excerpt from a letter; it seems highly unlikely that Joyce envisioned this as a standalone literary work. Since the text is in the public domain, I reproduce it here in full for your consideration

Alas! I cannot send you a Copenhagen cat because there are no cats in Copenhagen.

There are lots & lots of fish and bicycles but there are no cats.

Also there are no policemen.

All the Danish policemen pass the day at home in bed.

They smoke big Danish cigars and drink buttermilk all day long.

There are lots and lots of young boys dressed in red on bicycles going around all day with telegrams and letters and postcards.

These are all for the policemen from old ladies who want to cross the road and boys who are writing home for more sweets and girls who want to know something about the moon.

The policemen read them all in bed, smoking all the time and drinking buttermilk.

And then they give their orders and the red boys go back and tell everybody just what to do.

When I come to Copenhagen again I will bring a cat and show the Danes how it can cross the road without any instructions from a policeman and it will be much cheaper (think of that!) for a cat to show them what to do.

Just fancy a cat staying in bed all day smoking cigars!

And as for buttermilk! No cat would drink it at all.

And then there is such a lot of fish for them.

What do you think of this?

What do you think of this indeed. Is this, as the preface insists, a "twin sister to The Cat and the Devil"? Is it really, as claimed on the copyright page, "a work of fiction"?

But if you do want this text, I suggest waiting for another publisher to bring out a competing edition; this one is marred by the ridiculous type design by Michael Caine. (No, not THAT Michael Caine.) You may be thinking, "oh, is this nerd going to complain about the copyright notice being set in Arial instead of Helvetica?" But if you could see the book, you would understand completely.

Caine's type design tramples over Joyce's writing, hindering reading and imposing new moods and rhythms on the text. Taking an approach he describes as "almost gratuitous" (a great understatement), Caine switches between many different decorative typefaces (as Caine describes them, "borderline and over the line kitsch") in every sentence, often within an individual word, with a letter printed upside down or sideways here and there for effect. (Caine explains one such choice thus "A page that took on a life of its own is page 2 where I laid a beautiful and rather long ‘allungati inglese’ on its side after the word ‘bicycles’ so that it seemed to be a symbol denoting that the bicycle had lost perspective and careered out of control, across the page.")

Type is not supposed to have "a life of its own", any more than a frame should be independent of its picture. Type is supposed to complement and support the text. It should be the single drop of spring water added to a glass of fine whisky to open up its own flavours; James Joyce in Caine's type design is a glass of Connemara mixed with Diet Coke and orange juice and dyed electric blue.
I bought this book for my grandchildren ages 5 and 2. It immediately became their favorite bringing lots of giggles, laughter and smiles! What a treasure for children of all ages!
Incredibly short, totally crazy, still totally funny. James Joyce in totally unpredictable style. You will ask yourself if it was worth to pay several dollars/euros for a few words - be sure, it was. This is a small jewel.
It's James Joyce my god. I ordered it without even looking at a review. He sneaks the anti-authoritarian in between the lines and, apparently, loves cats and the little boy who is the recipient of this story. Who knew. I never noticed the cat reference in the beginning of Ulysses and probably wouldn't have put much faith in it as a reference to anything in particular. But the man hated dogs. Maybe because you always have to tell them what to do, make them behave and cats are, well, completely independent. I think if you really love cats it could be part of our cat-book-collection or if you love J.J. you could put in that ditto but I think T.S. Elliot said it just a little better. The illustrations are drawl & well-placed on the page but the cacophonous fonts make my head spin. Nice binding and pretty little book overall.

I really like that he asks his grandson at the end, "What do you think of this?". I would like to hear the reply.
The idea of a children's book by a famous modern novelist is very exciting, and the cover illustration is very droll-looking -- it put me in mind of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot. I thought I would be getting something of that caliber. I was wrong. They gave the book the deluxe art book treatment with the nice paper and binding, but it can't disguise the fact that the story (if you can call it that) is short, uninspiring, and not humorous in the least. Someone had fun with the typography and the illustrations aren't bad, so I gave the book two stars, but after I paid $16, I flipped through the few pages, said "Is this it?" and felt extremely ripped-off. Don't waste your money on this one.