The Cat's Table
Book - 2011 Fiction / Ondaatje, Michael, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Ondaatje, Michael 5 On Shelf No requests on this item
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Call Number: Fiction / Ondaatje, Michael, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Ondaatje, Michael
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch
Location & Checkout Length | Call Number | Checkout Length | Item Status |
---|---|---|---|
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout |
Fiction / Ondaatje, Michael | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout |
Fiction / Ondaatje, Michael | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout |
Adult Book / Fiction / General / Ondaatje, Michael | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout |
Adult Book / Fiction / General / Ondaatje, Michael | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout |
Adult Book / Fiction / General / Ondaatje, Michael | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the "cat's table"--as far from the Captain's Table as can be--with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrator's elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself "with a distant eye" for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Another Cat's Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy's adult years, it tells a spellbinding story--by turns poignant and electrifying--about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS
story teller submitted by unknown on October 18, 2011, 9:58am This author is a great story teller. He keeps you interested throughout the book
PUBLISHED
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.
Year Published: 2011
Description: 269 p. ; 23 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book
ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780307700117
0307700119
SUBJECTS
Ocean travel -- Fiction.
Adventure fiction.
Bildungsromans.
Sea stories.