In Consideration Of Cats – a review by Vincent Carmichael
Keith Brazil’s “In Consideration Of Cats” succeeds in bringing to life the feline spirit of being; serving up a cacophony of charming and thought-provoking images. Paulo Coelho meets T S Elliot.
Love them or loath them, cats have featured in mankind’s history since the beginning of time. Over the ages they have been revered for their mystical, almost magical, qualities and in “In Consideration Of Cats”, the author’s “herd” reveal some of their secrets.
This is a beautiful and touching account of the author’s feline family antics. Acutely observed, charming, witty, sometimes savage but with candid honesty, the author gives us a brief glimpse into the feline subconscious, inviting us to consider the potential of the human spirit, through the eyes of his cats.
Interlacing prose with verse, the author takes us on a journey of discovery, and puts forward the question: If we were able to step out of our lives for a moment, allowing ourselves the luxury to merely observe, perhaps we could reach that higher level of understanding that appears instinctive in cats. As the author quotes: “Cats have attained a connected spiritual resonance in all three aspects of their bodies: personality, soul and spirit”.
There lies a cat in us all and here, the author has captured the germ of humanity in feline form. I for one will endeavour to adopt Hector the cat’s philosophy in life, the author describes him as: “the enforcer of eliminating the negative, accentuating the positive and enabling the appreciation of life”.
Oh to be a cat!!
Thank you Mr Brazil