Weekly Photo Challenge : Green

Book Review : The Wildings

When I found out that I had to review a book for the BlogAdda book review program, I was highly excited.When ‘The Wildings’ , a book by Nilanjana Roy, arrived I realized that I had to read a 310 paged book about someone who I barely even acknowledge in my daily life…CATS.I got on to the task straightaway.

‘The Wildings’ is a book about a gang of stray cats living in a neighborhood of old Delhi.When I started reading the book,the first few pages made me feel like I’m reading Twilight for cats.A gang with marked territory as their own,telepathic conversations,being threatened by the arrival of an unknown strong power and the instinct to kill it immediately.Only it all makes sense in case of cats. Isn’t survival the main purpose of an animal’s life? I am so conditioned to reading about human beings (not being an animal lover,I haven’t read any book with an animal in focus) it took me a few pages to put myself in to the perspective of a cat.But with the writing style of Roy it didn’t require much effort.She has described the idiosyncrasies of a cat’s life with such detail and warmth,I couldn’t help but visualize all the characters,or lets say,all the cats in the story.The story begins when the cats of Nizamuddin feel threatened by the presence of a powerful ‘sender’ within their area only to discover that the powerful cat who had send ripples of fear through the network of conversational whiskers is a harmless orange colored pet kitten.The series of events that follow fill up the book.

What is evident throughout the book is the author’s love for cats.Even though she writes about animal,the emotions she brings out in the story are very human relevant.The group in the story is like a human group of friends.Don’t we always have a charmer in the group,and a person who invariably gets in to trouble,a beauty queen,a powerful leader and an extremely talented person not wanting to deal with it.The creative blending of human emotions (the book made me wonder,are they really human emotions?) and characteristics of the feline world is indeed charming.What adds to the novelty of the book are the wonderful illustrations by Prabha Mallya. Her illustrations give the book a formidable and dark feel that you expect from the cover,which sometimes gets lost in the cuteness of the cat characters.

If you are a cat person,this book is a definite recommendation.And for all those who want to get introduced to the feline world but are too afraid to pet a cat,read this book and get prepared!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!