Hunters

Author: Zhu Tianxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Tianxin's pen brings to life a group of cats. Their diverse "feline lives" are no less turbulent and winding than human lives. Tianxin tells us that cats and humans live in the same society, and there is little meaning in separating them. The way we treat cats is actually an extension of how humans treat their own kind. In the relationship between cats and humans, we see the very dynamics of human society itself. Although this book is a collection of essays and, it can also be considered as a "urban anthropology" style observation of Taiwan's "marginalized groups" by the novelist, with the focus shifted from humans to cats. The author's deeper affection for them results in deeper traces of her own life and time being etched into the work. In the nine works of this book, the author recounts her encounters and interactions with the various cat communities in her life, both indoors and outdoors, visible and invisible. She gives them freedom but gains bonds; by respecting and cherishing their lives, her own life is also enriched. In the author's portrayal, cats are no longer pets or playthings for the men, women, and children of the Zhu family, but a group of independent and self-reliant subjects. They each strive to find gaps in the human-dominated environment and fight for a space to survive. This cat book, which views cats as free subjects, should be classified in the same genre as biographies of human heroes.