Monday, 23 November 2020

#2 Book Review - A Street Cat Named Bob : And How He Saved My Life by James Bowen

     What kind of an animal are you? Cat, Dog or a Dolphin Person? 

Alright, not sure about the last one even such a thing. 

     Even though I don't relate to it, the environment might made me one. I never had one "loyal" pets. When I was still in primary school, I've got a lot of pets. But they didn't last long. Say it, bird, chick, turtle, rabbit, fish, and the list goes on. They didn't last long obviously because the lack of my ability at taking care those poor creatures. But I'm never having a cat or dog. 


     Dog?? God... I even have a phobia about meeting them on the street. Almost got bitten when I was a little girl. And it's still terrifying me till now. But I find them cute whenever they appear to be all lovely by the hands of their owner (of course this circumstance only happened whenever I watch them on social media😂). Like all this dog phobia thing in me could be gone for a second. But in fact, I'm still planning to search another street shortcut if I sense a dog in my radar. Last? we're a Muslim family..which is something to concern about having a dog.  


     Cat?? Love and hate relationship with this one I can assure you. Even more, I live with my only one grandma who's against all the idea of having a pet around the house. She's pretty adamant about it. I can understand the reason why. Our neighbourhood is packed with a stray cat ever since before I was born (glad dogs not dominate it). Don't know why these cats are so in love with our house. Some of them might think it's their home I guess. The problem is, they scratch my grandma's sofas.. a lot... Wait till you see what it has become. There's this cat which I quite believe is a really old one that makes grandma furious. She's giving birth in our frickin' ceiling. And not just once. That cat I mean..not grandma. 


     Sometimes, we just decide to give these stray cats our food. Grandma just reminds us not to give it right around our house. She's not that kind of horrible person who hates them in "that way" though. Cause we know this one animal is being cherished a lot by our Prophet Muhammad. She's even burying one kitten in our ground part that still covered with soil. She's one brave Granny, a savage one I said. The only person in our house who can throw away a rat carcass, burying a dead stiff cat is her and only. I couldn't pull that courage yet.


     The one who hates cats not only my grandma though.  


     " I love dogs with all my heart. I hate cats. They're evil, conniving, very...someone's giving me eyes. Cause you're a cat person, I can tell. No, I- I don't mind cats. I just- I  just...They're just BLAH! *Shudders. I'm also allergic to them. But I just think that if you fed someone else's cat, that cat would slowly, like, become your cat. If you did that to someone's dog, they wouldn't do that. I just love dogs." Said by Tom Holland in an interview back in 2017. 


     Yeap, our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man apparently not so friendly to the cathood. And by that statement above, I agreed with him. Dogs are the most loyal pet, cats would lose this at one level (Oh please don't attack me, cat lovers.). Moreover, I've read something interesting from IFLA's (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) web site. In Russia's Library, dogs play a big role in their libraries project of helping kids with special needs (such as speech and language disorders, mental abnormality or autism, etc). The project is called Canistherapy, where all the child reading a book to a dog. This allows them to develop their skills for communicating with people. And it's also a supportive therapy that uses work with dogs as a form of treatment. It has been proven that spending time with dogs has positive effects on people's mental, physical, social, and overall health. It's amazing, right?


     But still, unfortunately, I'm scared of dogs. I love you even though I never met you, but sorry Tom. PERIODT!!!. Watching them from my phone and facing it directly in real life are two different circumstances.

     Woaah that's a whole lot for an opening, isn't it?. Well, anywaaaay...Talking about savage, I'm gonna tell you my review of this biography book about one savage cat. 


Oh look at this gorgeous "Kocheng Oren" ( Indonesian cheeky pun of a Ginger Cat)🐈 
Rating
4,5💜/5💜

Title                              : A Street Cat Named Bob : And How He Saved My Life
Author                          : James Bowen
Date of Published       : July 30th 2013 (First Published March 1st 2012)
Publisher                      : Thomas Dunne Books
Format                         : E-Book, 288 Pages
Language                     : English

Glimpse:
When street musician James Bowen found an injured cat curled up in the hallway of his apartment building, he had no idea how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London, barely making enough money to feed himself, and the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent but very sick animal, whom he named Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining that he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.

Perfect for fans of  Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Changed the World and Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love, this book about the transformative power of love between man and animal is guaranteed to win over countless American readers. A film version is in the works.

This inspiring book, which monopolized the #1 spot on the London Times bestseller list, tells the heartwarming story of a street musician and the ginger cat who saved his life. (Sc: Goodreads)


     The fact that I've lost someone in a sudden, like what I just told you in the last post, might affect this one too. Found this heartwarming book by not so warming news on my Twitter's timeline. Trending in USA and UK, but I don't quite remember if it's gone trending too in Indonesia. 


RIP BOB

 

     A couple of other keywords that referred to that incident just got trending too. Curious of who he is, then I found that he's one native London's ginger cat named Bob and belongs to some Brit bloke, James Bowen.  Bowen not only writes one book about Bob. He makes three of it. And the first two series even already being adapted to a movie now. The first movie released in 2016. The second one is released just recently on November 6th 2020. I've watched both of it, and it's great. You better watch it.

   
#1 Luke Treadaway as James Bowen and Bob as himself.
(Bob!! Got that movie star blood in you, mate!!!)


#2 Basically a Christmas movie

What makes them so special then??. OK, now I'm gonna tell you that I'm a simp for something categorized heartwarming like this. 


     James Bowen, the author himself is someone who struggles a lot at totally clean from his drug addiction. He writes this book dedicated for his life saviour, Bob the street cat. Their first meeting was just like some sappy drama. I mean.. the whole of Bowen's life was just like a drama though. He lives from a broken family we could say, parents got divorced, split into two different continents. His mother in Australia, father in Europe (Great Britain), the country where Bowen lives up till now. Since his relationship with his father not quite well, he's not living in the same roof with his old man. Busking on the street is his only way to cover up daily struggle life in London.


James Bowen and Bob
(That's some cute high five, Bob !!!)

     It's amazing how a random street cat could change your life. Like what happened with James. Each time I read the part where they first met, is just surreal. I'm glad James not that kind of a jerk who hates cat. If that wasn't the case, well... we're never gonna know, and I'm not even here to tell you about this.

     I've read some of the reviews on Goodreads. And their response was not that good with this one, saying it's written so badly. 3.95/5 ??? I just don't understand them😐.  Don't know why though I guess they are some snob about writing? What's the problem? Duh... In my perspective, I remember that James Bowen is not some professional writer, but he could write something like this, and that's amazing for me as a reader. It's gonna be a loss for someone who loves a heartwarming story. 

     After reading this book, I could never see those people who strive on the street in the same way just like before. It makes me feel so blessed, and surrounded by lots of people who love me are something that might be a gigantic luxury for some people who don't have it at the moment. The lovely cat makes people look at James in a different way. Make him feel more honoured for existing as a human. Cause we know, people tend to ignore. They have more important things to do rather than give attention to someone else especially if you're just a nobody. 

     Thanks to James, now I know a lot more place in London than I knew from Taylor Swift's "London Boy". Great reference the next time I step there with my own feet. I hope...

     But then again, I might still don't know how does it feel to lose one of our best company in the form of a cat, an amazing one like Bob. And I'm so sad I just discovered this dope cat the moment they announce Bob's death. The source from Facebook page, own by James Bowen said that Bob was found dead by June 15th 2020. He died after being hit by a car. Hit & Run to be exactly. Imagine how devastating this news for James. He lost his life saviour...His best friend. 

    But rather than that, I believe Bob had already done such a great job at taking care of James. Maybe God sent this little angel to James for his second chance, right?. The task is done. Bob, you're living your "ninth lives" with James, a real good one mate !.

"Sometimes it takes nine lives to save one"


     Am I gonna have a pet then? Well, let's see till I can live my own life. When I'm ready to make a big big big decision. One thing for sure... It's not gonna be a dog.

     

P.s: Another London Boy with His Soulmate, Tessa.
I feel the urge of posting this after what I said up there👀🕷

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