Letters from a Cat

by Helen Hunt Jackson

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Cats, Classics, Short Stories, Childrens, Young Adult

38 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1879

About the author

People know American writer Helen Maria Fiske Hunt Jackson for Ramona (1884), a romantic novel concerning the injustices that Native Americans suffered.

This author, an activist for rights, wrote best about the ill treatment in southern California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_H...

Reviews

[Laima · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED it!!

Anyone who likes cats will love this short story. A young girl named Helen goes away on a long trip with her father. While away she receives letters written to her by her cat. They are adorable, sweet and funny. A very quick read guaranteed to put a smile on any cat lover's face.



Free kindle download from Amazon.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seen this book and thought that it sounded like a good idea. As a cat lover, who wouldn't wish for their cat to write letters to them? I started this book thinking it was going to be a happy story about a cat and it's owner.

How wrong I was! I found this story very sad. I liked the letters and the cat. It was the other characters such as Mary that put me off. They were all mean to the cat all the time and it was hard to read.

I'm glad I finished it though. Even though it is an old book, I found the writing easy to understand. Would I recommend this book? Overall I found this book disappointing. I thought there would be more of a story.

As a cat lover, you might find it difficult to read parts of this book. If you bare in mind that it came out a long time ago and understand views were different then you might like it. But for me personally, it was not my type of book.

[Deary Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nope. Never gonna happen. I will never be mature enough to read this without smirking and snickering and contributing the occasional "that's what HE said!".

In my defense:

"Helen, your Pussy has grown so old and so fat, she is no comfort to herself, and a great torment to everybody else. I think it would be a mercy to kill her."

"Kill my Pussy!" I exclaimed, and burst out crying, so loud and so hard that I think my mother was frightened; for she said quickly:--

"Never mind, dear; it shall not be done, unless it is necessary. You would not want Pussy to live, if she were very uncomfortable all the time."

"She isn't uncomfortable," I cried; "she is only sleepy. If people would let her alone, she would sleep all day. It would be awful to kill her. You might as well kill me!"

After that, I kept a very close eye on Pussy; and I carried her up to bed with me every night for a long time.

After that Pussy's days were numbered."

[Pınar Aydoğdu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babasıyla teyzesinin yanına giden Helen, hem annesinden hem de kedisinden mektuplar alır. Sevgili kediciği Helen evde yokken başından geçenleri mektuplarında tek tek anlatır. Keyifli bir kitap. Üstelik çizimler de harika!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the Internet Archive for this 19th century text. While originally written for children, I'm afraid only adults would "get" some of the humour nowadays as it's too far removed from today's children, what with spring cleaning, soft soap in barrels, cradles etc. Not to mention Pussy as a name for a cat! Which yes, it was originally (though Miss Puss meant a hare to hunters).

Ill as the cat was at one point, I doubt she would stay in the cradle one moment longer than she wanted to, despite Grandpa's swearing. I have to say I admire the parents for telling the child the truth--though I will never hold with drowning cats that are surplus to requirements, at least they didn't tell her the cat "ran away from home" or "went to live on a farm."

A gentle nighttime read.

[Tô · Rating 2 out of 5]

Có hai điều quan trọng mình nghiệm ra trong và sau khi đọc xong cuốn này:
1. Cuộc đời của con Pussy bất hạnh hơn hẳn cái con Dưa - Thị Nở - mặt nồi nhà mình. Giờ thì con nào mới là pussy?
2. Trong các loại tình cảm thì có vẻ như tình yêu động vật là loại tương đối xa xỉ, chỉ dành cho đối tượng quý tộc, giàu có, ông chủ và trẻ con (cũng phải là con nhà giàu nốt).
Con Pussy hẳn là có 9 mạng mới có thể sống trong cái nhà này cho tới khi cô chủ nhỏ về, vì nó là con mèo uống sữa bò pha rượu Brandy mà chả bị làm sao (đấy là mình mong thế) :ssss

[Cecile Hibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those old books that pulls on your heart strings. If you're an animal lover, particularly cats, then you'll appreciate the sweetness of this unique book. It is a hidden gem, in that it has been largely forgotten over the many years since it's publication.

[Nguyên Trang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Đáng yêu quá đi xoxo Đọc cuốn này vì muốn có cuốn dừng chân nghỉ giữa hai cuốn nặng. Không ngờ là với chủ đề quá quen thuộc là mèo và trẻ con, hình thức cũng chẳng quá lạ, mà viết cưng ghê là cưng. Đọc cứ thấy vui vẻ í. Tất nhiên đoạn cuối thì cũng hơi buồn nhưng với một người mất mát nhiều thú cưng ngày nhỏ thì một kiểu kết như vậy gần như là một đòi hỏi bắt buộc. Lâu năm nay tôi không nuôi con gì nhưng mèo hàng xóm thì hôm nào cũng sang cả bầy. Dù khoa học chứng minh là tụi nó cũng chẳng khôn gì đâu nhưng tôi vẫn thường nói chuyện với bọn nó như bạn bè đồng cấp, hoàn toàn không có ý niệm nó là thú cưng.

[Helena Tamiolaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute read except for the preface

[Giulia Baldoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi hanno fatto molta tenerezza queste lettere di Micina alla sua padrona, come l'amore e l'assoluta lealtà che l'una prova nei confronti dell'altra.

[Zay · Rating 4 out of 5]

What charming letters.

[kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

yeah <3

[fred rowe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sick and disgusting

The idea of a cat writing letters is whimsical.The idea of a cat writing letterst to its mistress is poingnant.The idea of introducing the cats drowning as a matter of fact is sick beyond belief.What exactly is wrong with you?

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made my cat loving six year old cry real tears and laugh out loud. Any book that can evoke those emotions from a young reader gets five stars from me.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

catz

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, funny, and completely adorable! And also, the first book I read on my brand new Kindle.

[Pamela Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully illustrated (I am not otherwise familiar with the work of Addie Ledyard the illustrator but some fast research shows she appears to have been partial to cats) volume and only misses that final star because it is actually a bit sad. By way of reminder, this volume was penned in 1879, a different and admittedly harder world and the book reflects that in some ways.

The book is largely made up of letters, written by a kitty, to her young mistress away visiting her aunt. While there is opining on the quality of the printing by kit, and some details about the delivery of the missive, an actual explanation of how this clever cat executed the writing is not forthcoming.

This books appears to be available online (Project Gutenberg, Google Books) as well as in reprints from various periods.

My full review of the book is available on my blog at: https://pams-pictorama.com/2020/03/22... or by searching Pams-Pictorama.com.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stumbled across this while researching the Internet Archive and read the whole thing before I realised I was doing so. My attention was initially grabbed by the prominent "Your Aff Pussy" which I EVENTUALLY realised was a sign-off for the letters, "your affectionate Pussy." Story-wise it was very disorienting that half the introduction is a description of how the titular cat was euthanized despite the loud and violent protests of the child it belonged to, for no other reason than that it had gotten fat?? The actual letters give more of an indication that it may have grown old and injured, but in general it was a reminder of how totally buck-wild the Victorian understanding of "suitable for children" was.

[Ozsaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really ambivalent about this one. While the letters from the cat were charming, and the illustrations were pretty, the story began with the cat being euthanized. The killing of a beloved pet will always lose points from me.

I try to keep in mind that the Victorians had a different attitude towards pets, but... well honestly, people are still cruel to animals so screw it. People who deliberately harm animals deserve a kick in the face.

Anyway, the actual letters showed the personality of poor Pussy. Yes, that's the cats name. I'm twelve at heart, so every time the cat wrote "affectionately yours, Pussy" I snickered.

This is a very short book, and ended so abruptly that I looked up a different edition. Overall, good, but not sure who I'd recommend this to.

[Janel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think if you read it and can’t get over the word “pussy” used instead of “cat,” you are entirely overlooking the story. It is a incredibly creative and personal story. The introduction of the story gives the reader background to Jackson’s inspiration for the short story and explains how it parallels to her own life.

When Helen was a child, her mother was very sick. Helen’s mother would write letters from herself and from the cat to cheer Helen up when they were away from each other due to the illness. Helen details the decline of the cat from its perspective in the letters from real life events.

It is a very clever and lovely story. It is a shame to see how many people have rated it so low because of the word “pussy.”

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perspectives from a cat

It was a cute endearing story written in cat perspective. We all wonder what our beloved pets are think and this was a cute perspective. It was a good pick up and read when you have a few seconds type of book as the conversations were in shorter snippets. I do think her cat and mine have similar perspectives.

[Lailatun Nadhirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okey buku kanak-kanak klasik yang sangat comel! Ia berkenaan seekor kucing menulis surat kepada tuannya, Helen yang sedang mengikut ayahnya pergi bercuti dalam tempoh yang agak panjang. Kucingnya menulis segala perkara yang terjadi di rumah Helen sepanjang Helen tiada di sana.

Agak comel dan kelakar. Terasa kerinduan di antara kedua-dua belah pihak. Terhibur pula waktu membaca buku ni.

[Hằng Trần · Rating 4 out of 5]

Một cuốn truyện ngắn, dễ thương, trong trẻo. Sau này nhất định tôi sẽ đọc lại cùng với con gái mình.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turns out this was written for children... who’d a guessed? :p

But it was good, just kinda sad, because the cat is euthanized by drowning... which, I think that’s what they did do back then, right?

[Quỳnh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nhìn chung là dễ thương.

[Donna LoCastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet story, wish it was longer!

Anyone who loves cats will love this book!! I will look for other books from this author! I love the point of view from the cat!

[Library Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute. Cat 'writes' letters to a kid while she's away from home.

[Thanh T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngắn và dễ đọc, để giải trí một buổi tối khá ukie. Cuốn này viết ở bối cảnh thế kỷ 17-18, lại có cả tranh vẽ đi kèm nên vừa đọc vừa tưởng tượng khá hay hehehee

[Christine B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have given 5⭐️ but for what happens to Pussy.

[Daniel Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll translate it in Esperanto. Loved the drawings