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Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot
Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats
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The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, it isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. The phenomenal worldwide success in the 1980s of the musical Cats refuelled interest in T.S. Eliot's classic... show more
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, it isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. The phenomenal worldwide success in the 1980s of the musical Cats refuelled interest in T.S. Eliot's classic Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats on which the stage extravaganza was based. Old Possum's Book, originally published in 1939 and dedicated to Eliot's godchildren, contains a delightful rogues' gallery of felines, including the Rum Tum Tugger cat whose "disobliging ways are a matter of habit", Mr Mistoffelees "The Original Conjuring Cat" and Macavity: The Mystery Cat "the master criminal who can defy the law". Loved by generations of children and adults alike, Old Possum is perhaps most remarkable for having been written almost as an aside, a plaything, by Eliot, as a distraction from the internal religious and philosophical wranglings he charted in Four Quartets. A warm and witty collection of free-verse poems, which demand to be read aloud and given full dramatic import, this edition of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats has been reissued by Faber and Faber Limited in a slim pocket-sized edition, with original tongue-in-cheek illustrations by Nicolas Bentley. --Catherine Taylor
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780571202553 (0571202551)
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Pages no: 49
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
KOMET
KOMET rated it
5.0 POETRY FOR PUSSYCATS
Recently, I learned that the musical "CATS" -- which drew its inspiration from this book of poetry -- is staging a revival where I live for a short time. And so, to better inform myself about it before seeing the musical, I decided to read "OLD POSSUM'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS." And what a delightful...
A Man With An Agenda
A Man With An Agenda rated it
2.0 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
I want to like more poetry, and I enjoyed some of the Eliot that I had to read in school, but these were...not to my taste? I never saw the musical and I only picked this up because I like Edward Gorey, but even he couldn't help me appreciate these.
The English Student
The English Student rated it
4.0 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot
A book of poems about cats. What more can I say? CATS.
MarginMan
MarginMan rated it
4.0 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
It's a soft four, and I feel I'm being generous. Possible that expectations were raised unreasonably by its fame.Its main strength, perhaps, is in the concept. Treating cats as people, with their varying personalities and exploits. The variety of characters is entertaining. As individual poems, how...
Ama's Picture Books
Ama's Picture Books rated it
2.5 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
I'm guessing Cats the musical was based on these poems (never seen the show). I don't love cats, and the poems weren't that great. I also wasn't a fan of the racial slur used in the book.
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