Formidable Fiction Is ‘Furmidable’ to a Feline

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I, Misty the cat, might be the first kitty to write a blog post while asleep. (Photo by my human Dave.)

Last week, Dave blogged about the appeal of escapist fiction as a diversion from the dire 2025 political climate faced by people, cats, and blue-footed booby birds who migrated from red-footed states. This week, as I, Misty the cat, do the every-two-month feline takeover of Dave’s blog, I’ll discuss a few of the many challenging novels I’ve read amid the escapist stuff, if only to keep up my paw strength as I swatted those weighty books off the table.

Currently, Dave and I are in the middle of Orfeo by Richard Powers, who later wrote the acclaimed environmental tree saga The Overstory — a novel not about me hovering over a short story. Orfeo is a book featuring a rather complex musical motif as well as sudden swings between the present and past, yet it’s still quite readable in its way. How did I, Misty the cat, learn a word like “motif”? In The Idiot’s Guide to Pretentious Vocabulary.

Some other challenging novels? James Joyce’s Ulysses comes to mind, but I haven’t read it because of my lack of interest in American Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant. There’s also Marcel Proust’s many-volume In Search of Lost Time, of which I managed to finish the initial Swann’s Way book. Here’s what I discovered: gorgeous language, kind of a slog to get through, and a swan and blue-footed booby will both eat a madeleine if it’s slathered in A1 steak sauce.

Plenty of food for thought (but no madeleine) in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, set after the American Civil War in which the aforementioned Grant waged battle against alliterative author names like James Joyce. I also liked Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, even though my cat eyes are green. Everything is not all about me! 99.9% about me? Sure, but not 100%.

Then there’s late-career Henry James. Those novels contain plenty of long and convoluted sentences, but, yes, Long and Convoluted would make a great name for a rock band. Dave and my feline self did enjoy James’ late-career novel The Ambassadors, which was about the Ambassador cars from India and the United States meeting cute before asking James to write The Turn of the Ignition. Or maybe that novel was about an American’s trip to Paris to try to bring back a young man to the family business. The Family Business would be a so-so name for a rock band.

An early-career novel by Eleanor Catton, published when the author was still in her 20s, is also quite ambitious. That would be The Luminaries, which combined a plot about the 1860s New Zealand gold rush with an astrological motif. (I’m a Sagittarius cat.) There’s that fancy word “motif” again, which I was moved to reuse after reading The Idiot’s Guide to Repeating One’s Self in a Blog Post.

I liked Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway a lot despite it not being the easiest of reads. The whole book unfolds in a day, which makes me wonder if it’s a multigenerational saga unfolding across several centuries. Let me think about that.

There’s also Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, about the yin and yang of my relationship with the chipmunk I often see during my daily leashed walks. Given its tiny size, the chipmunk only reads one-page novels, and gets its musical fix solely by watching NPR “Tiny Desk Concerts” — including excellent ones featuring Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan. It’s a small world after all…

Speaking of Russian novels, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s tome The Brothers Karamazov is a challenge, too, with many chapters that are wonderful and some chapters that sort of drag. But when it’s good it’s GOOD. The Sisters Karamazov didn’t leave as much of an impression on my feline self because that book doesn’t exist. The Second-Cousins-Once-Removed Karamazov? A real banger. Which reminds me to bang on my food bowl because it feels like I haven’t been served my chow since the 19th century in Russia. It’s been almost five minutes!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s sweeping One Hundred Years of Solitude echoed my angst when I was once forced to endure One Hundred Nanoseconds of Solitude. Fortunately, I also read The Idiot’s Guide to Being Alone for Under a Minute.

Dave told me he twice tried William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury but couldn’t get past the first few chapters, unlike that author’s more readable Light in August and As I Lay Dying. I tried The Sound and the Fury myself, and went into a reading coma. Or maybe it was a food coma “as I lay digesting” too many cat treats.

Comments will be answered by Dave as I read The Idiot’s Guide to Recovering from Digesting Too Many Cat Treats.

I, Misty the cat, say: “I see the ghost, but where’s Mrs. Muir?”

Dave and I’s comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

Dave is also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, and includes many encounters with celebrities.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about a huge school budget deficit that grew even larger — is here.

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105 thoughts on “Formidable Fiction Is ‘Furmidable’ to a Feline”

  2. 🐾 Oh, Misty, you’re a literary marvel! I laughed my way through your musings — your grasp of “motif” alone deserves a Pulitzer for Paws. Your commentary on Joyce and Proust is as sharp as your claws, and I now want The Turn of the Ignition on my reading list. Bravo to you (and your human Dave) for another delightful read! ♥️🐱📚

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  4. Hi Misty, I’m most impressed again – more reading, and thick books too. Some excellent choices as well. Nice blog as always, but for me (and my Luna), we have a little look on Facebook each day to see what you are up too. ‘More pumpkins again… wow,’ said Luna. Plus, a quick wave to Dave, as well… while peering in that smartphone. 🐈🐈‍⬛

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    • Thank you, Chris! And hi to Luna — Facebook’s “Caturday” superstar! 🙂

      Not sure why the pumpkins Luna saw on my FB feed appear in Misty’s apartment complex every October…must be for some holiday…The Ides of March? 🤔

      Misty’s goal is to occasionally read a challenging book that weighs more than a pumpkin. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Lauren! Glad you liked the video! I’ve seen “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” movie and TV show, but my local library never has the original R.A. Dick novel on its shelves. One of these days…

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  6. Many thanks, dear Misty for all these excellent books you recommend us here to read! I have still in mind, for example the very touching “The Brothers Karamazov” and that horrible father, Fyodor, with all his wrongdoings, on the one hand, and on the other, Alyosh, who only tries to help his family. All the best to you and your master, Dave!

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  7. Not only did I arrive late, Misty, I had to leave for a bit for my morning walk. I left the post open and put my laptop to sleep. That seemed appropriate.

    Ulysses is on my tried but failed list, but, like Dave, I read Moby Dick twice, and I didn’t skip the details. Most of the challenging books I’ve read are non-fiction, where skipping the details can get you into trouble.

    One bit of fiction I might toss into this category is Hotel New Hampshire. I’d like to think it was formidable, mainly because I didn’t enjoy reading it and I’d like having an excuse.

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    • Thank you, Dan! Ha — 😂 — laptops, like cats, falling asleep. I wonder what kind of AI dreams computers have? 🤔

      “Moby-Dick” is definitely worth the slower parts. The characters, the plot, and the prose are all memorable.

      Yes, some nonfiction can be challenging and not the easiest of reads. It helps when nonfiction authors make their books feel almost like novels.

      John Irving has indeed written a number of fairly complex novels, with some of course better than others. The humor and quirkiness of parts of those books make things easier. My favorites of his are “The Cider House Rules” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany.”

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  9. Hi Misty, and good to see you here again, especially as I won my personal battle of alliterative author names waged against Grant. I too struggled with ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, but I’ll have to give it another go, as well as reading ‘As I Lay Dying’ and ‘Ulysses’, both of which are buried on my Kindle app somewhere. I never got on with the work of Marquez, which inspired one hundred hours of boredom in me; perhaps it loses in translation, along with the fact that I know little of that country’s history.Whatever. Thanks for sharing your reading experiences, Misty, and I hope you’re having plenty of sleep to help you recovery from them. I send my regards to Dave also. 🙂😼

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  11. Misty, I was just telling my daughter I think I’ve started “Swann’s Way” 3 or 4 times but never managed to finish. I liked “Orfeo” but I liked “The Echo Maker” even more and highly recommend it. And of course I loved The Overstory.
    As to Dostoevsky, I reread “The Brothers Karamazov” after reading David Duncan’s excellent “The Brothers K” and seeing so many people compare them. I did not really think they were alike, and had trouble keeping the characters straight, but nevertheless was glad to experience it again, outside of the parameters of high school. In fact I’m quite sure I got much more out of it the second time.
    I’m sure Mrs. Muir will be back soon. (K)

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    • Thank you, Kerfe! I will definitely be reading more of Richard Powers. I already have “Bewilderment” checked out of the library, and will look for “The Echo Maker.” Powers’ writing is hypnotic.

      I sympathize with your multiple “Swann’s Way” efforts. 🙂

      “The Brothers Karamazov” is almost worth reading for the devil scene alone. Plus the brothers, the nasty dad, and Grushenka are memorable characters.

      Misty is happy to hear of Mrs. Muir’s likely return. 😂

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  12. Misty – your brilliant posts always make me smile. I think I actually know where Mrs. Muir is hiding… she’s curled up somewhere between The Ambassadors and The Luminaries, waiting for you to swat her book off the table.

    And as for The Idiot’s Guide to Pretentious Vocabulary, I’m going to have to track that one down myself — clearly it’s the secret to your sparkling prose! I’ve been leaning toward lighter reading these days and am happily immersed (almost finished – just one more chapter in “Daze” and I’ll know who done it) in Glory Be and Glory Daze by Danielle Arceneaux. Thank you for these witty wanderings through the world of challenging reads — they’re a joy to follow. And here is the quote that really resonated with me: “It was true that Glory had already lived most of her little life, but she was damn sure of one thing—she wasn’t done yet.” Danielle Arceneaux, Glory Daze: A Glory Broussard Mystery I hope that there will be more Glory to read in the future!

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  13. Hello Misty!

    Misha here, just to let you know that all books are challenging to Resa, even ones she doesn’t read. It could have something to do with alphabetization, but I’m not sure.

    Resa said to tell Dave she thought reading Gone With the Wind was challenging, because of the war. To this day, there’s lots of challenging issues about the book and in the book. Seems the politics, in many ways and forms, have never ended.

    Still, it was an escape, as saga’s tend to be.

    Okay, oh and thanks for the tip about knocking books off the table! I should have thought of that myself.

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  17. Enjoyed blog post, Dave.I have Overstory on my most likely next book to read list. My library can put on reserve. Book is stories about trees as I understand. 🌳 I think author is from NJ and a musician, I had seen a story PBS NJ arts a few years ago,that’s how I heard about his well acclaimed book.

    Michele

    E @ P way back

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    • Thank you, Michele! “The Overstory” is incredible; one of the best novels I’ve read in recent years. Richly deserved its Pulitzer Prize. And author Richard Powers does sound like a multitalented guy.

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  19. I must say I struggled with Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot because there were so many characters in it and some of the characters names changed to a shortened version of their given name, but that is just a troublesome aspect re Russian lit. In addition, it is a polyphonic novel which makes it a rather convoluted mess.

    It’s interesting that Misty is looking for Mrs. Muir as I just saw the trailer for a new horror film, Good Boy by IFC, just in time for Halloween. As I understand, the movie tells the story of a haunted house from the dog’s perspective. I think a cat’s perspective would have been a better choice since they seem more sensitive to supernatural events. Nice theme Dave. Susi

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    • Thank you, Susi! I also had trouble with “The Idiot,” way back in college. If I’m remembering right, I didn’t finish it. And, yes, name variations can be…interesting…in some Russian novels.

      I agree that a film featuring a haunted house from an animal’s perspective might be better off starring a cat than a dog. Misty is willing to star in such a movie for a modest fee in exchange for a percentage of the box-office gross. 🙂

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  20. This was a fun read. I read some of the books you discussed while I was in college. I think I was doing a paper on stream of consciousness, and read Ulysses, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and The Sound and the Fury. I had to read Cliff’s Notes and critical analysis before I could even read any of those books. Then I reread The Sound and the Fury a few years ago. Three decades of separation from it academically, and it was pleasant to read. It is the same for Ulysses. However, I don’t have time to read as much as I would like to, so I began listening to Ulysses on Audible while I work.

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    • Switching to audio books is a strategy I have employed with several books I found difficult to read because of the level of detail. Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver are two I wasn’t able to read but finished as audio books.

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      • Madeline, glad audiobooks have been good option for you at times!

        (I thought “Demon Copperhead” was excellent; hard to imagine a much better novel written by an author more than 30 years into a career.)

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        • I liked some of Kingsolver’s books better than Demon Copperhead. For me, it was a bit too topical (and maybe a bit preachy)–abuse, opioid epidemic, foster care system, etc., and, again, for me, too much detail. I recently heard David Ellis (Look Closer) talk about publishers wants books to be shorter (or thinner on the shelves), but perhaps because Kingsolver is deep in her successful career, she is given grace to keep on writing however much she wants. I am a big fan of editors, and there are not many books that I think really need more than 400 pages. At 546 pages, Demon could have benefitted from some editing (in my opinion).

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          • There are certainly many excellent Kingsolver novels: “The Poisonwood Bible,” “Prodigal Summer,” “The Lacuna,” “Flight Behavior,” “Unsheltered,” etc. I thought “Demon Copperfield” was comparable in excellence, but, yes, it could have been a few dozen pages shorter. As you say, Madeline, I’m sure longtime authors of her stature get less edited for length.

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    • Thank you, R. Jay! Great points that something like Cliff’s Notes can help with certain books, that listening to books can be a good option, and that readers can react to books differently when they try them again years later. Novels I liked better with an older-in-life reread include “Middlemarch,” “Moby-Dick,” and “The Scarlet Letter,” among others.

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  22. I remember studying “The Bluest Eye” at uni, Misty; it really had an impact on me. I must reread it, as I’ve mostly forgotten what happens! I have to say, I quit on “Ulysses” before finishing it – maybe I’ll go back to it someday! Lovely, as always, to hear from you. 😊🍂🐈

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    • Thank you, Ada! Congratulations on the “Ulysses” attempt! I don’t think I’ll ever try it. 🙂 (I did like James Joyce’s “Dubliners” collection, especially “The Dead.”) Toni Morrison definitely wrote a bunch of memorable novels; I also liked her “Sula” and especially “Song of Solomon.”

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  23. Good for you, Misty and Dave, for finishing Swann’s Way, the first volume of Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past/In Search of Lost Time. I started it three times and never managed to complete it — not to mention the other volumes. Also got past the midway point of Moby Dick–yay!–but then bogged down and never finished it. These attempts were many years ago, so maybe it’s time to try again.

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    • Thank you, Kim! “Swann’s Way” is indeed not an easy read, even as it’s reportedly the most accessible volume of “In Search of Lost Time.” And, as I mentioned to Madeline in another comment, I’m a fan of “Moby-Dick” overall, but acknowledge that parts of Melville’s novel can be a challenge.

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  25. Great post, Misty.

    I did read Ulysses (the James Joyce one) but I could not get through Moby Dick–too much detail. Tom Clancy’s novels have a lot of detail (too much?) but I just skip over the details to get the gist of the story (which, for some reason, I could not do with Moby Dick). I have the Russians on my “to read” list, but…

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    • Thank you, Madeline! Congratulations on reading “Ulysses”! 🙂 “Moby-Dick” does have too much detail — especially when Melville is describing all things whale, but the dramatic parts of the novel are compelling enough for me to have read the book twice. (Though with many years in-between. 🙂 )

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