I’m in the middle of If Cats Disappeared from the World (2012) by Genki Kawamura. . The world Kawamura builds and perhaps too, the texture of the language both give me a Murakami vibe. But at the same time, it also gives me moments of pause, making me ask myself the very questions that baffle the narrator in a way that Murakami’s books have not done so far.
The narrator of the story is a young postman who discovers he has a terminal illness and has only a short time to live. Devastated by the news, he makes a deal with the Devil. The deal is that he must choose to give up something which will disappear entirely from the world in exchange for an extra day of life. A deal he accepts. Now he must decide what, for him (and for the rest of us), is important enough to give up his life for and what can be jettisoned from the world.
I won’t give much more away, but I will share one of the less existential questions that he faces. The Devil gives the narrator a choice. Give up movies or give up music.
Now, I should tell you that the narrator is deeply, deeply passionate about films. His best friend in school is obsessed with movies, so much so that that’s pretty much all he does — watches movies, sleeps and goes to work in Tsutaya, a video store (incidentally no longer operational) earning him the nickname Tsutaya.
From his friend, the narrator has developed a keen appreciation for cinema. Yet he chooses to give up movies instead of music.
The Devil kindly offers him the opportunity to see one final movie however. And so begins another internal conversation and conflict.
Which movie should be his last?
Would it be one that he’s already seen or one that’s entirely new?
He goes to Tsutaya (who works at Tsutaya) for help.
At this point, I stopped reading, wondering what choice I’d have made. Movies or music?
What would be my last movie? A never before seen movie or a favourite?
And so I ask you the same.
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The idea that bothers me is that he gets 1 extra day to live, but his best friend will continue to live make days after he is gone, and for his best friend movies give his life meaning. I don’t understand how he could agree to have something removed from the world, that is so central to his friend’s life. Then he has the audacity to go and ask that same friend for advice on the last movie to watch. There is a country music song that I like, by Randy Travis, and the most profound line in the doing for me is, “I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It’s what you leave behind you when you go. ” So, I would not want to take away either music or movies, for 1 more day of life, much less 1 more year. Plus for me, what matters most is not specifically the last movie I choose to see, but whom I see that movie with would have the most meaning. I think I would see a comedy, so when I’m gone those left behind would remember us laughing together, and it would be a happy memory for them.
First of all, that’s a lovely thing to do – spend time with someone you love. You are a people person so your choice makes total sense to me. You know, while I was reading that part, I had the SAME thought. His friend loves movies SO much. How can I deprive him of a lifetime’s worth of that kind of pleasure knowing I’d only be buying myself 24 hours. AND to top it all off, I’d go to the video store where he works to ask his help in choosing that final movie.
But humans are inherently selfish beings. When faced with death, I think the sad truth is that we’d all probably make selfish choices in the end.
I would choose to watch the movie “Perfect Days”. Movies are great but music is more important to me. Plus if all music disappears then movies would be very very different. No film score… and when the protagonist listens to music in the car… silence? Or Eddy Murphy singing “Roxanne” at full volume? Wouldn’t that be gone, too?
Perfect Days is an amazing choice for a final movie. Nicely played! I agree and had the same thought. What would movies be like without music? And it means that musicals would vanish as well – or at the very least, make little sense.
I still don’t know which to choose – movies or music. Life without music would be miserable but life would movies? I might as well just throw in the towel.
I wouldn’t even have one word of discussion with the devil. He’s lying. He can’t decide who gets a day more or less.