The Diary of Edward the Hamster 1990–1990 by Miriam Elia, Ezra Elia
My rating: 3/5 cats
this was another one of those netgalley impulse-grabs. i was just popping on there to leave a review for a different book, and i thought, “i know i have one thousand books i have promised to read, and this is a terrible idea, but let’s just see what new things are available…” this impulse gets me into trouble all the time, and pushes back my “to be read immediately” books into “to be read…someday” territory awfully quickly.
basically, i saw a hamster, and i said “cute!!” and i clicked the button because it is way too easy to commit to books on netgalley. and i lack impulse control.
fortunately for me, this one is just a little quickie of a book, mostly pictures with very little text, and i was able to read it on my glow-in-the-dark reading machine while walking to and then back from connor’s.
and it’s cute—i have never owned a hamster (as much as one can “own” a hamster, especially a gloomy philosophical type like this one), but it really brings the plight of the pet hamster to light, much like the completely differently-toned Caged.
edward is like a creation of dostoevsky—contemplating the meaning of existence, the banality of the quotidian, reaching out for inter- and intraspecial connections, being denied companionship, and yes, freedom. and much like a russian novel, before the end there will be murder, love, self-denial and capitulation, hopelessness, death, and many musings.
Why write? Life is a cage of empty words.
it is very gloomy, indeed.
particularly when a new hamster arrives, and edward experiences the soaring of hopes, and then a crushing dose of reality:
I tried to goad him into a debate on the nature of our captivity, on the emptiness of life and our irrational will to live.
He burped, laughed and defecated in the food tray.
He is either mad or profoundly stupid.
I am crushed.
it is so hard to meet like-minded individuals.
overall, it is very cute, if brief, and edward’s constant struggle between resisting the lure of the “bastard” wheel and then giving in to the tyranny of the wheel is funny, but not as funny as his battles between his political hunger strike and the mocking availability of the seeds.
The seeds. They are taunting me!
he is an adorable little prisoner.
and now i have to read Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat
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