If the cats disappeared from the world: Gengki Kawamura

If cats disappeared from the world: Genkī Kawamura Author: Genkī Kawamura Publication date: 2025 Book classification: Literature and poetry, newly arrived, publisher: Takween Publications Number of pages: 200 Format: Paperback Since humans realize they will die, they reach a fragile reconciliation between hope in life and acceptance of death, and during that they remember many unfulfilled dreams and many regrets over trivial things. But after I gained the ability to hide things from this world, I see that regret is a wonderful thing, for it is proof that I have lived my life in this world. When a person stands on the edge of death, and an impossible deal is offered: to extend their life by one day in exchange for the disappearance of something from the world; every small detail—from a passing chocolate to a phone you don’t talk to your father with—becomes a question about the meaning of existence. The story is about a man awaiting his end and his deal with a demon, symbolizing our fragility at the moment we realize that survival is always conditional on losses. The novel raises complex questions that may seem simple on the surface: what does it mean for the world to continue without cats? And without the things we consider secondary? And what can be done in our final moments? Since its release, the novel has found an unusual global resonance: more than two million copies sold, translated and published in over thirty-two countries, and it has become the subject of wide critical discussion before being turned into a magnificent film. It is a novel that managed to turn loss into a universal human question, about a paradise of possible possibilities, moments of reflection, and reviewing the filmstrip of life.