A Greek Cat

“A Greek Cat,” by Moshe Karasso, artfully unfurls the incredible story of the son of a once wealthy, now impoverished Jewish family living on one of the Greek Islands.

In a spectacular feat of juggling, time is diverted forwards and backwards, between childhood and old age, presenting readers with a wide spectrum of events, people, and island vistas.

Karasso offers readers a glimpse into the lives of fishermen and their families, and, later in the novel, into the everyday culture of German Nazis both inside and outside their homes. All of these are recounted in the first person by a remarkably resourceful narrator who eventually loses his sanity.

Looking at this book in the broader context of Existentialist literature, one cannot help but compare it with the works of French writer Albert Camus, whose grasp of the absurdity of existence liberates man from the hope of a perfect human morality that demands life at any cost.