Friday, December 15, 2017

Book Review: Felix the railway cat by Kate Moore

Publisher: Michael Joseph

ISBN: 978-0718185435

A5 Softback

272 pages


If you profess and interest in railways, then there is a good chance that you'll find a copy of Felix the Railway Cat under the Christmas tree this year.

A well-meaning relative will have spotted this on their tour of Tesco and thought, "That's got trains in it. I'm sure he'll like it."

The book tells the story of Felix, a cat adopted by staff as Huddersfield railway station. There are heartwarming stories as the cat learns to love its new environment and the people who occupy it.

Let's be honest - this isn't a nerdy book full of  rivet detail. It's a human interest story with added cat. We actually learn quite a lot about the way a modern station operates and it certainly stimulated a desire to visit the place, not just to see the cat. A quick look on the web shows Huddersfield to be quite a size and full of interesting detail.

There's quite a bit about becoming the centre of an Internet phenomenon. How it happened and the pressures that it places those who are part of the story under. If you aspire to web stardom, it's worth reading for this alone. You'll not be surprised to find Felix has his own page on Facebook.

Enjoyed with a few drinks, it's a pleasant read and you can generously pass it on to the rest of the family afterward. Can't say that about Great Western telegraph pole ceramic insulators or whatever else you really wanted. I enjoyed it anyway.

(Thanks to Chris Mead for supplying this after a supermarket shopping trip)



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