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Matthew Flinders' Cat

bryce courtenay

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Billy O'Shannessy, once a prominent barrister, is now on the street where he sleeps on a bench outside the State Library. Above him on the window sill rests a bronze statue of Matthew Flinders' cat, Trim. Ryan is a ten-year-old, a near street kid heading for all the usual trouble. The two meet and form an unlikely friendship. Appealing to the boy's imagination by telling him the story of the circumnavigation of Australia as seen through Trim's eyes, Billy is drawn deeply into Ryan's life and into the Sydney underworld. Over several months the two begin the mutual process of rehabilitation. Matthew Flinders' Cat is a modern-day story of a city, its crime, the plight of the homeless and the politics of greed and perversion. It is also a story of the human heart, with an enchanting glimpse into our past from the viewpoint of a famous cat.

611 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,2002

This edition

Format
611 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 1, 2002 by Viking
ISBN
9780670910618
ASIN
0670910619
Language
English

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About the author

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bryce courtenay

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Arthur Bryce Courtenay, AM was a South African-Australian advertising director and novelist. He is one of Australia's best-selling authors, notable for his book The Power of One.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
33(33%)
4 stars
35(35%)
3 stars
32(32%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Phueker
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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What a terrific book. Having read “The Power of One” and it’s sequel, I was hopeful that that terrific book wasn’t just a flash in the pan and was happy to find that this book is every bit as challenging and as well researched.
To my Bryce Courtenay a modern-day Dickens - a great storyteller and one who doesn’t shy away from the realities of life.
While the ending is a teeny bit abrupt I smiled and cried and loved my way through this book. Fantastic.
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Inukekarynatsusu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I was originally drawn to this book by two things:
1) The Title (I'd never heard of Matthew Flinders before and wanted to know what about his cat was so memorable)
2) The Book Jacket (a wonderful picture of a most intelligent looking pussycat!)

Well, they say you can't tell a book by its cover, but I beg to differ.. I found a story about a very intelligent, might even call him a canny cat. The owner of the cat (if you think a cat can have an owner, that is...) was not the protagonist in this tale.

The synopsis on the inside flap says "This is a story about a boy, a man, and a cat." The story was told to young boy Ryan by Billy and is about Trim, the cat.

The book, however, is more about Billy and his search to gain sobriety and some measure of stability in the Australian system.

I kept on reading, and found some interesting ideas to think about, as well as some history that I had never heard about.

I would recommend this book, but I have to admit it was not what I had expected. I was happily surprised.


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mexicans1d
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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tuebl epub version 12/7/13


By co-incidence I saw Flinders' cat Trim the other day.......
n  n

he's on the roof of the State Library of New South Wales and is easy to miss if you don't know he's there. (In reality he circumnavigated the world with Flinders and met his untimely death marooned on the island of Mauritius.)

just near Flinders' statue.......
n  n

Bryce's inspiration is not far fetched as that particular spot by the Flinders' statue had two homeless people huddled underneath, and St. James station subway has many more. It's quite sad in a city of plenty to see.
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AgeOfHades
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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If I could give this book less stars, I would. What a terrible story in every sense.
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Javra
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This was my first Courtenay book and I was totally engaged at the start and loved the descriptions of Sydney and how he clearly knew the city well. I also really empathised with Billy, our main character who is a homeless alcoholic ex-barrister, and I thought the character writing was great.
There were a couple of issues with the book though. Firstly, the length. It was quite repetitive by about 2/3 through and I thought could have used a much more thorough edit. Another part that bothered me was that it is called "Matthew Flinders' Cat", but the book is mainly about alcoholism and paedophilia. So although some of the Cat snippets were quite interesting at the start, by the end they felt completely out of place and like a story interruption.
It gets 3 stars from me, and a high five for the audio narration, but I'm not sure that I would recommend the book.

Side note - walking down Macquarie Street last night I saw Flinders’ statue outside the library and directly behind him is the statue of Trim, his cat. I thought that was quite cool as I hadn’t known that prior to reading this book!
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Parisbelle
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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When the little boy turns up to ask this homeless man about the statue of a cat... you fall in love with them both from that moment ‘til the last page. Both from the same world, in a sense, but very different circumstances. I even had to google to make sure the guys didn’t exist! Brilliantly written.
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popomelo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I had mixed feelings about this book. The story line was good but could have used some added depth. I feel like I never really got to know the characters, just superficially. The plot was kind of predictable, and at times found it feeling a bit like a textbook on addictions. I liked the story of the cat, but the two lines through the book felt awkward. Overall it was an ok read, and got much better near the end. I did find the cultural language difficult to comprehend at times as well.
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chielle
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a Bryce Courtenay novel and I’d completely forgotten how much I enjoy this writing style and in particular his unique ability to create diverse genuine characters and bring them to life.
This is a fabulous novel and a must read for so many reasons. It’s provides an incredible insight into addiction, life on the street and the opportunistic predators that prey on the vulnerable.
But most importantly it’s a story of hope, friendship, love, overcoming adversity and the power of people supporting people.
Highly recommended.
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