A Simple and Charming Story about a Black Cat

Once upon a time, during World War II, there was a black cat. This little feline was on a quest to find its owner. It wandered through the war-torn streets, facing many challenges along the way. But the black cat was determined and didn't give up easily.

As it journeyed, it came across many people. Some were kind and gave it food and shelter, while others were not so friendly. However, the cat didn't let this discourage it. It continued its search, believing that one day it would be reunited with its beloved owner.

Strangely enough, wherever the black cat went, it seemed to bring good luck to those it met. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but many people started to believe that the cat was a symbol of hope and good fortune in the midst of the chaos of war. And so, the story of the black cat spread, and it became a beloved figure in the hearts of many.

I have a distinct memory of reading this particular book when I was a child. Back then, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about it. Now, upon re-reading, it has proven to be an absolute bore. In fact, as I got towards the end, it felt like it was dragging on and on.

It's truly a shame because the underlying concept of the book is quite appealing. However, it severely suffers from a lack of engaging dialogue. There are hardly any conversations that draw the reader in or make them invested in the story. Additionally, apart from the cat, there are no interesting characters. The characters seem rather one-dimensional and fail to leave a lasting impression.

As a result, I think I'll go back and re-read "The Machine Gunners", which I remember enjoying as a kid. I just hope that it has withstood the test of time and will still be as enjoyable as I recall. Maybe it will provide the kind of entertainment and engagement that this current book lacked.

She led the way to safety, out of the blazing hell of blitzed Coventry.

People touched her for luck; feared her as an omen of disaster. Wherever she went, she changed lives.

"BlitzCat", by Robert Westall, is a remarkable novel. It tells the story of a courageous black cat named Lord Gort. During the second World War, Lord Gort embarked on an epic journey to find his old owner.

Black cats were regarded as symbols of good luck. So, wherever she went, she had a profound impact on many lives simply because of her color.

The book often changes its point of view, alternating between the cat and the citizens. Mostly, it focuses on Lord Gort's arduous struggles to reach his old owner, who is in the RAF.

This book explores how symbols can influence people's thoughts and how it is possible to find peace even in the midst of war.

Lord Gort had a unique ability to sense if people were kind or hostile towards her. Unlike other cats, she trusted even hostile people, aiming to change their lives for the better.

She could also sense life-threatening events before they occurred. She narrowly escaped death from an explosion when someone stepped on a land mine.

Ironically, when she went to an air force station, she became blind for about 12 hours and deaf for about a month. The noises there would have driven her crazy if she wasn't deaf. Her presence at the station gave people hope and good luck.

"And suddenly they were reaching out, stepping on to the platform to touch the lucky black cat." (Page 31)

Throughout the book, Lord Gort traveled to many places in search of her past owner. She went to Dunkirk and witnessed the bombing of Coventry. She even made her way all the way to Dorset.

In the time period from Dover to Coventry to Dunkirk and back to Dorset, she managed to find ways to find peace during the brink of war.

The black cat had two litters and found new homes for all of them. She was a sassy cat with a single-minded determination to get back to her owner Geoff.

She found a way to help people to safety during the war and to live at least decent lives. Even though she was just a cat, she could sense where there was trouble and went there to assist people.

Robert Westall's message was to show that with determination, a little bit of luck and hope, one can reach their destination in life. In this case, it was presented from a cat's perspective.

This book is either very enjoyable due to the interesting cat behavior or not enjoyable at all because the events are quite hard to follow.

In conclusion, "Blitzcat" was a rather confusing story in terms of the setting and the presence of characters. I had difficulty keeping track of where the previous characters went.

I gave this book three stars because it was a very graphic novel that kept me interested. However, another reason for giving it three stars instead of four or five is that it was hard to follow and sometimes got very boring and unreadable.

Otherwise, this book has its merits, but in my opinion, it is not an appropriate kids' book because of the themes of death and poverty.

I was completely taken aback by this.

This book, which was classified as children's or young adult literature, turned out to be astonishingly mature.

The story centered around the wanderings of a cat named Lord Gort. During the war in England, as she searched for her beloved person, Geoffrey, she encountered various individuals.

Geoffrey was away serving as a fighter pilot during World War II, and Lord Gort deeply missed him. Even though she still had a home with Geoffrey's wife and baby, she毅然 set out on her own.

Initially, I assumed that the perspective of a cat would be rather childish. However, she was not anthropomorphized in an unrealistic way. Throughout the story, she remained true to her feline nature.

Lord Gort acted on instinct and was cat-like in every aspect. Sometimes she was affectionate, while at other times she was aloof, but she was always hungry.

The story unfolded through her interactions with different people, the impact of the war on them, and how Lord Gort influenced their lives.

I truly relished the diversity of the scenes and how Lord Gort's presence added a unique element to each of their lives.

Despite the great distance separating them, she was determined to find her human and could sense his presence.

The beginning of the story didn't attract me much.

However, I continued and it was interesting that the charm of the story increased further in the continuation.

In this novel, along with Lord Gort's journey in search of his master in the middle of the war, the author shows us different aspects of World War II.

The description of the war scenes is vivid, making the readers seem to be on the battlefield.

The characters in the story are also very vivid, each with their own characteristics and personalities.

We can see the courage and perseverance of the soldiers, as well as the pain and suffering caused by the war.

This novel not only tells a story but also makes us think about the meaning and value of war.

Robert Westall’s novel Blitzcat has long been one of my all-time favorite books about WWII. Each time I reread it, I am drawn into the captivating story.

It tells of a female black cat named Lord Gort, who embarks on a remarkable journey across England during the war years of 1940 - 41. She is in search of her special owner and encounters many people along the way. The story is based on the fascinating phenomenon of psi-trailing, which gives animals the ability to find their way back to their owners, even over great distances when separated for various reasons.

Lord Gort and her family have relocated from Dover, Kent to Beaminister, Dorset due to her owner Geoff Wensley, an RAF pilot, being transferred there. However, Geoff is now flying missions in France. Lord Gort despises her new and strange living situation and instinctively knows that her special person is far away in the west. Determined to find him, she sets off with the belief that “Somewhere ahead, there was endless happiness again. And she knew how to get there.” (page 8)

During her journey to find happiness, Lord Gort has numerous experiences. Her instincts prove invaluable when she warns a lonely and disabled plane spotter in the Observer Corps of an impending enemy air attack. Later, she finds herself at a train station where she is well-fed by the soldiers returning from the evacuation of Dunkirk, who believe black cats are lucky and eagerly rub her back.

But when the trainloads of soldiers stop after 4 June, Lord Gort ends up on a train bound for Dover. Back in Dover, she senses that her real owner is now far away towards the east. Nevertheless, she stays there for a while in the billet of a Sergeant and once again, her instincts warn of an air attack. Eventually, she and the Sergeant become separated in Crewe, Cheshire while traveling to Scotland, and the cat begins another arduous journey back to Dover.

On the way, she gives birth to a litter of kittens on a farm outside Coventry and witnesses the devastating bombing of Coventry on 14 November 1940. When it is time to move on, one of her kittens follows. During a severe snowstorm, they end up in the barn of a suicidal woman whose husband has been killed in the war. Leaving her kitten with the woman, Lord Gort resumes her search in the spring.

En route, she unknowingly gets too close to a UXB, which detonates, temporarily robbing her of her sense of smell, sight, and hearing. Although she regains all but her hearing, she continues on and lands at an RAF base, where she becomes the companion of a lonely rear-gunner named Tommy. Due to her deafness, she is able to fly many successful missions with him. However, when she refuses to fly a plane that crashes on takeoff, the pilots turn on her and try to get rid of her.

She manages to stow away on a plane headed for Germany, but she and Tommy end up parachuting out over France. They eventually make it back to England, and Lord Gort continues her journey, making one more stop at the home of a NSPCA worker, where she has another litter of kittens. One day, she senses her real owner is near, towards the south-west in the direction of Dorset, and she sets off on one last journey.

This is just a basic outline of Lord Gort’s adventures. There is so much more to each person’s story, including that of her real owner and his family, providing the reader with a comprehensive picture of life during the war. Westall masterfully conveys the sense of fear, loss, and pathos that war brings, as well as the tenacity and strength of the British people.

To his credit, Westall始终坚持让Lord Gort保持猫的本能和感觉，没有赋予她人类的品质或能力。这也是Lord Gort如此可爱的原因之一。不过，这绝对是一部青少年小说，因为故事中的描述有时可能会有点直白，但它绝对值得一读。

*Lord Gort (her owner thought she was a male kitten) was named for the real Lord John Gort, who was the Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Forces that ultimately ended up being evacuated from Dunkirk just before the fall of France.

Cute little kitty cat, miaow miaow! It is so precious and cute, miaow.

The book is not bad, but I have a wish. I really hope it could be more focused on the cat itself. Instead of spending so much time on these random British people.

I just want to know more about the adorable cat's adventures, its daily life, and its charming little habits.

Maybe the author could have dedicated more pages to the cat's cuteness and less to the other elements that seem a bit out of place.

Overall, it's still an okay read, but it could have been so much better if it had centered more on the lovely kitty.

This book was truly interesting.

We are constantly bombarded with stories about dogs going on adventures to find their lost humans. It has become almost a cliché. However, what makes this book stand out is that it features a cat on a similar journey.

The cat in this story encounters all kinds of strange creatures, interesting humans, and weird situations, yet it continues on its path with a sense of nonchalance.

The author has done a fabulous job of capturing the essence of a cat's personality.

Even in the midst of war, a cat remains a cat, with its own agenda of places to go and people to see.

This unique perspective makes the book a refreshing and engaging read, offering a new take on the traditional adventure story.

It shows that even the most ordinary of animals can have extraordinary experiences.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves animals and enjoys a good adventure.

This is an extremely well-conceived and exquisitely written novel set in England at the outset of WWII.

It revolves around a cat that endeavors to return to its master, vividly presenting the experiences it encounters during this arduous journey.

Clearly, it showcases life during wartime, encompassing both the horrors and the various ways people coped. It appears so realistic that it almost exceeds my personal preference.

I must disclose here my intense loathing for war. One aspect that diminished my enjoyment of this novel is that the author immerses me right into the thick of the war, particularly in the sphere of fighter pilots bombing and engaging in fierce combat with one another.

For some inexplicable reason, I did not anticipate such a significant focus on this in this relatively brief novel.

The parts that I relished the most were those where the author depicted the daily lives of the people who were not directly involved in the fighting, especially the women who patiently awaited the return of their husbands and lovers.

And I truly liked the way he utilized the cat (or cats, as a matter of fact, since the "protagonist" gives birth to kittens and also acquires a female companion along the way).

He infuses personality into the main creature without resorting to excessive, Disneyesque anthropomorphizing. He also effectively employs the cat as a good luck charm for the men undertaking their sorties and is adept at revealing the emotions and fears of these men.

I am not one who is partial to war stories. I read this because I believed it would predominantly be about life during the war, which I find far more captivating.

However, the author did indeed do an outstanding job of crafting a distinct and impactful war story.

An Interesting Approach to Presenting WW2 for Younger Readers

This article offers a unique and engaging way to handle the subject of World War 2 for younger audiences. We get to witness the various aspects of the war, such as the impact of the return of troops from Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the bombing raids on Coventry, the plight of refugees, and the bombing raids across the Channel. All of these are seen through the eyes of a black cat that is trying to reunite with its RAF master. The cat has been described as "gentle," but that's not a description that the author recognizes. Instead, the author believes that the cat, like Lord Gort, is a fighter, determined to survive the chaos and destruction of the war. This perspective adds an element of excitement and adventure to the story, making it more accessible and interesting for younger readers.

The story was like a set of short tales that had two things in common: a cat and World War II.

A cat embarks on a long journey in search of its owner, and the events surrounding it form the story.

The cat's adventures are filled with excitement and challenges as it navigates through a war-torn world.

Along the way, it encounters various people and experiences different emotions.

The story not only展现了 the cat's determination and loyalty but also provides a unique perspective on the impact of war on both humans and animals.

It makes the reader think about the importance of love, friendship, and survival in difficult times.

Overall, it is a charming and thought-provoking story that will appeal to readers of all ages.

Lord Gort's journey is an incredibly rich and poignant tale that vividly showcases the profound impact of war on people's lives. It also reveals the remarkable lengths a cat will go to in order to reunite with her beloved person.

At times, I couldn't help but think that this story seemed rather dark for a children's book. However, when I recalled what I had read during my middle school days, I realized that perhaps it wasn't all that different. The only distinction was that here, the narrative was set against the backdrop of a real world war, presenting realistic situations and their inevitable consequences.

This book serves as a powerful reminder of the harsh realities of war and the unwavering bond between a pet and its owner. It forces us to confront the pain and suffering that war brings, while also highlighting the glimmers of hope and love that can endure even in the darkest of times.

Overall, Lord Gort's journey is a thought-provoking and engaging read that offers valuable lessons about war, loyalty, and the indomitable spirit of both humans and animals.