Varjak Paw
| Author | S. F. Said |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Dave McKean |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Varjak Paw |
| Genre | Fantasy, Adventure |
| Publisher | David Fickling Books |
Publication date | 1 January 2003 |
| Media type |
hardback paperback |
| Pages | 255 |
| ISBN |
0-385-60415-7 (hardback) ISBN 0-552-54818-9 (paperback) |
| OCLC | 50938878 |
| LC Class | PZ7.S1315 Var 2003 |
| Followed by | The Outlaw Varjak Paw |
Varjak Paw (2003) is a novel by the British author S. F. Said and illustrated by Dave McKean.[1] The illustrations in this book greatly resemble gothic forms of art. The novel received the 2003 Smarties Gold Award for the 6–8 years range,[2] and has been adapted for other media.
Plot summary
Varjak Paw is a small Mesopotamian dark blue cat who lives with his family in the Contessa's house on the hill. Varjak's brother, Julius, is always making fun of him because he has amber eyes instead of green eyes such as the rest of his family. When a large gentlemen and two mysterious black cats enter the house, Varjak and his grandfather, Elder Paw, know something is wrong. The family is split apart, leaving Varjak to embark on a quest to the city for help. Using a form of secret cat martial arts called "The Way" handed down from his ancestor, Jalal Paw, the kitten must make his way through the city and overcome obstacles such as angry dogs, gangs of cats, and the mysterious "Vanishings."
Varjak, whose amber eyes (called the color of danger) set him apart from his family, listens to his grandfather's tales of the Outside. His older brother Julius is constantly bullying him. None of his family care to venture into the outside world, for they are happy and content inside, being fed by the old woman known as the Contessa. One day, a Gentleman appears inside the house with two black cats acting in synchronized motions. Elder Paw claims to recognize the Gentleman. The Family thinks he is crazy when he says that the Contessa has died. He seems to take care of the cats, but when Varjak and his grandfather venture outside and his grandfather tells him stories of the mysterious Jalal the Paw. He says that Varjak must save them from the Gentlemen by finding a dog to scare him away. He urges Varjak to climb the stone wall and buys him time by fighting the Gentlemen's cats. The two black cats kill Elder Paw, and Varjak said he looked like a broken toy. Varjak runs away into the city, where he meets a white and black cat, Holly, and her best friend, a brown cat named Tam. Varjak learns of the Vanishings, the mysterious disappearances of cats off the streets. He travels with Holly and Tam. In his dreams he is visited by the strange Jalal the Paw, who teaches him of the Way, a lost form of cat martial arts.
Varjak runs into a cat gang, Ginger's gang. He is immediately beaten up. When he travels into the evil Sally Bones' territory, he learns of the villain. Varjak discovers that Sally Bones knows a lot about the way, more than him. She is surprised that he knows anything about Jalal. The fight between him and the fierce white cat Sally Bones is interrupted by a dog, Cludge. Cludge knocks Varjak out, but wakes up to find that the dog meant no harm, and is even friendly.So then Varjak and Cludge became friends. Which surprised his friends as the dogs were known enemies to cats. Tam could smell a fishy smell and she was very hungry, but Holly says that it's too dangerous. Tam refused and said that she'll meet them later but she doesn't come back. Varjak finds a grotesque toy cat inside a cardboard box and it has every aspect of a real cat.
He and Holly go back to the Contessa's house, and find that Julius has become head of the family. Soon after Holly gets captured by the Gentleman. Varjak battles Julius and becomes head of the family. His famous ancestor Jalal was the last cat to go out of the cat door, until Varjak's family had their first family council, because Elder paw was in charge followed by Varjak's father.
Varjak goes upstairs, where he finds dozens of cats inside a large cage, trapped by the Gentleman and his creepy cats. It is found that the Gentleman is taking them into a room and killing them to make toys out of them, although the methods of doing so have never been found (they come back out with glassy fake eyes and collars, with the sound boxes and mechanical movements of a doll, although they look and smell exactly like real cats). Varjak kills one of the black cats by snipping off its collar, the source of the Gentleman's power. When the other black cat realizes that his twin is gone, he extends his neck so that Varjak can kill him too.
The Gentleman was about to kill Varjak, when Cludge jumps through the window and scares the Gentleman off. Varjak was named a hero. His family asked him to come back, but he decided to live on the streets and leave his family at the house. The other cats started to follow him, and then he realized that he was now the leader of a new gang.
Characters
- Varjak Paw, a young kitten and the main protagonist of the story
- Jalal the Paw, The first Mesopotamian Blue, also the first Mesopotamian to learn The Way
- Holly, a friend who Varjak meets Outside
- Tam, Holly's good friend who is constantly preoccupied with food
- Elder Paw, Varjak's grandfather and one of the few who remembers (part of)The Way of Jalal
- Sally Bones, the mysterious white cat who lords over the West Side. She knows "The Way"
- Razor,Sally Bones' sidekick
- Ginger, the ruler of the East Side
- The Contessa, The old woman who owns the house of the Mesopotamian Blue Cats
- The Gentleman, a mysterious man who appears one day at the Contessa's house
- The Black Cats, two pure black cats that accompany The Gentleman
- Cludge, a young dog who Varjak meets and who saves him from the Gentleman
- Julius Paw,Varjak's older and stronger brother
- Father, Son of Elder Paw, mate to another, Father of Jay, Jerome, Jethro, Julius, and Varjak
- Aunt Juni, Mother to Jasmine, Aunt to Jay, Jethro, Jerome, Julius, and Varjak
Varjak Paw's name is allusion to the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. In the film, one of the main characters, Paul Varjak, has written a book called "Nine Lives". When he and another character look for the book in the library catalog, it is listed as "Nine Lives by Varjak, Paul". S.F. Said is not known to have commented on this connection.
Adaptations
Theatre
In October 2013, Playbox Theatre Company took on S. F. Said's Varjak Paw, in a major multi-media production.[3]
Opera
In 2010, composer Julian Philips completed an opera on Varjak Paw, to a libretto by Kit Hesketh-Harvey, performed by The Opera Group in September–November.[4]
Film
Varjak Paw has been optioned by The Jim Henson Company to be developed as an animated family feature film, with Faith Fawusi as director.[5]