I’ve long been obsessed with “The Three Lives of Thomasina,” the early 1960s Disney live action film about a little Scottish girl name Mary, her hardened widower veterinary father Andrew MacDhui, and Mary’s cat Thomasina, whom Mary lavishes with affection and who is unceremoniously euthanized by MacDhui during a crisis involving a seeing-eye dog. I’m awfully glad to have read the original book by Paul Gallico on which it was based, and that I read it with my daughter. A wink-nudge prelude to Pet Cemetery (I’d be extremely surprised if Stephen King had not read Thomasina when he was younger), both the book and film, on which Gallico served as screenwriter and consultant, is in turns poignant, philosophical, funny, and a little harrowing. Written in 1957 for young adult readers, the novel's language is poetic and difficult at times, lapsing into local dialect, and quoting Scripture or ancient Celtic and Egyptian mythology. It is not an easy book to get through, linguistically, and when reading it aloud to my own child, there were times I needed to pause and translate for her (though it helped that we have family in the U.K., and my kids are used to regional English, Scottish, and Irish accents). While my daughter loved many things about the characters and story, some of the more adult elements were lost on her. As for myself, I was both surprised by and greatly appreciated Thomasina’s dark and sophisticated elements, and the deeply personal struggles many of the adult characters in the book are forced to face and conquer.
What do You think about Thomasina (1989)?
Though I realize this book comes off as a little surreal and even difficult to some people, I still would recommend it to anyone. I'm not even a cat person. Seriously. At first I thought the cat's self delusions (or memories whatever you want to call them)about being divine a little weird, but as I got more into the story I began to find it rather a musing. It is an interesting idea at any rate that is almost a fable to explain why cats come off as so conceited. I suppose if a cat really did re-incarnate over and over again through history and could remember being worshiped in ancient Egypt that would give it some excuse for feeling superior. At any rate, the story is really lovely and well written. Quite thought provoking. I was extremely touched at the end and cried like a baby during Mr. McDhui's internal struggle. I think the whole story is simply genius really. It deals so simply and honestly with human relationships. I'll probably wait till my kids are a bit older to read it to them, but I really think it is worth having a copy in the home.
—Julie
