Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is currently hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and explain why you want to read it. It is that simple.
This week’s book:
The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks by Eka Kurniawan
Blurb from Goodreads
Sato Reang enjoys an idyllic childhood of soccer, cricket fighting, and mischief in his Indonesian village—until the day he must be circumcised, and his observant father forces him into a life of Islamic piety. For years, Sato outwardly obeys his father, but all the while the boy chafes at the strictures of his religious routine, longing for everyday pleasures and vowing to himself that he will “become a child who was not pious.” His freewheeling linked anecdotes—mixing worldliness and naïveté, cruelty and innocence—are narrated with a toggling between first and third person (“I”/“he” or “Sato Reang”) that potently conveys his disassociation. His adolescent, hormone-fueled crotchetiness expresses dissent: I stopped going to mosque. I no longer joined in worship. I never said my prayers before bed. Sato Reang eats with his left hand–so stupid–and barges in where he pleases, without calling out a greeting. If I was feeling lazy, I’d just piss on a banana tree, and I wouldn’t wash myself off after. But amid various mysterious portents and even within the hilarity, Sato’s callow sangfroid (with its undercurrents of pain and shame)—and his comic pranks— soon invite tragedy.
A psychologically timeless story—anyone who’s ever had an overbearing parent and resented them will relate—The Dog Meows, the Cat Barks is Eka Kurniawan’s most contemporarily relevant book: he’s thinking about (and rejecting) militancy and moral certitude of any kind.
Why I Want To Read It
Happy Monday, everyone! Just like that, we are nearly midway through the tenth month of the year. How time flies! As always, time takes its natural course, ever flowing forward with no regard for any of us. It does not wait for anyone. With nine months done, I hope the rest of the year flows in everyone’s favor. I hope the rest of the year will be kind to you all. I hope and pray everyone is being showered with blessings and good news, especially during the final stretch of the year. With the year slowly approaching its inevitable close, I hope that you will be repaid for the hard work you put in throughout the year. I also hope everyone has had a good start to the workweek. Wishing you continued success and happiness. I hope everyone is doing well in body, mind, and spirit.
I know not many people get excited about Mondays (though I’m sure a few are out there). Yet the new week beckons with hope and fresh starts, and I hope it unfolds in everyone’s favor. Here in the Philippines, the heat is once again making its presence felt after several damp weeks brought on by the monsoon season. The super El Niño looms, but I fervently hope and pray that it won’t be as devastating as initially forecasted. Anyway, I hope you gradually gain some momentum as the week progresses. I hope everyone’s workweek goes smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well mentally, emotionally, and physically. In September, I commenced a journey across the American literary landscape. As I still have a lot of American books in my reading challenges, I am extending this journey into October. I hope this literary journey will be a memorable one.
My current read, Don DeLillo’s Underworld, is part of my 2026 Beat the Backlist Challenge. This is my second book by DeLillo, whom I first encountered through must-read lists. This week’s featured book, however, is not the work of an American writer. It was during the pandemic when I first encountered Indonesian writer Eka Kurniawan. His novel Beauty is a Wound was ubiquitous, naturally piquing my interest. The novel, my first by an Indonesian writer, enthralled me. I am even more fascinated by the fact that it was written by a writer from a neighboring country. A couple of years later, I read my second Kurniawan novel, Man Tiger. While more slender compared to Kurniawan’s debut novel, Man Tiger was nevertheless as enthralling. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I learned about Kurniawan’s latest novel’s translation into English, which will be released this year. I just knew I had to secure a copy of the book before the year ends.
Luckily, I was able to obtain a copy of The Dog Meows, the Cat Barks through an online bookseller. Originally published in 2024 as Anjing Mengeong, Kucing Menggonggong, the novel would be Kurniawan’s third novel I will read. From the blurb, I understand that the novel is a coming-of-age story, or at least the semblance of one. At the heart of the story is Sato Reang, who has had a happy childhood in a small Indonesian town. In keeping up with Kurniawan’s literary tradition, I surmise the town is anonymous. The book is rather slender, although this says little about what the book has in store, as Kurniawan’s writing can be dense at times. Regardless, I am looking forward to exploring Kurniawan’s latest novel. I am hoping it will be as engaging as Kurniawan’s earlier works.
How about you, fellow readers? How was your Monday? What books have you recently added to your reading list? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
For now—happy Monday, and as always, happy reading and keep safe!
