Varjak Paw

A cat who learns The Way. A domestic cat that learns independence and freedom.

In an interview SF Said says that Varjak Paw is based on his own cat, but the Mesopotamian Blue is an invented spicies. SF Said says that he used Mesopotamia, a real place, to refer to the roots, the original place of all cats.

" Only when you admit that you know nothing, can you trully know anything."

The Way

There are seven skills in The Way: Open Mind, Awareness, Hunting, Slow-Time, Moving Circles, Shadow Walking and Trust Yourself. This is what Varjak Paw learned in his dreams. The last one is the harders one. It all reminds me so much of marshal arts. This is all Varjak Paw needs to know to be able to live on the streets and to be the one who stops the Vanishings of other street cats.

Varjak prooved that he can trust himself by taking the leap outside of the Contessa's house and venturing into the unknown world full of danger, but also getting his fredom and becoming able to take care of himself without the help of humans. He also learned to accept and trust other cats, street cats, who became his best friends.

"We are whatever we choose to be...All you need do is Trust Yourself and say you are worthy to be a Blue."

This book was a bit too bloody for my taste. There were too many nasty fights. Poor Varjak took so many blows and got so many scars. He also managed to learn all those skills so quickly, in a dream. I've been training taekwondo for 6 years now and I know it's really dificult to master different skills and it takes a lot of practice. Maybe cats are just more advanced than humans.

By Volatilde - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

A Russian Blue by Volatilde