‘Cat on the Road to Findout’
568 pages; ISBN-10: 1408720833 Published by Constable
Some thoughts and observations by Alan Dearling.
The publicity for this new hardback autobiography suggests that we should:
“Embark on an extraordinary journey through the life, music and spiritual adventures of Yusuf/Cat Stevens, one of the iconic figures of our time. CAT ON THE ROAD TO FINDOUT is more than a memoir – it’s a profound exploration of identity, faith, and the universal search for meaning.”
Like many people of a certain age, I grew up with Cat Stevens’ music. From ‘Matthew & Son’, through ‘Morning has Broken’ and on to ‘Lady D’Arbanville’, ‘Wild World’, ‘Moonshadow’ and ‘Peace Train’. A number of his albums provided part of a soundtrack to my adolescence and beyond – ‘Matthew & Son’, ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ and ‘Teaser and the Firecat’. His song ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’ has been a hit for a number of artists, including PP Arnold.
This is a highly personal book. It’s very much a philosophical tract, a series of reflections on life, humanity, the environment and in particular his ‘road’ of discovery to his understanding his own life through Islam. At times, the vignettes, the ‘stories’ from his life read a bit like parables. Throughout the book there are title page illustrations which he has created. It adds a child-like charm to the presentation.
There are plenty of anecdotes from his own family life, the Greek cafes and restaurants run by his father and other family members, familial problems, his own relationship comings and partings, and later on, as he evolved during his life as a pop star in the sixties and seventies rubbing shoulders with all the other stars from that time. Then came his illness with tuberculosis in 1968, and his searches for meaning and, I guess’ ‘mindfulness’. Here’s his musings about his convalescence:
“Through a karmic stroke of luck, back in the London clinic Paul had given me a spiritual book…’The Secret Path’ was written by a Buddhist convert, Paul Brunton…”
There followed meditation, experiences of Zen and the edict of ‘Be Here Now’ (from the book by Baba Ram Dass (servant of God).
Then we follow him on his musical journey to ‘Buddha and the Chocolate Box’ around 1974, and his subsequent conversion to Islam in 1977, and his considerable endeavours in various peace movements and negotiations around the world. And we hear from Cat his own view of the controversies that often surrounded him, particularly regarding the Fatwa placed on Salman Rushdie. He’s certainly not shirked from travelling the world attempting to bridge the divide between Muslims, Christians and other faith-believers. As Steven, then Cat and latterly as Yusuf, he has very obviously seen himself as a ‘seeker’. The book itself is dedicated to ‘The Seeker’. He has won plenty of peace awards and honorary doctorates. He portrays himself as the bridge facing in both directions: towards Islam, and from Islam towards Christianity.
His chapter titles are indicative of his temperament – slightly dislocated, a bit of an outsider, looking at himself from the outside, from a distance, for instance, ‘A Cat is Born’, ‘The Gift’, ‘Hampstead to Holy’ and finally, ‘Road to Findout’.
As he says, he still believes in the Peace Train. He ends by saying that, “Like the Tillerman, I will continue to plough and plant more seeds. My longing for peace between all branches of the great tree of humanity remains a work in progress; whatever happens beyond that? That’s up to God.”
However, at times it gets rather ‘preachy’, and the substantial quotes from the Qur’an do make it a little hard going at times. There are also a lot of touches of naiveté, either for effect, or, for real.
Nice to have a few pages of photographs at the end of ‘Cat on the Road’. But the lack of an index is a puzzling omission.