[1] The central character and narrator named Michael, an unaccompanied 11-year-old boy, boards an ocean liner, the Oronsay, in Colombo en route to England via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

Seated at The Cat's Table: Elsewhere on the ship: Not on the ship: Liesl Schillinger for The New York Times, while noting Ondaatje's appended disclaimer that The Cat's Table is a work of fiction, stated, "So convincing is Ondaatje’s evocation of his narrator’s experience that the reader could easily mistake it for the author’s own".

[2] Philip Hensher for The Telegraph was largely positive, writing, "Michael Ondaatje’s impressive new novel, containing dreams and fantasy between a ship’s flanks.

"[3] Adam Mars-Jones was less impressed, writing in his review in The Observer, "Perhaps The Cat's Table aspires to a … doubleness of texture and meaning, the yarn of adventure story backed with the deeper colours of adult experience, but on the level of craftsmanship it doesn't measure up.

"[4] Jess Row, writing for New York Magazine, described The Cat's Table as being unlike Ondaatje's earlier works, as it allows the reader to experience what's going on in the characters' heads, not strictly focusing on the setting of the world.