The story of a goat

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The story of a goat

Title:

The story of a goat

Author:

Perumāḷmurukan̲ author.

Kalyan Raman, N., translator.

Summary:

"A farmer in Tamil Nadu is watching the sun set over his village one evening when a mysterious stranger, a giant man, appears on the horizon. He offers the farmer a black goat kid who is the runt of the litter, surely too frail to survive. The farmer and his wife take care of the young she-goat, whom they name Poonachi, and soon the little goat is bounding with joy and growing prodigiously. Intoxicating passages from the goat's perspective offer a bawdy and earthy view of animal existence and a refreshing portrayal of the natural world. But Poonachi's life is not destined to be a rural idyll--dangers lurk around every corner, and may sometimes come from surprising places, including a government that is supposed to protect the weak and needy. With allegorical resonance for contemporary society and examining hierarchies of caste and color, The Story of a Goat is a provocative but heartwarming fable from a world-class storyteller."-- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

Originally published in Tamil as Poonachi Allathu Oru Vellattin Katai by Kalachuvadu Publications in 2016."--Title page verso.

"First published in English in 2018 by Context, an imprint of Westland Publications Private Limited."Title page verso.

Edition:

First Grove Atlantic paperback edition.

Physical Description:

183 pages ; 21 cm

Subject Term:

Goats -- Fiction.

Social classes -- Fiction.

Rural families -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

India -- Fiction.

Author(s):

Kalyan Raman, N.,

Publisher:

Black Cat,

Publication Date:

2019

2018

ISBN:

9780802147516

Publication Information:

New York : Black Cat, 2019.

Call Number:

MURUGAN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003455899	Adult Fiction	MURUGAN Perumal	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE

From one of India's best-known writers and the author of the National Book Award-longlisted One Part Woman comes a charming and surprising tale of an orphaned goat and the family that decides to take care of her, despite the potential cost to them.

As he did in the award-winning One Part Woman, in his newest novel, The Story of a Goat, Perumal Murugan explores a side of India that is rarely considered in the West: the rural lives of the country's farming community. He paints a bucolic yet sometimes menacing portrait, showing movingly how danger and deception can threaten the lives of the weakest through the story of a helpless young animal lost in a world it naively misunderstands.

As the novel opens, a farmer in Tamil Nadu is watching the sunset over his village one quiet evening when a mysterious stranger, a giant man who seems more than human, appears on the horizon. He offers the farmer a black goat kid who is the runt of the litter, surely too frail to survive. The farmer and his wife take care of the young she-goat, whom they name Poonachi, and soon the little goat is bounding with joy and growing at a rate they think miraculous for such a small animal. Intoxicating passages from the goat's perspective offer a bawdy and earthy view of what it means to be an animal and a refreshing portrayal of the natural world. But Poonachi's life is not destined to be a rural idyll--dangers can lurk around every corner, and may sometimes come from surprising places, including a government that is supposed to protect the weak and needy. Is this little goat too humble a creature to survive such a hostile world?

With allegorical resonance for contemporary society and examining hierarchies of caste and color, The Story of the Goat is a provocative but heartwarming fable from a world-class storyteller who is finally achieving recognition outside his home country.

Author Notes

PERUMAL MURUGAN is one of India's most well-known literary writers. He has written ten novels and five collections each of short stories and poetry. His best-known novel One Part Woman was longlisted for the inaugural National Book Award for Translation, and it won the prestigious ILF Samanvay Bhasha Samman for writing in Indian languages and the Translation Prize from India's National Academy of Letters.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This superbly fabulist tale from Murugan (One Part Woman) dives into the inner life and turmoil of a Asuras, a fictional farming village in rural India, through a small but determined goat and her unlikely caretakers. A large, mysticlike man gifts a rare black goat to an old farmer one day on his way home from the field. When the old farmer brings the malnourished goat home to his wife, she quickly gets to work caring for the goat, whom she names Poonachi. It's not an easy start for Poonachi, who must deal with the abuses of the village children, refuses to suckle, and is attacked by a tiger. But in the hands of the old woman, Poonachi eventually thrives alongside their older goats and becomes her inseparable companion. As Poonachi grows older, she learns that life is filled with struggle and suffering, but also that it holds moments of beauty and love. Anthropomorphic Poonachi lets readers into many of her thoughts and experiences, including a vibrant view of life under a government regime that banned black goats (which supposedly can't be seen in the dark) and oversaw long periods of famine and food rationing. Murugan explores the lively inner life of an observant goat in this imaginative exploration of rural life under the caste system. (Dec.)