The Story of a Goat

A major Indian writer * New York Times *
Murugan is nothing if not a chronicler of the ordinary -- Amitava Kumar * New Yorker *
An affecting story told with sensitivity towards the plight of the individual and calm fury at society's brutality * Irish Times *
Versatile, sensitive to history and conscious of his responsibilities as a writer, Murugan is... the most accomplished of his generation of Tamil writers * Caravan *
Powerful... lyrical * The Hindu *
This earthy tale is as emotionally affecting as any human-centered drama. Ripe for discussion by book clubs who love eclectic titles, The Story of a Goat is a frank exploration of oppression, greed, love and what good can be made of even the most meager life * Shelf Awareness *
As the story progresses, its sophistication and maturity evoke Animal Farm. Translated by N. Kalyan Raman, this earthy tale is as emotionally affecting as any human-centered drama. The Story of a Goat is a frank exploration of oppression, greed, love and what good can be made of even the most meager life * Shelf Awareness *
[A] parable about village life, written with breathtaking and deceptive simplicity . . . Murugan traces the entire life of his little goat - her despair, her small acts of heroism, her longing - with Chekhovian clarity. Each sentence in Raman's supple translation is modest, sculpted and clean, but behind each you sense a fund of deep wisdom about the vagaries of the rains, politics, behavior - human and animal. * Parul Sehgal, New York Times *
The Story of a Goat, translated from Tamil by N. Kalyan Raman, jumps nimbly from fantasy to realism to parable... The effect is not so much escapist fantasy as existential reflection... The elegance of Murugan's simple tone will lull you deeper into his story... As The Story of a Goat demonstrates, just because we've put away childish things doesn't mean we have to deny ourselves the strange pleasure of fiction in which animals articulate their own curious perspectives on their lives - and ours. * Ron Charles, Washington Post *
This slyly fabulist story inhabits the point of view of a sickly goat taken in by a poor Indian family. Murugan, whose novel One Part Woman was longlisted for a National Book Award for translation, fashions the goat's travails and victories into social commentary and a testament to nature's power. * New York Times Book Review *
This fable of society, bureaucracy, and rural life centers on a Tamil farming couple in South India and the female goat they receive from a mysterious man... The small triumphs and tragedies of rural life, such as drought, material wealth, and run-ins with a comically inefficient provincial government, are relayed through the goat's trenchant observations, which poignantly expose how tightly the lives of caretakers and their livestock are bound. * New Yorker *
The title character of Murugan's elegant new novel is indeed a joy... The greatest achievement of this remarkable novel is the empathy its adult readers will feel for a non-human creature; through Poonachi's tale we are reminded how much bonds us with the animal world. * USA Today *
Fantastical... Through the thoughts of a rare black goat and the couple who adopt it, readers witness famines, death, and moments of beauty. * National Geographic *
Through the eyes of this miraculous creature, we are taken through rural India. But it's not all sunshine-filled romps in the field. Perumal Murugan also gives us a glimpse at the nuances of class in this community from a unique and charming perspective. It's a joy. * Literary Hub *
In the tradition of George Orwell's Animal Farm... An affecting modern fable reflecting Murugan's enchanting capacity to make a simple story resonate on many levels. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
[A] superbly fabulist tale... Murugan explores the lively inner life of an observant goat in this imaginative exploration of rural life under the caste system. * Publisher's Weekly *
[A]s pastoral as this story seems, Murugan's multilayered intentions prove far more admonitory... Murugan adroitly transforms his caprine idyll into cautionary tale. * Booklist *
A wholly human story wrapped up in the person of an orphaned black goat... As the story progresses, its sophistication and maturity more closely evoke Animal Farm... A frank exploration of oppression, greed, love, and what good can be made of even the most meager life. * Shelf Awareness *
Poonachi's tale abounds with humanism, the tragic dignity of the goats and the arduous life of the farm hands and their cattle * BBC *
Heartrending * Los Angeles Times *