Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Story of a Goat

This pulled me in from the first page. Murugan writes beautifully; the animals are both very human yet still behave like animals would. Because of its political themes I get why this got compared to Animal Farm, but it’s so much more; there’s Indian folklore (which I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of), Poonachi isn’t a caricature or allegory but is used to make a wider point about empathy and the caste system, and there is a general political commentary about the influence of ‘the regiment’. It was all so balanced and executed incredibly well.

I would stress that some of the themes discussed here are often very dark and very descriptive, it’s not a ‘light’ political commentary but discusses things like (sexual) abuse, starvation and includes detailed descriptions of goats being slaughtered. I initially picked this up because of the cute goat on the front and this definitely wasn’t that. I’d say it was better for it, but just keep that in mind if you intend on reading this.

Content Warnings

n_asyikin_'s review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Poonachi brilliantly depicts systemic failures that allows its readers to explore the myriad of human emotions evoked by such social injustices. Written about the miracle goat, Poonachi, the author described how patriarchy & capitalism usurped primarily from women & the poor, represented by the Old Woman & Poonachi in the story.

Insightful in an effortless manner, Poonachi might be a short read, but it was definitely enriching

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I read this for my 2021 Storygraph translation challenge. The prompt was a book translated from a language spoken in India, so there were a lot of options. I picked this one (translated from Tamil) quite randomly without doing a lot of research, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. It’s definitely got some Animal Farm vibes, being a story about personified animals that is definitely not for (human) kids. But I’m not familiar with the intricacies of Indian government and culture, so I think a lot of the metaphors and references went over my head. However, I could understand the elements of this female goat’s life that explore how modern society can exploit or ignore young women. All in all, it was kind of depressing. It started off quite cute and sweet, when the goat was an optimistic kid, fighting to stay alive without a mother and succeeding at doing so. But it shifted from this underdog storyline in her adolescence and adulthood, and her life was quite sad. I suppose I was hoping for a more uplifting ending.

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ohlhauc's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Content Warnings

hmj11001's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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