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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I bought this book from Nedumbaserry airport in 2017 on a whim while I was visiting my maternal relatives. I just wanted to read more regional literature. It wasn't until August 2020 that one of my Malayali cousins put up a picture of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer as her WhatsApp status and got me asking about this person. She told me about him, about his works and the joy in her voice made me want to read some work by this author. I got a feeling that I may just have his book with me because I did not remember the name of the author on my book and I rushed to my shelves. And I had with me, what she describes as one of his best and hilarious stories, Pattumma's Goat or Pathummayude Aadu. :D I also got to know that his stories were quite popular (still are) in Kerala and also are a part of the school syllabus.
This is a novella with fictional stories of family members of the author and a goat as its central point. It gives a peek into the lives of Malabar Muslim middle-class household in Northern Kerala and tells us stories of a time long gone by. The author has a flair of making light of any situation including the not so good financial situation of the family, the fights and bickering amongst the members and pressures of trying to provide everything to everyone. He injects humour into it by describing the Goat's appetite, eating patterns, preference for eating his books etc.
I saw that ratings were amazing for this book and I am sure it must be a treat to read it in Malayalam. But the English translation did not really work for me. There were places and sentences where I was stuck, had to read some parts multiple times because I just did not get the meaning and apart from the names and dishes, I could not get the feel of the local culture. That is just my opinion on the translation. For me, this was more like a 3.8/5. I wish I can learn to read Malayalam in this lifetime and give this another go (Ma would be the happiest if this were to happen!)
This is a novella with fictional stories of family members of the author and a goat as its central point. It gives a peek into the lives of Malabar Muslim middle-class household in Northern Kerala and tells us stories of a time long gone by. The author has a flair of making light of any situation including the not so good financial situation of the family, the fights and bickering amongst the members and pressures of trying to provide everything to everyone. He injects humour into it by describing the Goat's appetite, eating patterns, preference for eating his books etc.
I saw that ratings were amazing for this book and I am sure it must be a treat to read it in Malayalam. But the English translation did not really work for me. There were places and sentences where I was stuck, had to read some parts multiple times because I just did not get the meaning and apart from the names and dishes, I could not get the feel of the local culture. That is just my opinion on the translation. For me, this was more like a 3.8/5. I wish I can learn to read Malayalam in this lifetime and give this another go (Ma would be the happiest if this were to happen!)