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mayo_bucket's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
sayna_reads's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
henriettaenam's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A great collection
Most of them were really reflective of daily human interaction
I would however understand if the arrangement doesn’t draw someone in to read more
Most of them were really reflective of daily human interaction
I would however understand if the arrangement doesn’t draw someone in to read more
gm_'s review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
millennial_dandy's review
3.0
'One day this apartheid will be a thing of the past. Our people will be free.’ ‘Maybe. But the past claws its way out. You can’t bury it just like that. It’s not like human flesh. And yet we need to move forwards.' (p.63)
As with any short story collection, especially one with only one author, 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' is going to be very hit or miss and largely dependent on how well a reader gets on with both the author's writing style and chosen subject matter.
Stylistically, Niq Mhlongo never met a sentence fragment he didn't like. This creates a stylistic rhythm that not everyone is going to want to boogie to. Now, I like a good sentence fragment, so oft confused with the overuse of simple sentences a la much of middle grade fiction from the 90s and early 2000s (I'm looking at you, R.L. Stine). However, while I tend to like this style, I'll admit that it took some getting used to considering how he tended to pair sentence fragments with simple, unfrilly sentences, making everything feel rather staccato.
For instance: "The bank then decided it would recoup its money by auctioning off our house. My parents had been living in the house for eighteen years, since before I was even born. I had lived there my whole life. Now it was no longer our house." (p.1)
But as I say, by the middle of the second story I had gotten used to it. No frills? I can get on board with that if you've got a good story to tell.
This is, of course, where the other aspect of subjective enjoyment is going to come in: do you think the stories are good?
I liked some of them, and the ones I liked, I really liked. But the ones I didn't like, I really didn't like. And this despite the entire collection being held together by the social justice lens each story is being told through.
Because here's the thing, and it may just be my thing and not yours, but even as someone who agreed with pretty much 100% of the messaging, when Mhlongo started dropping words like 'patriarchy' 'oppression,' 'xenophobia,' etc. directly into the dialogue, I felt myself recoiling.
Look, I've taken women's studies courses, I've taken sociology courses, I've taken cross-listed women's studies and sociology courses. Patriarchy is a provably real thing. Oppression is inarguably a real thing. But using those words in fiction at best feels like telling not showing, and at worst feels like a parody of what conservatives think leftists are like: obnoxiously and embarrassingly incapable of speaking without the use of 'woke' academic terminology to explain a phenomenon.
And honestly, if being that on the nose is the only way an author can convey topics that are incredibly complex....
However, I'm not totally convinced that's what Mhlongo was trying to do, and in fact, it leads me to think this collection wasn't aimed at me. Much like the hit film 'Barbie' is transparent in its politics because it was written with an audience in mind that had no academic women's studies/sociology background, I suspect 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' was meant less to be a lofty literary study, and more so meant to be an accessible means to get a mass audience to think about concepts they may hitherto not have considered or seen in a grounded context.
Exhibit A:
If you already understand how a social structure like patriarchy can underpin a society's gendered cultural expectations, then this paragraph feels like the last sentence should have been cut. Such a person would read this passage and see the subtext the last sentence states explicitly. This then feels like bad writing. But imagine reading the first half of that paragraph and not getting that subtext about patriarchy and how it leads to women oftentimes demurring to keep the peace. You might just think Marang was weak.
It's a good reminder that so-called 'low brow' art can do just as much good, and certainly have a wider reach, than so-called 'high brow' art. Certainly, this can be true when considering the high bar of entry to a lot of literary fiction (and I say this as a student and lover of literary fiction).
Something something the medium is the message.
Anyway, not to belabor the point, I personally liked the stories that weren't so on the nose better, like ‘Displaced', 'Fireplace,' and the titular 'For You, I'd Steal a Goat.' Particularly that one.
In terms of how tied to the land of its author, South Africa, this collection is, the answer is: incredibly. Mhlongo is absolutely writing South African stories in a South African voice for South African readers, though they're still accessible enough for anyone to pick up and potentially enjoy. As much as he criticizes his country, it's clear he has an immense amount of love for its people, and even at their most pedantic and cynical, his work largely manages to maintain a humanist heart.
Based on this collection, I'm not sure if I'd be quick to reach for one of his novels, however, he acted as editor of another collection of South African short fiction, 'Hauntings', the main throughline being ghosts of various types. As a writer, he may not be for me, but after reading 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' I trust his point of view, and I'd trust him to put together a very modern, diverse range of voices.
As with any short story collection, especially one with only one author, 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' is going to be very hit or miss and largely dependent on how well a reader gets on with both the author's writing style and chosen subject matter.
Stylistically, Niq Mhlongo never met a sentence fragment he didn't like. This creates a stylistic rhythm that not everyone is going to want to boogie to. Now, I like a good sentence fragment, so oft confused with the overuse of simple sentences a la much of middle grade fiction from the 90s and early 2000s (I'm looking at you, R.L. Stine). However, while I tend to like this style, I'll admit that it took some getting used to considering how he tended to pair sentence fragments with simple, unfrilly sentences, making everything feel rather staccato.
For instance: "The bank then decided it would recoup its money by auctioning off our house. My parents had been living in the house for eighteen years, since before I was even born. I had lived there my whole life. Now it was no longer our house." (p.1)
But as I say, by the middle of the second story I had gotten used to it. No frills? I can get on board with that if you've got a good story to tell.
This is, of course, where the other aspect of subjective enjoyment is going to come in: do you think the stories are good?
I liked some of them, and the ones I liked, I really liked. But the ones I didn't like, I really didn't like. And this despite the entire collection being held together by the social justice lens each story is being told through.
Because here's the thing, and it may just be my thing and not yours, but even as someone who agreed with pretty much 100% of the messaging, when Mhlongo started dropping words like 'patriarchy' 'oppression,' 'xenophobia,' etc. directly into the dialogue, I felt myself recoiling.
Look, I've taken women's studies courses, I've taken sociology courses, I've taken cross-listed women's studies and sociology courses. Patriarchy is a provably real thing. Oppression is inarguably a real thing. But using those words in fiction at best feels like telling not showing, and at worst feels like a parody of what conservatives think leftists are like: obnoxiously and embarrassingly incapable of speaking without the use of 'woke' academic terminology to explain a phenomenon.
And honestly, if being that on the nose is the only way an author can convey topics that are incredibly complex....
However, I'm not totally convinced that's what Mhlongo was trying to do, and in fact, it leads me to think this collection wasn't aimed at me. Much like the hit film 'Barbie' is transparent in its politics because it was written with an audience in mind that had no academic women's studies/sociology background, I suspect 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' was meant less to be a lofty literary study, and more so meant to be an accessible means to get a mass audience to think about concepts they may hitherto not have considered or seen in a grounded context.
Exhibit A:
Marang did not attend the burial of her husband, not willing to make a scene or face the hostile in-laws, not willing to subject her children to that. She was disappointed in herself that she had accepted their marginalisation of her from the burial and hadn’t acted more decisively when they pilfered her husband’s possessions. She was still confined to the silences that culture and patriarchy prescribed. (p.141)
If you already understand how a social structure like patriarchy can underpin a society's gendered cultural expectations, then this paragraph feels like the last sentence should have been cut. Such a person would read this passage and see the subtext the last sentence states explicitly. This then feels like bad writing. But imagine reading the first half of that paragraph and not getting that subtext about patriarchy and how it leads to women oftentimes demurring to keep the peace. You might just think Marang was weak.
It's a good reminder that so-called 'low brow' art can do just as much good, and certainly have a wider reach, than so-called 'high brow' art. Certainly, this can be true when considering the high bar of entry to a lot of literary fiction (and I say this as a student and lover of literary fiction).
Something something the medium is the message.
Anyway, not to belabor the point, I personally liked the stories that weren't so on the nose better, like ‘Displaced', 'Fireplace,' and the titular 'For You, I'd Steal a Goat.' Particularly that one.
In terms of how tied to the land of its author, South Africa, this collection is, the answer is: incredibly. Mhlongo is absolutely writing South African stories in a South African voice for South African readers, though they're still accessible enough for anyone to pick up and potentially enjoy. As much as he criticizes his country, it's clear he has an immense amount of love for its people, and even at their most pedantic and cynical, his work largely manages to maintain a humanist heart.
Based on this collection, I'm not sure if I'd be quick to reach for one of his novels, however, he acted as editor of another collection of South African short fiction, 'Hauntings', the main throughline being ghosts of various types. As a writer, he may not be for me, but after reading 'For You I'd Steal a Goat' I trust his point of view, and I'd trust him to put together a very modern, diverse range of voices.
roseblossom999's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.75
This book is made up of short stories from South Africa. The stories were quite different in terms of characters and back story but overall it was an underwhelming book. Very few of the ending were a surprise and when they were it was not exactly shocking, it more made the read say "oh, ok". Pretty bland book but makes an enjoyable quick read