Book Review: For You I’d Steal A Goat

For a collection of short stories, Niq Mhlongo manages to give his characters depth in a few pages/sentences.

This book was a really good read, with an engaging title.

I mean, it makes you curious enough to want to read the book. And while the stories don’t disappoint, some could have been better, but you’ll often find yourself nodding along or laughing out loud.

FYISAG opens with a funny story of a naughty boy who devised a plan to evict the new homeowner from his family’s house. Such a compelling way to start the book, if you ask me.

Character Depth and Storytelling

For a collection of short stories, Niq Mhlongo manages to give his characters depth in a few pages/sentences. It’s obvious that the character development and plot of each story were well thought out and properly executed.

An instance of this was the short story Displaced, about a confused family man whose family is displaced following a mass corrupt demolition of their home. With the family separated, and a love affair later, we see invisible bonds pull him back home. Displaced is a sharp, pleasantly abrupt story that shows when a man knows his own mind while simultaneously addressing socioeconomic situations in SA.

The main character navigates decision-making after a series of misfortunes in fewer than 80 pages, and without being too on-the-nose, the reader can see Boya’s priorities in life and decode his character. The engaging plot is a bonus.

Standout Stories

Another good one is Johustleburg Prison Cell. A man unknowingly meets his half-brother in jail for the same crime, bonding over their father.

Talk about generational patterns, whoops.

Least Favorite

My least favorite was My Lover’s Secret, about a writer who manipulated lovers into sharing their stories to inspire her books. She breaches their trust to gain critical acclaim. How she manages to land a nut job that murders her mother, explores family dynamics, and familial relations between gay people and their loved ones.

Stories That Fell Flat

And while I generally enjoyed the book, I wasn’t particularly keen on some of the stories. One such story was The Fireplace, a satirical rendition of the worldview of African politicians, spoken in spaces they think are safe. It spotlights educational hierarchies, their ironies, and the so-called opposition movements.

The main character tends to ramble and repeat the same points over and over again, taking serious dedication to finish this particular short story. Plus, the timing in this book was off. Who has time to be soliloquizing for precious minutes when you had a call saying the law agency was minutes away from your house?

I observed the same pattern in My Lover’s Secret. With an amazing plot and dynamics within, it landed very flat at the end. In my opinion, the single-POV approach for this particular story was not suitable. It would have benefited from alternating POVs in order to add depth.

Final Thoughts

Most of the stories carry this short. They have a direct, abrupt feel but also manage to convey the author’s point. Characters are represented well. SA corruption and governmental rot serve as the backdrop against which human lives move and interact.

I have a lot of respect for the writer’s skill. He maintained a neat balance in each piece. Challenges existed in the characters’ world, but as background texture rather than the driving force of the narrative or central theme.

The use of trauma as a narrative tool in this way was new. All in all, this book had engaging perspectives that kept me turning pages till the end.

If you are in a slump and need something light-hearted to pull you out, this may help. It’s especially perfect for readers who’re put off by African Lit (because of the heaviness) but don’t want to read other genres. This book is absolutely for you if you fall under this category.