Goat Days (Benyamin) - Hope is where the Heart is

The first Benyamin book i read was Jasmine Days. Then i picked this up. The pathos of a lonely man, a man who is reduced from being a human being to little more than a goat, the days and nights he spends....all captured so simply and unpretentiously. It reminded me of what Viktor Frankl says about hope - the one thing that can keep a man alive and motivated.

In no part of the story did i feel sympathy for Najeeb. The story is not written to evoke sympathy or pity for him. It is to be with him through this tough phase and wait for him to overcome it. I can only wish that i could have read it in Malayalam, the original language the story was written in. But since that cant be, I'll settle for the second best!

I read this way back in 2020 and wrote about it on Good Reads. Now this has been made into a movie in Malayalam called Aadujeevitham - no surprises, its getting rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Directed by the iconic Blessy and starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, this is a must watch. But if, like me, you prefer books, then read it first.