The Pigman

The Pigman by Paul Zindel (1968) I first read this when I was in junior high or high school, I don't remember, but it wasn't that long after it was published—it must have been a bit of a sensation. It was an important book to me. Interesting that it came out only four years before I started drinking. I guess this is considered a “young adult” book—and I suppose those categories might be useful if you're trying to figure out what to allow your kids to read, but otherwise I have no use for them. I've read that the book was banned here and there, which isn't surprising, I guess—the kids are drinking and smoking, and I'd imagine some parents don't want their kids reading books that depict kids drinking and smoking. It's not so great that I started drinking at such a young age, but I don't know that it was the result of any book. I think I was drawn to stories about drinking, though, naturally, and what I most remembered from this book was the kids drinking in a cemetery, which isn't that big a part of it. For those reasons, I thought it might be a bit of a drag to read now, but I wanted to read it again. It really holds up well, actually, and even though there's an oppressive feeling of dread hanging over it, the impending tragedy, it's also quite joyful. One thing that's interesting that I didn't remember was that it's a dual narrative, told in the voices of John and Lorraine, high school kids, as they're typing out their saga, the story if their friendship with this odd, lonely character they meet, Mr. Pignati (“The Pigman”). You really do get the feeling of the kids adjusting their memory of events to the written expression, and in relation to each other's depiction. Most impressive are the portraits of the adults, including John's parents and Lorraine's mother—particularly heartbreaking characters. As tragic as he is, Mr. Pignati's character at least has some spirt of life in him, due to his eccentricity. I suppose this was one of the books that really made me appreciate stories about human beings who are true to life, with flaws, who make mistakes, learning of course, but sometimes making the same mistakes over again. Good things happen, bad things happen, but no one is heroic, and no one is evil.