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ik0nik 's review for:
The Pigman
by Paul Zindel
Two high school teenagers, John and Lorraine, meet Mr. Angelo Pignati through an innocent phone prank, but end up inadvertently causing his untimely death. I only decided to read this because Zindel's Loch was one of my favorite books as a kid and I wanted to check out one of his more acclaimed works. Honestly I really didn't like the book; it's not because it was badly written, but because it's depressing, many of the characters are unlikable, and there are bad choices made by the characters everywhere.
Just to jump through the positives first: The book IS very well written. Zindel conveys a lot of emotion in this book. You feel love and sympathy for Pignati, you feel anger and frustration towards John, you feel Lorraine's lack of confidence and sparks at positive attention. I think many of the emotions John, Lorraine, and Pignati (and to a lesser extent the parental figures) feel are all ones that anyone has felt and can relate to. We've all been frustrated, or picked on, or misunderstood so in that sense the book is very relatable. The book also does a great job of showing that actions have consequences, even when the actions are a product of ignorance and inexperience. An impressionable kid can learn a lot from this book.
On the other hand, as previously mentioned the book is overall a dark tale and is very depressing. John and Lorraine do not have happy, healthy home lives. John causes a lot of his own hardships, but Lorraine just wishes she wasn't so misunderstood. Pignati just wants to bring joy and be loved so he spread that onto John and Lorraine, but they mistreat his generosity by inadvertently taking advantage of him. The kids are also not the most exemplary of youth. John smokes, drinks, cusses, cuts up, plays pranks, and uses his good looks to his advantage. Lorraine has a good heart but is easily influenced to do bad things in an effort to be liked and receive recognition. They cut class, lie to their parents, and hang out with questionable people. Ultimately their character flaws cause hardship and the untimely death of Pignati which is kind of the point of the story. Pignati's death reveals the fragility of life to two teens that have been living nefariously in the moment throughout their lives.
I do feel it is a book is an important read and does a good job telling the story that Zindel intended to tell. Unfortunately it's just not enjoyable enough that I would ever read it again. It probably should be rated higher due to its context, but it's a comfortable 3-star for me.
Just to jump through the positives first: The book IS very well written. Zindel conveys a lot of emotion in this book. You feel love and sympathy for Pignati, you feel anger and frustration towards John, you feel Lorraine's lack of confidence and sparks at positive attention. I think many of the emotions John, Lorraine, and Pignati (and to a lesser extent the parental figures) feel are all ones that anyone has felt and can relate to. We've all been frustrated, or picked on, or misunderstood so in that sense the book is very relatable. The book also does a great job of showing that actions have consequences, even when the actions are a product of ignorance and inexperience. An impressionable kid can learn a lot from this book.
On the other hand, as previously mentioned the book is overall a dark tale and is very depressing. John and Lorraine do not have happy, healthy home lives. John causes a lot of his own hardships, but Lorraine just wishes she wasn't so misunderstood. Pignati just wants to bring joy and be loved so he spread that onto John and Lorraine, but they mistreat his generosity by inadvertently taking advantage of him. The kids are also not the most exemplary of youth. John smokes, drinks, cusses, cuts up, plays pranks, and uses his good looks to his advantage. Lorraine has a good heart but is easily influenced to do bad things in an effort to be liked and receive recognition. They cut class, lie to their parents, and hang out with questionable people. Ultimately their character flaws cause hardship and the untimely death of Pignati which is kind of the point of the story. Pignati's death reveals the fragility of life to two teens that have been living nefariously in the moment throughout their lives.
I do feel it is a book is an important read and does a good job telling the story that Zindel intended to tell. Unfortunately it's just not enjoyable enough that I would ever read it again. It probably should be rated higher due to its context, but it's a comfortable 3-star for me.