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A review by anitaofplaybooktag
The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
3.0
A sweet, nicely written book about a pet pig who managed to endear itself to everyone it met.
Sy adopted her pig, Christopher Hogsworth, as a piglet and basically details its exploits along with those of her border collie, Tess, and flock of chickens, "The Ladies". Sy is a real animal lover, to the extent that people are quite secondary, and to some degree this is a tale of how a beloved animal actually opens her up more to people.
So why only three stars?
Well, the writing itself merits more. Sy does a nice job of writing a story that holds your attention and getting you actually invested in the fate of her pets. I really like animals, so I did enjoy hearing about their specific exploits and how they lived.
I was interested. I'm just not sure I was interested for a whooolllle book. If this was a lengthy article somewhere, I'd have finished and said "brilliant"! But it wasn't, and so over and over the book kind of repeats itself.
Pig escapes, pig escapes, pig eats, pig gets fat, pig eats, pig escapes, pig eats, pig eats, pig tries to escape, pig gets fat.
Don't get me wrong. Each escape and each eating episode is told entertainingly and with a very loving eye. I just got a little bored by the end.
In addition, the pig stories are punctuated by stories of Sy's life and extensive travels. It's at least as much as a memoir as it is a story of a pig. And while I cared a lot about the pig, I didn't really care so much for or about her. Not sure I exactly liked her to be honest. She irritated me in some ways that I can't really elucidate without spoiling parts of the book.
In the end, I just wasn't that moved - - by the pig or by the author.
Sy adopted her pig, Christopher Hogsworth, as a piglet and basically details its exploits along with those of her border collie, Tess, and flock of chickens, "The Ladies". Sy is a real animal lover, to the extent that people are quite secondary, and to some degree this is a tale of how a beloved animal actually opens her up more to people.
So why only three stars?
Well, the writing itself merits more. Sy does a nice job of writing a story that holds your attention and getting you actually invested in the fate of her pets. I really like animals, so I did enjoy hearing about their specific exploits and how they lived.
I was interested. I'm just not sure I was interested for a whooolllle book. If this was a lengthy article somewhere, I'd have finished and said "brilliant"! But it wasn't, and so over and over the book kind of repeats itself.
Pig escapes, pig escapes, pig eats, pig gets fat, pig eats, pig escapes, pig eats, pig eats, pig tries to escape, pig gets fat.
Don't get me wrong. Each escape and each eating episode is told entertainingly and with a very loving eye. I just got a little bored by the end.
In addition, the pig stories are punctuated by stories of Sy's life and extensive travels. It's at least as much as a memoir as it is a story of a pig. And while I cared a lot about the pig, I didn't really care so much for or about her. Not sure I exactly liked her to be honest. She irritated me in some ways that I can't really elucidate without spoiling parts of the book.
In the end, I just wasn't that moved - - by the pig or by the author.