The Pigman

It's amazing how this book manages to be so dark without having any murders or anything in it. The characters were very real to me, especially Mr. Pignati -- I could feel his grief and his loneliness like it was my own. The climax seemed inevitable (which takes a lot more skill than you'd think) and, even more impressive, the book was very timeless. It was written in the 1960s but, except for a few minor details, it could have taken place yesterday. No wonder this is a youth classic.

This was in my classroom, left from the previous teacher, and I'd say it's definitely not a grade 7/8 book at all. I'll be book mooching these copies or sending them to the high school if they need them. I did finish it in one day, did crack up a few times, did cry (1 tear), did remember many hours of pondering the meaning of life and mortality in high school while reading this. I would've particularly loved this in high school, personally connecting with John and his fear that maturity inevitably leads to conformity and the loss of identity. The novel still led me to wonder and reflect like I used to, even at 30-something.

I don't know to whom I'd recommend the book, but I AM grateful for having finally read it.

I read this for Banned Book Week not knowing what to expect and whoa man did I love love love it. It's like Catcher in the Rye only with a girl and less self-obsessed (go figure). It's been challenged because the kids in it drink and smoke and hate school and have awful parents and swear (although the swearing is mostly like "@#$%").

I'd like it more if I were a fan of Catcher in the Rye. These kids are messed up for not good enough reasons except just the zeitgeist of the era. And the themes of the story are ambiguous. A reviewer that I respect says that the kids are to blame for Pignati's death. I say that his grief, triggered by the death of Bobo, is. The party has nothing to do with Pignati, the loss of the pigs hurts him but he'd get over it. He's just worn down. Note that at least he did have a few months of fun with the kids, and that he did forgive them. The party served to further force maturity on the kids.

I guess that's why it's such a famous book. Very discussable. I identify with Pignati because I'm his age and have no good reason to try to live a lot show more longer. Kids will likely identify with the kids. Hopefully nobody will identify with the parents. And trying to understand the book's popularity by careful reading will enable a reader to see others' points of view... another reason it's been so widely read and taught.

I'm surprised that I've not heard hype this year, its 50th anniversary.
I mean, sure, it's dated in some ways... but that actually adds another layer for a group to discuss. What was it like to live in an era when it was not considered child abuse to encourage your 10 yo to drink the dregs of beer after a party? When a private nurse had only her own resources to discourage sexual harassment from patients and employers? Etc....

I will recommend it, mainly because it's short and because it is a canon touchstone, at least for those of us who were young when it was first published. I esp. recommend it to fans of Salinger. I cannot suggest any of you will actually enjoy it or even feel edified by it, but still I am very glad I *finally* got around to reading and hope you can find time to do so, too.

Btw, it's not your typical YA fare at all, and better for adults. I don't think I would have appreciated at all as a teen, esp. because I had no point of context in common with these kids. show less

“A most unusual friendship” it says on the back cover of Paul Zindel’s The Pigman and indeed it was. It was unusual, crazy, heartbreaking, heartwarming, exciting, and most of all it was absolutely amazing. It was full of ups and downs, twists and turns and there wasn’t one moment that it didn’t make me feel an emotion with such intensity, that I thought I was there.
In the book John and Lorraine, two sophomores decided to play a practical joke on an old man named the Angelo Pignati, but the joke goes differently than the two expected and they be come great friends with the old man. Eventually they become more comfortable around the Mr. Pignati than around their own parents, but only a few months after they met, Mr.Pignati show more dies an unexpected death. So John and Lorraine share the story they don’t want to let go of. They tell the story of the extraordinary friendship they shared with Mr. Pignati. They tell the story of the strong love and compassion they felt towards him and each other. They even tell the story of the secrets they kept from him and the secrets he kept from them. They also tell the story of the backstabbing that caused havoc and a scarred friendship. And I can’t forget the story of baboons and the pigs that he kept close to his heart. And most importantly they tell the story of the Pigman and how he changed their lives forever.
This book was one of the best books I have ever read, it tugged on my heartstrings and my emotions. It also made me feel emotions much deeper than other books I have read. It has such an interesting and crazy plot that with each ending chapter it made me wonder what’s going to happen next, and most of the time it was something that I never expected. Something that was interesting and that made me love the book even more was that John and Lorraine were such different characters that when they switched perspectives each chapter it was like reading a whole different story. But the one thing that really made me love the book, the thing that sealed the deal for me, was that every word, every paragraph, and every chapter was so well written that you felt like you diving into the book and living every moment like you were there. show less

I first read this book over 40 years ago when I was a tween and a massive reader. I often sat out on the porch with my face buried in a book, and not very much has changed since the 70s. I loved Paul Zindel and read all his available books at the time, along with Judy Blume.

It is quite a different experience reading the same thing @ age 55. It affected me much more now than then, as now it is very close to the bone, as the "Pigman" is referred to as ' an old man ' when he is in his late 50s, so just a few years older than myself.

I felt so keenly what he must have felt like to see so many of his things and memories destroyed, after being so lonely for so long, by two teens he befriends. He must have felt it was the ultimate betrayal.

The show more ending is very very sad, not because of death, but that one can die and the only friend on earth that the person has is an orangatan at the zoo.

As I have no family, husband or children and at my current age, I bristled a bit, before feeling a few teardrops fall. show less

I had a copy of The Pigman on my bookshelf for years. For some reason, perhaps because it’s a small paperback, easily overlooked, I never got around to reading it. A shame, really, because this is one of the finest books about adolescent pain and confusion I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Zindel’s book tells the story of John Conlan, a brooding, troubled young man with an alcoholic father and a gift for blowing up high school toilets, and his best friend, Lorraine Jensen, an intelligent, somewhat homely girl, whose own mother is largely absent from her life. One night, while making prank calls, they end up on the phone with a weird old neighbor, Mr. Angelo Pignati (the Pigman). A relationship soon develops between the trio show more that is difficult to describe and impossible to forget, which is probably for the best—to reveal more would be giving away too much. One of the first novels to fall squarely into the newly emerging field of Young Adult literature, The Pigman has lost none of its power in the over 40 years since it was published. This short excerpt is a vivid example of Zindel’s gifts as an author fully capable of navigating the complexities of the adolescent mind with great compassion, humor, and insight:

A card she calls me, which sounds ridiculous coming out of the mouth of an old-maid English teacher who’s practically fifty years old. I really hate it when a teacher has to show that she isn’t behind the times by using some expression which sounds so up-to-date you know for sure she’s behind the times...In fact, the thing Lorraine and I liked best about the Pigman was that he didn’t go around saying we were cards or jazzy or cool or hip. He said we were delightful, and if there’s one way to show how much you’re not trying to make believe you’re not behind the times, it’s to go around saying people are delightful (p.14).

I really can’t recommend this book highly enough. show less