#pigtopia

At the beginning of the year my resolution was to read 100 books in 2012. I know that is is something which I wasn't going to break, or rather, I'd read regardless of whether I reached 100. 

Here's what I've read so far...

1. Pigtopia by Kitty Fitzgerald

2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

4. Address Unknown by Kressmann Taylor

5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

6. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and other poems you half-remember from school edited by Ana Sampson

I know they always say "don't judge a book by its cover" but with Pigtopia that's exactly what I did. With it's bright, bold and eye-catching cover, it was difficult for a lover of quirky designs and patterns like myself to resist and with the inciting price of just 99p, it was practically a steal. 

The book is told from the perspectives of two narrators, Jack Plum and Holly Lock. Jack, a man of around thirty with serious mental and physical disabilities has, what can only be described as a 'pig affinity'. Years of isolation from the outside world has brought him to use odd phrases, perhaps going as far to say that he's got his own sociolect exclusive to himself. He seems to link and refer to almost everything as something to do with pigs. He's a complex and interesting character who invokes sympathy and curiosity from the reader.

Holly Lock is a young teenager, not conforming to the norms of society. She refuses to dabble in relationships, make up and sex like the others of her age are slowly discovering. She befriends Jack and soon both misunderstood people build a friendship, though entirely in secret. 

There's no romance between the two characters. I suppose that Jack would be considered two simple or innocent to understand that kind of love. Their friendship is so pure and they trust each other completely.