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41st out of 56 books
—
175 voters
Pig Boy
by
J.C. Burke (Goodreads Author)
On Damon Styles's eighteenth birthday, he is expelled from school. But it's what happens afterwards that changes everything.
Now Damon must come up with a plan. It's the only way he can think straight. First, get his firearms licence. Then, see if the Pigman will give him a job - pig hunting will teach Damon what he needs to know. And he’d better get a lock for his wardrob...more
Now Damon must come up with a plan. It's the only way he can think straight. First, get his firearms licence. Then, see if the Pigman will give him a job - pig hunting will teach Damon what he needs to know. And he’d better get a lock for his wardrob...more
Paperback, 478 pages
Published
May 2nd 2011
by Random House
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Damon Styles is not a nice boy. In fact he is so cocky, so sure that he can blackmail the school Principal over his exceptional talent in English that he finds himself shocked when he gets expelled. Damon Styles is 18 years old, unpopular and obese. His classmates call him "Damoink" and his single-parent mother "The Sow".
From the start I had to work extremely hard to establish a foothold with Damon. Most novels I've read featuring anti-heroes make up for the narrator's complete lack of morals a...more
From the start I had to work extremely hard to establish a foothold with Damon. Most novels I've read featuring anti-heroes make up for the narrator's complete lack of morals a...more
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Damon Styles is angry. Angry at his mother for never getting out of bed. Angry at Andrew Parker and Darren Geraghty who antagonise him at school, making pig noises and calling him Damoink. Angry at his friend Moe for the way he laughs. School is no safehaven: Damon is a smart kid who excels at writing, but unless his talents lie in sport, none of his teachers want to know about it. Everyone is determined to see Damon as trouble, and so he is. When he's finally expelled from school on his eightee...more
Although a little slow moving to begin with, this book embraces what it is like to be the boy who is picked on and yet the prime subject of prejudice from everyone, including the teachers. Not only is Damon harassed by other students, but the adults have him pegged for being a behavior problem and a threat to society. In the beginning, I also believed that Damon could very well be a danger but the more the book moves along the more you find out about Damon. He goes to work for the Pig Man who is...more
Damon is bullied at school but he is also aggressive and not a very pleasant boy. Bright but lacking self esteem he escapes from his insular small town to his room, making lists and playing violent computer games. Likewise his mother has retreated to the house living in front of the tv and eating junk food.
At 18 he is expelled from school and Damon finds work with the 'pig man', an isolated character who has his own violent past. The pig man is just that, a man who hunts wild pigs. Damon joins...more
At 18 he is expelled from school and Damon finds work with the 'pig man', an isolated character who has his own violent past. The pig man is just that, a man who hunts wild pigs. Damon joins...more
This novel is dark and gritty. I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on with Damon because at first, he explained things in a choppy manner. You only got bits and pieces of his paranoia. In the beginning of the book I hated him. I thought he was a terrible person who wanted nothing more than revenge. But I read on, partly because I wanted to know where the author was going with this and partly because this is a boy’s book.
About half way through the book, things began to pick up at a tremendous pa...more
About half way through the book, things began to pick up at a tremendous pa...more
I won this from Goodreads. This was not exactly how I expected it would be. Starting this novel, for me, was very hard to do. Don't get me wrong, I like dark and twisted thinking, but this book started out even darker and more twisted than my personal taste allows. Even though it was a rough start, I will tell you that it's not what you would expect. Don't give up just yet! This is a coming of age novel about Damon, who gets kicked out of school for his anger, on his 18th birthday, no less. He g...more
I've never had a book involve me in the way that Pig Boy involved me.
Until 2/3 of the way through the book I was a reader. An avid one, but merely a reader.
Then I became a character in the story. I could feel the transition. I had become one of the key players but I wasn't sure which character I was.
Finishing the book, wiping tears from my eyes, I still didn't know. But I hoped. I hoped to be the Pig Man — for my children, at least.
A gripping and challenging read.
Until 2/3 of the way through the book I was a reader. An avid one, but merely a reader.
Then I became a character in the story. I could feel the transition. I had become one of the key players but I wasn't sure which character I was.
Finishing the book, wiping tears from my eyes, I still didn't know. But I hoped. I hoped to be the Pig Man — for my children, at least.
A gripping and challenging read.
A confronting and compelling read that confounds your expectations. An unlikeable outsider becomes the boy most likely to commit a Columbine-style massacre when he is expelled after being bullied at school. He teams up with a Bosnian pig shooter so that he can learn to shoot. But the Wake in Fright elements mask author JC Brennan's real and more subtle intentions. Impressive story telling.
Unfortunately, I didn't actually finish this. Not because it was boring or badly written of anything. Actually, I was really enjoying it. The truth is I get restless when I take too long to read a book and I'd been reading this for almost a week and I wasn't even halfway through so I needed to move on.
The premise of this book was interesting, but I just couldn't get into it. The main character's viewpoint was just so...slimy? unlikable? I'm not sure how to phrase it, but trying to see things from his perspective made me feel dirty inside. I wanted to empathize with him and understand where he was coming from, but I just couldn't stomach it. A blogger I follow coined the term "unlikeable people making unfortunate choices" to describe a genre of tv show that seems to be on the rise, and I found...more
Damon is expelled from school 6 weeks out from his final exams, for his anger management problems. It seems the whole town is out to get him. Secretive to both the other characters and the reader, he acquires a gun and takes up a job with the Pigman...
An engaging story when the main character is not particularly likeable. Miro is good value and plays such a calming influence on Damon it is quite enjoyable. The conclusion is fast yet peaceful and promising.
An engaging story when the main character is not particularly likeable. Miro is good value and plays such a calming influence on Damon it is quite enjoyable. The conclusion is fast yet peaceful and promising.
Beware: SPOILERS!
This is very much not what I was expecting. I thought Damon was going to go on a killing spree or was going to whisk his mum off someplace new. I expected him to get revenge on all the people who dragged him through Hell.
AND
he did; he killed his demons and got revenge by finding his own solace with Miro 'The Pigman'.Both outsiders with plenty of skeletons in their closets, they were thrust together for all the wrong reasons but stayed together for all the right reasons. Finally...more
This is very much not what I was expecting. I thought Damon was going to go on a killing spree or was going to whisk his mum off someplace new. I expected him to get revenge on all the people who dragged him through Hell.
AND
he did; he killed his demons and got revenge by finding his own solace with Miro 'The Pigman'.Both outsiders with plenty of skeletons in their closets, they were thrust together for all the wrong reasons but stayed together for all the right reasons. Finally...more
This is So good. looking forward to seeing Jane Bourke at 'Reading Matters' later this week.
Jul 25, 2011
Book Bazaar
added it
A confronting and compelling read. This goes in to dark territory but is well written and realistic. Definitely for 15+.
Jun 08, 2011
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Just finished at the Reading Matters Conference in Melbourne. This book seems interesting, not something I would usually read.
ARC won from Goodreads Firstreads
PIG BOY by J.C. Burke is a wonderful read that will keep you asking, “What on earth is going to happen next?!”
For a more In-depth review, Visit my blog RJ does Books
PIG BOY by J.C. Burke is a wonderful read that will keep you asking, “What on earth is going to happen next?!”
For a more In-depth review, Visit my blog RJ does Books
Extremely powerful writing that I need time to think about before a full review. Will post the link here when it's done.
Full review here
http://slightlyaddictedtofiction.blog...
Full review here
http://slightlyaddictedtofiction.blog...
Damon is a troubled young man. Obese, anti-social, and addicted to video games, he is kicked out of school. He has a two fold plan: get even with his enemies, and get a gun license so he can work for a feral hog hunter. Free copy for review purposes.
Extremely powerful difficult story written really really well. It's very clever in the way it shows the reader how initial and cursory perceptions of situations can be completely flawed.
The way it was written was a little confusing to me but overall I really liked it.
Wow! What a read. Loved the different twists and turns.
not what i expected...
May 04, 2013
Emily (On Emily's Bookshelf)
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Piper
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2013
Roxy
marked it as to-read
Apr 05, 2013
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Apr 04, 2013
Maja Niksic
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ned Kelly Awards, Australia | 1 | 1 | Sep 12, 2012 06:57pm | |
| Narure or Nurture | 1 | 3 | Sep 04, 2011 08:01pm | |
| Inkys Longlists - Gold Inky (Australian Titles) | 2 | 7 | Jun 30, 2011 06:49pm | |
| Inkys Longlists - Gold Inky (Australian Titles) | 1 | 5 | Jun 30, 2011 06:48pm |
http:/www.facebook.com/pages/JC-Burke/20821...
.J.C Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of five sisters. With writers for parents, she grew up in a world of noise, drama and books, but she decided to become a nurse after her mother lost a long battle with cancer. Since Burke started writing in 1999, she has published a number of acclaimed books for teenagers and young adults, including Chi...more
More about J.C. Burke...
.J.C Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of five sisters. With writers for parents, she grew up in a world of noise, drama and books, but she decided to become a nurse after her mother lost a long battle with cancer. Since Burke started writing in 1999, she has published a number of acclaimed books for teenagers and young adults, including Chi...more
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“There's a space in me. It's a dead space. I know that, because I can't feel anything. But that's what hurts, the nothingness. It's agony.”
—
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