Book 6 - Pig Tales by Marie Darrieussecq

So we stayed off mainstream for this next book - here is the Amazon synopsis:


Franz Kafka meets George Orwell in this dark, dystopian tale. Set in Paris in the near future, the story revolves around a young woman who works as a beautician and masseuse, and for whom happiness is derived from perfumes, shampoos and generally hedonistic pursuits. One day she realizes she is slowly (and quite literally) becoming a pig. Life as a neophyte porker, she discovers, isn't all that bad, though it does contain some unique dangers. She remains extremely popular with her massage customers, who take unusual glee in adopting her barnyard ways. Unfortunately, it is difficult for a pig to find true love in a human world; abandoned by her lover, her days blur into an endless stream of swine-like debauchery. Then she meets Yvan, a young corporate type who sometimes becomes a wolf.Pig Tales, a Prix Goncourt finalist and overnight sensation in France, is Marie Darrieussecq's first book.


Having learnt not to try and make too much sense of our books (from the Outgoing Man) we all probably approached this a little differently.  Most of us found it a straightforward read and quite gripping.  The story was very bizarre but  we all enjoyed it.  


It was probably interpreted on many levels - as a humorous story, as a shocking tale of a world getting more and more mad, as a sad story of male treatment of women, and as a moving story of a woman rejected by her family having to turn to prostitution.  Although the book was largely about the antics of this pig/madame and her clients it was very tastefully written in its descriptions.  It certainly left us all thinking about it and it was well worth the read.  Generally the thumbs up from all literary ladies present!


Great butternut squash soup provided by Ulrika.