Pearl by Josh Malerman
I can’t exactly hide the fact that I am a big fan of Josh Malerman the writer, the storyteller, and the person. He is becoming a regular on my podcast because I read everything he writes and I pretty much always want to talk about it. Pearl which was titled “On This Day of the Pig” when it was published by Cemetery Dance in a limited edition was one I admit I avoided.
It didn’t help that some moron who probably had actually read referred to it at a horror con as “Cujo with a pig.” That is so wrong I barely want to comment on that. Let me digress for a minute and explain why I was nervous to read this.
I have been vegan for a long time. Before it was cool to say plant-based, I mean Bill Clinton was in office for a total of two weeks when I had my last bite of dairy products. In 1993 in the hardcore scene there was plenty of support for the decision but no one in the mainstream had heard of it. There were 1% of the products and restaurants that there are today. You had to really believe in it. I didn’t care about health at all. I was 100% committed to Animal Liberation, and was inspired as much by reading books like Diet for New America by John Robbins as I was hardcore bands like Earth Crisis.
During that first year that I was vegan, I decided to put my activism to work and did an internship at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen in rural upstate New York. I spent that summer taking care of rescued farm animals. I have lots of stories about how I learned the personalities of all the animals there. It is one reason why I am still Vegan.
We are here to talk about pigs. Let me tell you what I learned. Pigs are super smart. They were aware of the farm’s schedule, the time of day things was supposed to happen. I use the example that they blocked an intern who had a bag of apples from leaving basically staring her down like ‘we know you have more apples.’ It is also a feeling you get, their eyes are more expressive than dogs even.
So a horror novel about pigs sounded awful to me. I was not for any demonizing of the sweet, intelligent emotional complex animals who are systematically enslaved for their flesh and end up as hipster bacon jokes. Then I read Goblin and in that book Malerman has a story that very passionately lays out the emotional turmoil for a gorilla in a zoo, so I got more curious. When we talked about that story I got more comfortable about reading this book. I know that is tons of words before I even talked about the book but I think it is important to understand where I am coming from with this novel.
On the surface this concept is ludicrous. No author who hadn’t proved themself with a hit like Bird Box could pitch a horror novel about a telepathic pig. I am sure the marketing teams at Del Rey were nervous too. They rebranded it, and I think ultimately that was a smart move.
Pearl is a pure horror novel and I don’t think I can ruin much with the telepathic pig spoiler, although I managed to open this book knowing nothing about the plot. Pearl as a novel only works because it is 200 % mood and vibe. With a crazy concept, it works because Malerman is committed to the paranoia and building the vibe over the long stretches of the book.
Part of the problem is the reality Is pigs are generally cute soft-looking creatures, they are not exactly bears or sharks. So why are we not laughing at moments like this…
“Pearl rolled to his feet and trotted towards them.
“Fuck,” Mitch said, “He’s coming.”
“It’s just a fucking pig.” Jerry said half breathless.”
For one thing, Malerman understood, and I am assuming he spent some time around pigs that the uncanny freaky thing about a pig is when you look in their eyes and really feel them looking at you. That is why a telepathic pig is scary, because they have lots of reasons to be mad at us. He also took the time to show the madness around Pearl. He took it deadly seriously and so at this point we are accepting it.
Those little details are also genius horror writing. Mitch is scared and Jerry tries to convince himself more than Mitch. Half Breathless is a detail that just puts you in the fear of the moment. I have read 9 novels by Josh Malerman and the thing that unites them all are storytelling chops. Pearl more than any other novel is a showcase of his amazing skill for the tiny details that make horror work.
Pearl doesn’t have a scary-looking monster or a million-dollar gimmick it has a vibe and the author clearly tries to express a fear he clearly felt. Sure there are Axe-wielding killers, a few acts of violence of typical horror story but those were not the moments that crawled under my skin.
“When she whirled to face the pen, her ponytail struck her cheek. As if it were webbing itself.
The pigs weren’t watching her.
Only pearl.
Sitting how he always sat, his front hooves limp, his head tilted toward her.”
It is not an accident that Pearl's magic comes from his eye. The eye the humans call his bad eye, but Pearl knows the one sealed shut is the good one. Those eyes, I’m telling you I related to those moments. It is impossible to not in those moments of eye contact with a pig and feel awful for what humanity does to these creatures. If you don’t you are trying to protect your desire to think of these animals as products, not lives. Here is the amazing thing.
So here is where I have to quote the Usual Suspects like a dork. Yep, the greatest trick quote. What else do people quote from that movie? Yes, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he hadn’t written an animal rights horror novel. That is correct, right? Malerman intentionally or not has written an animal rights horror novel. I have read a couple of reviews and the animal rights theme is not really central to these comments. I only saw one review out of the first 10 refer to this aspect. There were plenty of readers who just couldn't suspend disbelief. One person who referred to Pearl as the villain. Hmm, we will come back to that.
The last Malerman book I read was almost entirely characters and setting. An interesting thing that happens in this book is the characters kind of naturally melt into the background over time. Let's take Susan for example who goes to the farm disbelieving in Peral’s curse on people. She doesn’t believe in the slightest. The novel goes us tiny effective moments of character, enough to know her. The fact is the only person in the book I think a lot about now that I have closed the book is Pearl.
Pearl is not a monster, despite her being the person who instigates all the chaos. The reality is that her motivations are clear. When we spend time with her, we understand that she is learning and growing. The why of her abilities doesn’t matter at all. Because she changed by watching her fellow pigs be lead to their death. Take a moment and think how that would make you feel? If you are not this novel will help you with that…
“Pearl remembered. And looked for it. As the man in blue was stepping slowly toward him, he searched.
The feeling he’d had the very first time he saw (witnessed) the power of the farmer, what farmers could do to the pigs. The time Pearl saw…”
As if to further hammer home this important theme of the book there is a powerful moment with Bob Buck can’t even explain to himself why the pigs are not being killed at the rate they were supposed to. Pearl is stopping him and he feels a loss of control. Here the power of the farmer, and the power of Pearl collide. Much of writing horror is getting into the fears of characters. Here is an interesting fear. Bob Buck like many of the characters and probably most of the readers doesn’t want to lose that power over the farmer.
You want the pigs to die and because of your breakfast. The fear in this part of the horror novel is subtle but believe me, it motivates ugly behavior. It is generally my philosophy to only talk about my veganism when someone else brings up the subject. In almost three decades vegan I have experienced often people who feel "threatened" by someone who does not eat animals. The very idea challenges people and sometimes they react by being bullies. Also keep in mind we live in a country where the reality of meat production is so nasty that laws were created making it illegal to take pictures of meat being raised. This part of the novel really captured the fear of confronting the reality.
So far Malerman has been subtle and I would forgive some readers for missing the point. It is there but whatever. There is no mistaking what is going on after page 237.
The message could not be more clear. “…as if the man (Bob Buck?) was immune to obscurity, unable to be blocked out, like the pig, the pig Pearl, who haunted this man because this man haunted him, because this man lined up pigs and slit their throats in front of other pigs, suddenly Susan was seeing Pearl’s point of view, Pearl’s perspective as if Pearl was slave rising up from the mud and blood to kill his captors, to slay those who slayed his mother, his father…”
This goes on for another page and a half. I really don't want to lay it out here. I am giving you a taste. Everyone is the hero of their own story. The worst bad guys in movies have their motivations. Pearl is a villain to Susan in the novel, maybe to most of the readers but he is the hero to me.
Pearl is not Malerman’s best, but it might be the most impressive to me personally. That is why I was honest in the opening oft his review about my feelings, which are very positive towards pigs. This might not work for you, but this novel really worked for me. I read three Malerman novels this year, something I only did for one other author in Philip K Dick for obvious reasons.
I say it over and over. The hype is real, Malerman is a storyteller supreme. Pearl is a 5 star recommend but be prepared to challenge your thinking.
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