2019 Booker Prize Longlist: Lanny by Max Porter
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1kidzdoc
This thread is for discussion of Lanny by Max Porter, which is currently available in the UK, US and Canada. No unhidden spoilers, please.
2kidzdoc
This is my review of Lanny:
Lanny is a young boy whose parents have recently moved from London to a village an hour's train ride away. His father works in the City, and his mother is a former actress who is trying to reinvent herself as an author of grisly mystery novels. He is an unusual child, who is wise beyond his years, more than a little odd, and in touch with nature and his environment, especially in the woods at the outskirts of the town. His best friend is a well known artist, an older man who lives a hermetic existence and is considered to be "mad. The long time residents of the village are small minded, conservative and generally disdainful of the new residents, who they view as ostentatious and immodest, and Lanny and his mother struggle to find their place amongst their new neighbors.
Overlooking the village and its people is Dead Papa Toothwort, a somewhat malevolent spirit who lived there centuries ago and spends his days observing the residents in their homes and listening to their intimate conversations. The spirit, like the artist, is very fond of Lanny, who is aware of the legend of Toothwort, and both the boy and the spirit actively seek out the other, which results in a fateful meeting.
Lanny is a highly inventive, multilayered and daring work of experimental fiction that completely captured my attention from the first page to the last. This review is intentionally vague, as I want to avoid giving too much information that would spoil the plot and the book's surprising and imaginative ending. This novel would seem to be a shoo in for this year's Booker Prize longlist, and if it is chosen I'll read it again this summer. Highly recommended! ( 4-1/2 stars)
Lanny is a young boy whose parents have recently moved from London to a village an hour's train ride away. His father works in the City, and his mother is a former actress who is trying to reinvent herself as an author of grisly mystery novels. He is an unusual child, who is wise beyond his years, more than a little odd, and in touch with nature and his environment, especially in the woods at the outskirts of the town. His best friend is a well known artist, an older man who lives a hermetic existence and is considered to be "mad. The long time residents of the village are small minded, conservative and generally disdainful of the new residents, who they view as ostentatious and immodest, and Lanny and his mother struggle to find their place amongst their new neighbors.
Overlooking the village and its people is Dead Papa Toothwort, a somewhat malevolent spirit who lived there centuries ago and spends his days observing the residents in their homes and listening to their intimate conversations. The spirit, like the artist, is very fond of Lanny, who is aware of the legend of Toothwort, and both the boy and the spirit actively seek out the other, which results in a fateful meeting.
Lanny is a highly inventive, multilayered and daring work of experimental fiction that completely captured my attention from the first page to the last. This review is intentionally vague, as I want to avoid giving too much information that would spoil the plot and the book's surprising and imaginative ending. This novel would seem to be a shoo in for this year's Booker Prize longlist, and if it is chosen I'll read it again this summer. Highly recommended! ( 4-1/2 stars)
3Cait86
I read Lanny today in one go, and totally agree with your assessment, Darryl. It reminded me a lot of Reservoir 13, which was my favourite book from the 2017 Booker -- both have an experimental narrative style that is disorienting at first, but ultimately very rhythmic and beautiful.
I'm hoping to find another 2019 Booker nominee with which I can connect on a more emotional level, as Lanny was, for me, more about the writing and less about the plot (though, saying that,I was quite relieved that Lanny was all right in the end, so I guess I was emotionally invested in him after all ).
I'm hoping to find another 2019 Booker nominee with which I can connect on a more emotional level, as Lanny was, for me, more about the writing and less about the plot (though, saying that,
4Simone2
Lanny is a little boy, busy talking to trees and doing other interesting things in the rural village he recently moved to with his parents - who both still live partly in London, at least mentally.
His mother arranges for Lanny to have art lessons with Pete, a local (once famous and controversial) resident. This provides the catalyst for the plot.
This book contains so much: current themes of our society go alongside the spiritual presence of Dead Papa Toothwort, an ancient spirit who has seen all life in this place.
Although the climax felt a bit too constructed to me, I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a worthy candidate for the Booker Prize.
His mother arranges for Lanny to have art lessons with Pete, a local (once famous and controversial) resident. This provides the catalyst for the plot.
This book contains so much: current themes of our society go alongside the spiritual presence of Dead Papa Toothwort, an ancient spirit who has seen all life in this place.
Although the climax felt a bit too constructed to me, I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a worthy candidate for the Booker Prize.
