Lanny by Max Porter is a mystical and innovative novel that follows the story of a young protagonist named Lanny who goes missing in a small English village. The narrative delves into the relationships between Lanny, his parents, an older artist named Pete, and the village community. The book combines elements of magical realism, mythology, and fantasy to create a unique and poetic tale that explores themes of violence, grief, and human emotion.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of child abduction, grief, and psychological distress.
From The Publisher:
From the author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller
Longlisted for the Booker Prize'Startling, moving and overwhelming . . . Wonderful.' Daily Telegraph'A devastating, disquieting and exhilarating book.' Psychologies'Books this good don't come along very often.' Maggie O'Farrell'Stunning and deeply affecting.' Nathan Filer'A magically beguiling work, a triumph.' Financial Times'A thing of total joy . . . thrums with rhythm and life.' Observer'A remarkable feat of literary virtuosity.' Sunday TimesNot far from London, there is a village. This village belongs to the people who live in it and to those who lived in it hundreds of years ago. It belongs to England's mysterious past and its confounding present. It belongs to families dead for generations, and to those who have only recently moved here, such as the boy Lanny, and his mum and dad.But it also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort, who has woken from his slumber in the woods. Dead Papa Toothwort, who is listening to them all.
Ratings (7)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (4) | |
Liked It (1) |
Reader Stats (16):
Read It (7) | |
Want To Read (8) | |
Not Interested (1) |
2 comment(s)
***5.0***
“What or who is supposed to manage and regulate Lanny and his gifts," he asks. "Oh fuck, it's us. Who can have children and not go completely mad?”
The book focuses on Lanny, a child who moved into the town recently with his famil. He appears to have a special connection to nature and the world around him. The book is narrated by different POV's, his mother, father, and Pete, a famous artist who becomes Lanny’s friend and teacher and Dead Papa Toothwort, who brings the magical realism element to the book. Dead Papa Toothwort listens to the townspeople, but he likes Lanny most of all.
“Dead Papa Toothwort wakes from his standing nap an acre wide and scrapes off dream dregs of bitumen glistening thick with liquid globs of litter.”
I was captivated by this book. There is unexplained mystery that surrounds many of his actions and self doubt among the adults and a strange sense of "not understanding" Lanny. Very different narration, almost lyrical and I was angry, happy and confused at places which means the book has a power to penetrate the reader.
“Which do you think is more patient, an idea or a hope?”
I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.
Happy Reading!!!
Lyrical
What can you read after
Lanny?
About the Author:
Max Porter's first novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers' Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. It has been sold in twenty-nine territories. Complicité and Wayward's production of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy opened in Dublin in March 2018. Max lives in Bath with his family.
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