A surprisingly English book.
Lanny is the unusual boy who lives with his parents in the village. But Dead Papa Toothwart, a shapeshifting ancient woodland spirit watches the boy, and the village.
This book almost shouldn’t be reviewed, and I myself fled any mention of its contents before reading it. So here, this review will do the same.
Max Porter is just about an English writer as one could get. As editorial director of Granta Books, his work is described as experimental, of-the-earth, and moves people in strange ways. Lanny is no different.
If you are interested in the deep magic of rural England, and that atmosphere that the land shimmered with when we were kids in this place, with bruised knees, witches who lived on the corner, drawing with crayons, and daring each other to go into the wood, you’ll soak up Lanny like a virus.
Despite the dance of adjective-noun pairings rife in the first act that funnily enough put off three people from reading further before I encouraged them to get over it, this settles down into more fluidity in the second act, and soon the cracks were lost in the story. Everyone who went through, carried on and agreed, yes, this book is incredibly entertaining escape fodder.
Characters are wonderful, refreshing and wild. Magic is acceptable and keen, and the supernatural wades through the streets without much of an issue regarding what genre this story is, and how it is told. Characters listen in swirls, typography dances, and by the end you’ll wonder if you’re coming out of a reverie where crows and dug fields and looming moons have swept you away into their secrets.
Just read it. You’ll either get it, or wonder what you just read. Either way, it will do you good.
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