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emmacb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I love Max Porter. His writing style is one that often doesn't do it for me, but something about the way he writes often leaves me thinking about his books Long after I finish reading them.
I loved the gossip sections, and the short character segments for narration. The scrambly way they were structured made me sort of slowly build up my own piecemeal image of the characters, and changing that image when new gossip or information came up was an interesting way to challenge some of my own preconceptions.
A part of me wants to know MORE on the lore of dead Papa toothwort, but I guess that's not really the point, and if I had been told more I probably wouldn't still be thinking about the story!
I loved the gossip sections, and the short character segments for narration. The scrambly way they were structured made me sort of slowly build up my own piecemeal image of the characters, and changing that image when new gossip or information came up was an interesting way to challenge some of my own preconceptions.
A part of me wants to know MORE on the lore of dead Papa toothwort, but I guess that's not really the point, and if I had been told more I probably wouldn't still be thinking about the story!
Content Warnings
Minor: Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
miles's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Lanny is my current favourite book and has fuelled the writing of my portfolio dissertation, and yet I still don't know how to properly describe it. Certainly not without giving the plot away. I shall try anyway.
Lanny is a wonderful, mesmerising, folktale-y story about an enchanting and curious child. Lanny seems not quite like a human child, even to his parents and Dead Papa Toothwort - a sort of tree god, if you will, who has been in the small English village the story takes place in since the very beginning - has taken a liking to this strange, wonderful child. Why would DPT see Lanny as his favourite if there wasn't something truly otherworldly about him? Everything we learn about Lanny just screams 'changeling' to me and I love it. Anyway, I digress. I love this book too much.
The writing is absolutely brilliant, Porter captures me like no one else has in a very long time. Reading and re-reading Lanny fills me with a sort of creative juice that I haven't felt in a long time. It makes me feel alive. It makes me feel like I can take on the world. I don't know what it is, I can't explain it but my god do I love Max Porter's writing and stories and ideas. I love books that play around with fonts and boldness and font size and other funky formatting stuff that makes a text almost three-dimensional and that much more real. I struggle a lot with being able to visualise character actions and appearances in stories, but Porter's writing speaks to me on a bone-deep level. I know all of this sounds weird and over-the-top but it's all I have to describe it. It's a feeling that I can't put into words very well. There's obviously still a lot of stuff in Lanny that I'm not able to fully follow visually because it's so weird and fucked-up (in the best way), but it doesn't make me feel unimaginative or confused like other novels do and for that I fucking love it.
TL;DR I went a bit off-topic and just raved about Max Porter, but anyway Lanny is a masterpiece and you definitely NEED TO READ IT RIGHT NOW and then recommend it to everyone you see.
Lanny is a wonderful, mesmerising, folktale-y story about an enchanting and curious child. Lanny seems not quite like a human child, even to his parents and Dead Papa Toothwort - a sort of tree god, if you will, who has been in the small English village the story takes place in since the very beginning - has taken a liking to this strange, wonderful child. Why would DPT see Lanny as his favourite if there wasn't something truly otherworldly about him? Everything we learn about Lanny just screams 'changeling' to me and I love it. Anyway, I digress. I love this book too much.
The writing is absolutely brilliant, Porter captures me like no one else has in a very long time. Reading and re-reading Lanny fills me with a sort of creative juice that I haven't felt in a long time. It makes me feel alive. It makes me feel like I can take on the world. I don't know what it is, I can't explain it but my god do I love Max Porter's writing and stories and ideas. I love books that play around with fonts and boldness and font size and other funky formatting stuff that makes a text almost three-dimensional and that much more real. I struggle a lot with being able to visualise character actions and appearances in stories, but Porter's writing speaks to me on a bone-deep level. I know all of this sounds weird and over-the-top but it's all I have to describe it. It's a feeling that I can't put into words very well. There's obviously still a lot of stuff in Lanny that I'm not able to fully follow visually because it's so weird and fucked-up (in the best way), but it doesn't make me feel unimaginative or confused like other novels do and for that I fucking love it.
TL;DR I went a bit off-topic and just raved about Max Porter, but anyway Lanny is a masterpiece and you definitely NEED TO READ IT RIGHT NOW and then recommend it to everyone you see.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, and Pedophilia
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