Shy, by Max Porter - Roshana
His thoughts are lopping along in odd repetitive chunks, running at him, stumbling. Feels brave, feels pathetic, feels nothing. Panic. Calm. Mad clatter in the roof of the break like machine guns then swirling calm, home, school, years ago, yesterday, his mind all tight…
Shy is Max Porter’s 4 th novel, with the author once more flexing his impressive, and somehow unpretentious, flair for stream of consciousness. The reader is introduced to the life of Shy, a troubled teenager who has wound up the ‘Last Chance’ school for troubled boys. Through Shy’s thoughts, flashbacks, daydreams and neuroses, we are able to get a glimpse of the complex psychologies of someone considered an outcast by wider society. Although prone to violent outbursts and substance abuse, it is clear that Porter wants his reader to sympathise with Shy as a young boy on the edge, using an idiosyncratic approach to structure, language and dialogue to convey an utter sense of loneliness and isolation.
Shy builds thematically and structurally from Porter’s previous works, which include the Dylan Thomas prize-winning Grief is the Thing with Feathers and the Booker longlisted Lanny. Like Shy, both books also use stream of consciousness styles to explore complex emotions such as grief, loss and parenthood. Whilst Porter was builds on his unique writing style in Shy, effectively using structure to explore the complexities of human nature, the novel didn’t quite linger in the same way as Lanny or Grief. As essentially a character study, I felt that the novel could have done with a little more ‘world building’ to further understand how Shy’s environment might have led him to his current state. The brevity of the novel at 120 pages felt at the detriment of solid character development, which left me wanting to further understand how Shy’s past history might have impacted his present motivations.
I am sure that this will be an extremely popular novel, if Porter’s past success is anything to go by. What Shy might lack in overall atmosphere and sense of otherworldliness previously explored by Porter, it makes up for it in the playful inventiveness of writing to present an absorbing and troubled character. As once more with Porter, the kids may not be alright, but they can sure make for some pretty impressive writing.
Reviewed by Roshana
Roshana has a Bournemouth-based cycling group. Check them out here: @cycle_likeagirl
