Shy

I would not choose to be a teenager again for all the love and wealth in the world. Do you remember how exhausting it is learning to navigate an understanding of humanity? Imagine teenage angst tied up with extreme disadvantage – a minefield of fear, disappointment, and alienation. Max Porter’s writing will take you there.

His latest novel, Shy, is the story of a few hours at night in the life of a troubled teenage boy. He is escaping Last Chance, a home for ‘very disturbed young men’, and as he runs from this seemingly safe place, he begins to question everything: the people that love him, have tried for him, hurt him and his reactions. The imagery is clear; here is a teenage boy stumbling around an empty paddock at night-time, freaking himself out with shadows, memories and his own disparate thoughts of the future. On the face of it, so are we all. (This is a Max Porter story though, and therefore the ending is hopeful.)

I believe Porter is a lyrical genius that can teach us all a lesson in enunciation. If you have read his other brilliant works, then you will understand how Porter uses pace and imaginary to create emotion. I read this slim novel quickly, and then read it again, out loud in places to feel the words. Porter’s writing calls for this – by reading out loud you become privy to yet another layer of the symbolic nature.

Max Porter’s readers will delight that there is a new offering on the table, but truly read this because we have all been frightened of the shadows at some stage in our life. Purchase it for a young person in your life – although do be warned that there are references to alcohol, violence, and drugs in this brief view of adolescence. Marvel that mere words can conjure up loss and fright.