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Deborah's Reviews > Shy
Shy
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3.5 stars
This is the first time I’ve read Max Porter, though he seems to be much-loved by the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ community and readers more generally, so I thought I’d better check it out. I was impressed by the author’s ability to get inside the head of a greatly troubled teenage boy, called Shy; the entire novella unfolds in the course of a single night entirely from Shy’s point of view. He’s been so full of rage and violence, against others and himself, for so long that he’s been consigned to a last-chance home for boys like him, and on this particular night he sets out bent on a final act of desperation. But Shy is such a bundle of non-stop unfocused rage and violence, even against those who care for him and try to help, that I just couldn’t care for him in spite of the, in places, bravura writing. I wonder if that was the author’s intent, to demonstrate the lack of empathy boys like Shy face from society at large?
This is the first time I’ve read Max Porter, though he seems to be much-loved by the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ community and readers more generally, so I thought I’d better check it out. I was impressed by the author’s ability to get inside the head of a greatly troubled teenage boy, called Shy; the entire novella unfolds in the course of a single night entirely from Shy’s point of view. He’s been so full of rage and violence, against others and himself, for so long that he’s been consigned to a last-chance home for boys like him, and on this particular night he sets out bent on a final act of desperation. But Shy is such a bundle of non-stop unfocused rage and violence, even against those who care for him and try to help, that I just couldn’t care for him in spite of the, in places, bravura writing. I wonder if that was the author’s intent, to demonstrate the lack of empathy boys like Shy face from society at large?
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Reading Progress
May 15, 2023
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Started Reading
May 15, 2023
– Shelved
May 15, 2023
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Finished Reading
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Jodi
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May 17, 2023 12:33PM
Hmmm. That sounds different. I've read two Porter books - "Grief is the thing..." and "Lanny" and loved them both! Not sure I'd care much for "Shy", though.🤔 Great take on it, though, Deborah!
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Oh, it was all first-person from inside Shy’s head, and it was just such a long string of extreme rage and depression that didn’t seem to arise from anything much. Just couldn’t like the kid.
Deborah wrote: "Oh, it was all first-person from inside Shy’s head, and it was just such a long string of extreme rage and depression that didn’t seem to arise from anything much. Just couldn’t like the kid."No, I can imagine not! I wouldn't like it, for sure. His other two were fantastic, though! Grief... was incredible.
Yep. I intend to get to that one day!
