![]() ![]() Now, in the doldrums of the mid-1990s, Shy finds himself in a program meaningfully called Last Chance, populated by fellow screw-ups and well-intentioned adults such as “Nice Andy the Bearded History Teacher” who want only to help Shy even as the lad finds ways to offend against both the law and polite discourse (as when he calls a visiting dignitary the C-word, asking whether being such is “part of the training for, like, becoming an MP”). ![]() “He’s sprayed, snorted, smoked, sworn, stolen, cut, punched, run, jumped, crashed an Escort, smashed up a shop, trashed a house, broken a nose, stabbed his stepdad’s finger, but it’s been a while since he’s crept” (that is, burgled). ![]() Midway into his teens, Shy has already been expelled from school, arrested, thrown out of his home. Here, his protagonist is younger and, though he comes over as tough, quite vulnerable. Porter’s previous novels have addressed death, metamorphosis, and monstrous figures out of British folklore who walk the mews and have permanent addresses. A gloomy but memorable tale by British novelist Porter, who likes his literature dark. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |