Some novels seem not to have been written; it’s as if they have grown from the author’s pen. In Lanny, Max Porter’s kinship with nature and the uncanny is revealed as he weaves this chronicle of an unusual boy who moves to an unnamed village in London’s commuter belt occupied by Dead Papa Toothwort. A literary heir to the Green Man of English folklore, Dead Papa Toothwort lives in and off this village, greedily absorbing fragments of conversation as his form shifts and changes from an acre-wide behemoth to the size of a flea. The story unfolds in anecdotes by Lanny’s mother, father and the reclusive artist -known as mad Pete - who gives Lanny art lessons. Lanny is an eccentric, somewhat unearthly boy, attuned to the rhythms of nature and highly sensitive to the world around him, absorbed in drawing and building a secret bower. But Dead Papa Toothwort recognises himself in Lanny, and has his own plans that will turn the life of the village upside down. Steeped in nature, Porter’s earthy, poetic prose throbs with life, making the familiar eerie and the unusual seem everyday. The story beats along to an incantatory pulse, with only one dream-like gameshow section feeling out-of-step with the rest of the novel, but all in all it’s a homage to the strange beauty and uncanniness of rural life that compels you to keep reading to the end.

Lanny is an unusual reading experience. Part novel, part poetry, part collection of thoughts on life in a village, this is a novel that relentlessly records phrases while gently asserting the power of nature. There are realistic characters, Pete, an artist, Robert, a self satisfied commuter, Jolie, mother, actress and writer, and Lanny himself, ethereal boy, eccentric and unusual, the unwitting focus of people’s thoughts. There is a character who runs throughout, a presence that never fully identifies himself, ever present and eternal, manifesting himself only in the hints of nature that live at the edges of the village. Dead Papa Toothwort is a tradition, a presence to frighten children, the repository of dreams and terrors, collective memories and individual fears. The other villagers are a chorus of opinions, hints of how life could be, judgements on the aspects of life that they believe that they understand. This is a little book in some ways, but what it contains is far heavier, the weight of a boy, and the nature which appreciates and interacts with in a unique way. Written with an almost unconscious humour, Lanny is, as one character describes him “a proper human child” yet beyond definition and at the centre of a book which also defies genre boundaries, yet is burdened by a story at the heart. It is an unusual book that I was fascinated to read. The form of the book is unusual, opening with a description of the force that is Dead Papa Toothwort, moving around the edge of the village, encountering the natural elements that remain. He is big, he is tiny, and yet he is present. He is interrupted by the words, tiny phrases of the people of the village, planting, arguing, judging and so much else. Pete is an artist, self absorbed, with a mind full of past work, expressions and reactions. He is asked to teach, draw with a strange little boy with a different range of views of life and the world around him, strangely able in ways that defy description. His mother adores him, but cannot follow him, struggles to understand him, and is continually baffled by his statements. His father is also confused by him, but is not really sufficiently interested in him to even try to follow his paths of thought, or indeed the village he gladly commutes from, shutting off every day. As a mystery creeps in, the variety of reaction reveals so much, of people’s thoughts, attitudes and disbelief in anything. This is such an unique novel that while I can definitely say that I enjoyed it, found much to fascinate and think about, it is difficult to categorise. The writing is flowing, the impetus to read on is overwhelming, the emotions it captures are deep. This is a book that cannot be rushed, yet is a glimpse of a village and the people in it, the forces that shape it, rather than a linear narration of events. I recommend it as something different, providing an insight into the speech, sounds and near dreamlike quality of a place, a boy and the eternity of experience.

Truly like nothing I’ve ever read. I don’t mean that in the ‘similar to what I’ve read before but on another level’ - I mean it is like nothing I’ve ever read. Lanny is built around a wild mix of genres - poetry, paganism, country village drama - with some beautifully lyrical monologuing and startling characterisation. Some of the characters are perhaps a little cliché but those Porter has developed in a pretty short piece all give a strong sense of village living and personality. Lanny is a delight, and Dead Pap Toothwort a most intriguing creation. Uniquely unique and well, well worth a read.

A beautiful book which is very evocative. A great read!

I was hoping for something a little more original than this - the abstracted sections were off-putting rather than illuminating and the characters were too cliched and lifeless for much of the story - however, it shows promise and a taste for plot development. I preferred his debut Grief Is The Thing With Feathers, which has a freefall narrative and takes you on a real journey. Lanny is a misstep, sorry. But I will be back for more.