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Loading... The Boy (2016)by Marcus Malte
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Belongs to Publisher SeriesGallimard, Folio (6515) Awards
The boy does not speak. The boy has no name. The boy, raised half-wild in the forests of southern France, sets out alone into the wilderness and the greater world beyond. Having never encountered another person aside from his mother, the boy must learn what it is to be human, to exist among people, and to live beyond simple survival. As this wild and naive child attempts to join civilization, he encounters earthquakes and car crashes, ogres, and artists, and, eventually, all-encompassing love and an inescapable war. His adventures take him around the world and through history on a mesmerizing journey, rich with unforgettable characters. A hamlet of farmers fears he's a werewolf, but eventually raises him as one of their own. A circus performer who toured the world as a sideshow introduces the boy to showmanship and sanitation. And a chance encounter with an older woman exposes him to music and the sensuous pleasures of life. The boy becomes a guide whose innocence exposes society's wonder, brutality, absurdity, and magic. Beginning in 1908 and spanning three decades, The Boy is an emotionally and historically rich exploration of amily, passion, and war from one of France's most acclaimed and bestselling authors. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)843.92Literature French and related languages French fiction Modern Period 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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"Whether it be here or somewhere else, everything that he sees he will have never seen before.
After considerable time wandering in a wilderness fending for himself, he awakes one morning to face a double-barrel rifle pointed at his forehead: his first encounter with "civilization." The hunter he has met takes him to his hamlet where the boy is regarded variously as a Romany, a vagabond, or a bad omen.
The Boy is not an historical novel, though it is set throughout the years 1908-1938 and there are pages listing historical events and personages. The trope of the unlettered boy/man, which is carried to the novel's end, is sometimes flawed; the writing is often verbose, but sometimes poetic and moving.