Ty Roth

I thought this was amazing, ok?

I had been excited for this one for a while, ever since I read a blog post from in which a girl reads that stoked my interest. "So Shelly" is a modernized, fictionalized story based loosely, but respectfully, on the lives of second wave Romantic movement poets, John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. So when my library system finally got a copy, I immediately placed a hold on it. I happened to pick it up coincidentally during the time I was studying the show more Romantics in my World Lit II class. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

The way Roth managed to stuff Keats, Byron, and Shelley in a time machine and flash them forward two hundred years and plop teen versions of them down in a beautiful little Lake Erie community was absolutely fantastic. (Of course, there is need for a bit of willful suspension of disbelief here, but the book is so expertly done, you'll be happy to oblige.)

The story is narrated by John Keats, an onlooker and rare participant of all the life going on around him. Much of the action is given to charismatic, scene-stealing Gordon, Shelly's next-door neighbor and BFFL. The story jumps backwards and forwards trying to piece together the sordid details of deceased Shelly's life, while trying to carry out her final wish, of which Keats and Gordon each half only part of the puzzle. There's actually little of Shelly here, and even less of our narrator. At one point near the end of the book, Keats laments that so much of Shelly's story is dominated by Gordon. But his character is so compelling, you hate yourself for even minding.

There's loads of magnificent writing, some beautifully poetic turns of phrases. This novel was written by someone whose life is clearly saturated by the literature he teaches, and is madly in love with it. And now, so am I. It's uncanny how well these three literary figures lend characters to a modern high school scene. I found myself retrospectively relating to odd duck Shelly and the quietly observant Keats.

There's quite a number of shocking and scandalous moments here, the kind of stuff that teens lap up. This is definitely a read for more mature teen readers, though not because of the sexual content. This is an intelligent, philosophical novel about death, but even more about life. And not every teen is ready to shed their invincibility delusions and actually start living the way Keats (both the fictionalized one we get here, if not the real one) manages to do. show less

Admittedly, it took me a while to get around to reading this book. For that, I'm profoundly sorry. But I can say that I really, really loved this book. I can't count the number of times that I laughed out loud while reading it. The author, Ty Roth, deftly mixes humor amongst the darker themes for a great balance. Keats is a funny fellow. He's a great narrator with keen observations. As the story of the three unfolds, the characters take shape. Gordon is the most colorful of the three and his show more character demands to stand out. He craves attention constantly. Keats is a pallid sidekick who pines for Shelly, but feels too inadequate in Gordon's wake to ever speak up. Shelly has her own unrequited love, only it's directed towards Gordon. We get to know her better as the story of their past gets revealed. Keats deep self examination throughout the book gives him more shape and as he evolves becomes quite endearing.

This was a lovely book and the info given at the end regarding the actual Keats, Byron and Shelley was extremely interesting. I thought that since I knew little of Keats, Byron and Shelley that may get in the way of enjoying this book. Not in the slightest though. It was a wonderful story with a very contemporary message about living in the now and being present in every moment. Something we can all use a little reminder about from time to time. I'm giving this one 5 shiny kisses! show less

So I'm just gonna get this out of the way right now. This entire book felt familiar to me because of a song by a band called Better than Ezra entitled "A Lifetime." Lyrics go like this:


Allie woke up 8AM
Graduation day.
Got into a car,
And crashed along the way.

When we arrived late to the wake,
Stole the urn while they
Looked away,
And drove to the beach
'Cause I knew you'd want it
That way.

And you were standing
On the hood of the car
Singing out loud
When the sun came up.

And I know I show more wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes
Felt like a lifetime

It felt like a lifetime

And you move like water
I could drown in you.
And I fell so deep once,
Till you pulled me through

You would tell me
"No one is allowed to be so proud
They never reach out
When they're giving up."

And I know I wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes
Felt like a lifetime

Are you sitting in the lights?
Or combing your hair again,
And talking in rhymes?
Are you sitting in the lights?

When I got home, heard the phone,
Your parents had arrived.
And your dad set his jaw
Your mom just smiled and sighed.

But they left soon
And I went to my room.
Played that disc that you'd given me,
And I shut my eyes
Swear I could hear the sea.

When we were standing
On the hood of your car
Singing out loud when the sun came up.

And I know I wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes,
Three and a half minutes,

Felt like a lifetime.


So, this book isn't a complete portrait of those lyrics but the basic storyline is rather similar. I love this author because when I looked in the acknowledgements he credited Better than Ezra and REM as inspiration for the book. Ty Roth is just that cool! So, this book is a modernization of the relationship between John Keats, Mary/Percy Shelly (who has been condensed into one character, Michelle 'Shelly' Shelley) and George Gordon Byron. At the beginning of the novel (which is narrated by Keats) we first meet Keats and Byron after Shelly has committed suicide and they are attempting to steal her ashes to carry out her final wish. Shelly wanted her ashes spread on the beach of an island where she used to play as a kid, with an REM song playing on her boombox while they did it. Keats and Byron were only connected through Shelly and were NOT friends on their own. Keats is poor, Byron is rich. Keats is conservative and Byron is extremely debaucherous. If they weren't doing this for Shelly they'd have no reason to hang out at all. As the novel progresses we find out a lot of Byron and Shelly's backstory because it seems that she told Keats almost everything that ever happened to them - he was a confidante. Further into the book you find out that there was one very important thing that she DID NOT tell Keats. This book is all about coming to terms with death and the consequences of living the way they have chosen to live. I really liked this book and it was extremely well written. I admire that the author was able to take such firmly established real-life literary personalities and make them modern in a believable way. I gave this four stars because at times I felt majorly detached from the characters and unable to care for them - I'm unsure if that was because of Keats' narration or because of the way they were written. I would recommend this to anyone that loves literature or a good mystery/journey book. show less

Of all the debut books I have read this season, this one may be the most adventurous and have the highest degree of difficulty. Essentially this is a biography of Byron, Shelley, and Keats complete with cell phones, ipods, and Facebook. Oh yes, Shelley is a female and something of a composite character consisting of both Percy and Mary, hence her name, Michelle (Shelly). Biography? So Shelly does an excellent job of capturing the wild nature of the romantics (and I was very happy to see the show more excellent biography, Wildly Romantic: The English Romantic Poets: The Mad, the Bad, and the Dangerous by Catherine Andronik cited as one of the sources). This book had me shaking my head in agreement that if these poets lived today, this is what they may have been like. The title, however, really should be so Byron because most of the novel revolves around him. Shelly has died and Byron convinces Keats to help him steal her ashes so they can release them in accordance to what they know to be Shelly’s last wishes. However, Shelly’s father is determined to thwart this adventure and he has the resources and cooperation of the authorities to stop Byron and Keats in their tracks. Or does he? Along the way Byron and Keats piece together how each of their relationships with Shelly has brought them together to complete this one final adventure that seems “so Shelly.” The story is narrated by Keats, obviously! Regardless of title issues and other minor flaws, what this book has going for it is, as its jacket flap proclaims, “Sometimes tragic, always outrageous, so Shelly captures the indomitable spirit of Romanticism.” I agree! Share this one with students who think THEY are outrageous, but make sure they are high school students not easily shocked! This is a book for older high school students. show less