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Fiction. Literature. This is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings. Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking goodâ??her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she drains away the lion's share of each week's benefitsâ??all the family has to live onâ??on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured into tea mugs. Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Meanwhile, Shuggie is struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be, but everyone has realized that he is "no right," a boy with a secret that all but him can see. Agnes is supportive of her son, but her addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to herâ??even her beloved Shuggie. A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen… (more)
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Shuggie Bain is the youngest child of an alcoholic mother who constantly sought excitement and conflict. By the time he's in school, his mother has lost her second husband and her oldest daughter and is living in the housing adjacent to a closed coal mine. It's not a great environment, even less so for a boy who doesn't know how to blend in with the rough, active boys in his community. Shuggie clings desperately to his mother, his one bit of stability, even as she does her best to drink herself to death.
This isn't a cheerful book, although there were enough points of hope; the promise in the opening chapter that Shuggie survives, a tentative friendship with another child of an alcoholic, his brother's attempts to care for him, for the book to not sink under the weight of the unhappiness and desperation.
This was a safe and solid choice for the Booker Prize being a traditionally-structured and told story about a specific time and place in British history. It will be interesting to see where Stuart goes from here as a writer.
This story of the unforgettable Shuggie Bain and his wistful, compassionate, innocent love of a mother struggling with the ravages of addiction will tear you up but somehow also manage to lift your soul to a magical place.
The story is based in the bleakness of
Through the years we follow Agnes Bains, Shuggie’s mother, along with her men, her family, and her children as she battles the ravages of shame, poverty and alcoholism, throughout it all standing tall and with fierce pride, carefully cultivating her beauty and dreaming of better days, as she looks out for the man, the escape that will re-define the harshness of her reality to one of the loveliness which she believes to be her due.
Shuggie, her youngest child, a sweet and effeminate boy, worships her as he struggles with dreams of his own about becoming a “real boy”, one who is “normal” and fits in with the world around him. “A soft boy in a hard world”, he works tirelessly to care for his mother as she descends into a world where she can no longer care for him, or herself.
Though, at times the story is so tinged with despair that it’s hard to read, at the same time, it is stunningly beautiful and Shuggie is so sweet, so endearing, that it is hard not to let him into your heart. And strangely enough, i found the same thing to be true of his mother, Agnes.
I could not recommend this one more strongly.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Grove-Atlantic, and the author for an advance review digital copy of this book.
If you don't know already, the 2020 Booker Prize was presented to Author Stuart for this fictionalized account of growing up gay in a deeply dysfunctional, working class family. His story is
A few of the more beautiful lines from Shuggie's point of view as a teen:
He found his long, thick moustache and sat absent-mindedly stroking it, like a favourite pet. Under it his spare chin wobbled.
–and–
The morning light was the colour of too-milky tea. It snuck into the bedsit like a sly ghost, crossing the carpet and inching slowly up his bare legs.The morning light was the colour of too-milky tea. It snuck into the bedsit like a sly ghost, crossing the carpet and inching slowly up his bare legs.
The writing is strong, and the story is heart-wrenching. My heart went out to Shuggie and I wanted to protect him. I felt like berating the guy who talked a person in recovery into drinking again to appear “normal.” There is little hope and lots of pain.
I think each reader needs to evaluate how much misery he or she can handle before embarking on this book. I have a difficult time reading about situations where adults mistreat children, and this book falls into that category. It contains many forms of abuse, abandonment, suicide, molestation, rape, homophobia, the downward spiral of addiction, and I am sure more that I have blocked out.
I listened to the audio, which is brilliantly read by Angus King. It is hard for me to rate such a book. The author’s writing evoked strong feelings of compassion, but also of acute distress. It was hard to listen to 17 hours of an innocent child’s suffering and I almost abandoned it. I wish more of it had been similar to the last chapter – it has a much less oppressive tone. There are many glowing reviews, so please check them out. This book won the Booker Prize in 2020.
This is an episodic novel. In one memorable chapter Agnes’ drinking buddy, Genty, comes for some freebies under the guise of a friendly visit. You want Agnes to just say no, but she doesn’t have a chance. Does Shuggie? Somehow, Douglas Stuart manages to make this episode laugh-out-loud funny in addition to everything else that it is.
Genty, Agnes, Shug and the Greek chorus of neighboring women from the Pit Scheme are worthy of Dickens, and the material world, without much material and with no deep values, friendships or love to speak of, are a vision of Hell where the fires have cooled to slag.
The last two chapters, where first Shuggie watches his mother die and then he and Leanne minister to Leanne’s mother on the streets of Glasgow, are both heartbreaking and hopeful. In the final scene, Shuggie smiles and laughs for what seems like the first time in the entire book.
I was struck by how the image of the waterman collecting bodies on the Clyde at the end of this novel echoes the scene on the Thames at the beginning of Our Mutual Friend; how Stuart’s image of children tending to their broken parents channels Jenny Wren’s sad parenting of her father in that earlier novel; and how Dickens’ Dust Mountain reappears here as the Black Mountain of Slag.
To the extent that this story is an autobiographical one, as one presumes that it is, we know that Shuggie’s new, independent life is the beginning of much better things to come. This book has the feeling of the first installment of a lifelong project where readers will follow the fictionalized arc of the author’s life. The next installment remains to be written but already has been lived; the rest remains to be seen. I am reminded that there are many installments of this story I will not get to read. That this is a fictionalized account of a real life in progress, or that it might not be, takes the work to another level. It’s the glimmer of better things to come, really the sureness of better things ahead, that redeems this beautiful but otherwise bleak portrait and fills the reader, more than it does the young boy making his way in a cold world, with great expectations for what lies ahead.
Where do I
This story of a young boy whose mother is suffering from alcoholism gives a sharp and unflinching view of how the disease affects every one around her, even those who don't care about her. It is an on the page train wreck and you can't look away from it, no matter how tough the scenes. You see the addiction mostly through Agnes's and Shuggie's eyes.
Shuggie, or Hugh Bain, named after his father, is the youngest of the children. Catherine, the eldest, has the wisdom and foresight to escape early on. She washes her hands of the whole mess. Leek, the middle child, is an unrealized artist. He often takes off to his hideout. While he tries to protect Shuggie not only from the "scheme's" bullies, but from their mother's episodes, he can only do so much. He is the only one working, and without what little he makes, the "dole" is never going to be enough.
The relationship between Shuggie and his mother is something to behold. He loves her unconditionally, cares for her in the ways a boy shouldn't have to, but does because he is compassionate, and perhaps knows Agnes better than anyone.
As well, Shuggie knows he's different, feels different, but he can't explain himself. Leek tries to show him how to walk, and Shuggie practices, but Shuggie's deeply rooted awareness goes beyond mannerisms, speech and actions.
As an aside, there were many words and cultural aspects I thought fascinating. For instance, the word scheme was used a lot and after looking it up, I found that it's a derogatory term for public housing - which is also called "council housing." The word wee was used often and so were many other words, like "no'' for "not," and "dinnae" for "didn't" All of it was very natural and I could hear them speaking in the dialect as I read. Every so often I found myself inserting "wee" into my own thoughts, like I'll just put it on the wee table, or, I'll just step outside for a wee bit. Imagine, a Southern Scottish accent.
Many every day services like hot water, watching the television, (telly) etc., were run off of meters. You had to put money in the meters to have these things, and Agnes, Shuggie and the others were always breaking them open to steal coins to either pay for her alcohol, the taxi, or sometimes food. A popular food seemed to be "tinned custard."
Bit by bit, there is the descent. The perpetual rise and the inevitable fall. The hope, despair, restarts, do-overs, umpteen failures and a few wins. The abusiveness to mind and body, and not to only Agnes, but to Leek as well, and most especially to Shuggie, because, "if you're no' a wee girl, then you must be a wee poof. Are ye a wee poof?"
A disturbing, yet fascinating story with what felt almost like a private peek into the lives of a family. Such a heavy, dark story - and of course - I loved it.
The writing was amazing. Even in the midst
Recommended highly.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
Shuggie’s mom Agnes left her first husband for her
The neighborhood women take an instant dislike to Agnes, with her stylish clothes and good looks. Agnes looks down on them as well. Shuggie’s dad stays away for longer and longer at a time until he finally leaves for good, and Agnes falls deeper into her depression and alcoholism. She spends the money the government gives her for food on alcohol.
Shuggie’s sister leaves to get married as soon as she can, and Agnes throws out his older brother in a fit of anger. Young Shuggie is the only one left to care for his mother and himself.
Shuggie Bain is a lyrical, emotional portrait of a young boy whose life is defined by his mother’s alcoholism. The writing is powerful and beautiful, and Stuart based his book in part on his own life. It also gives the reader a look at how Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies affected everyday people. It deservedly won the prestigious 2020 Booker Prize for fiction.
Shuggie fails to fit into the rough-and-tumble group of children. He is visibly effeminate, and an easy target for the bullies at school and in the neighborhood. A glimpse into Shuggie's life is heartbreaking.
This is the story of Hugh Bain (Shuggy) growing up with his family in Glasgow in the 1980s.
He originally lives with his Grandparents and his Parents Agnes and Big Shug, brother Leek and sister Catherine. Shuggie with his Parents and Siblings leave Glasgow for a fresh
Very good but sad book.
G
Shuggie Bain is the youngest child of his beautiful mother Agnes who is also an alcoholic. Agnes had been married to a decent and loving man who made the mistake of both being a Roman Catholic and being dull. Agnes wanted a little excitement and so ran off with Shuggie's father, a philandering taxi driver, who eventually tires of her and leaes her for another woman.
Agnes longs for respectability, dresses to the nines, vows to turn over a new leaf and yet, inevitably decides she just "one wee drink ." Agnes' older children make their escape - hiss sister to a marriage and emigration to South Africa and his brother to his own flat and jobs in the building trades. Shuggie, who just wants to "be normal" tries to take care of his mother, but all too often is just her pawn as she drinks away her benefits money and breaks into the gas meter to steal coins to buy more lager.
This is a heartbreaking story of poverty, addiction and love and it certainly deserves its Book Prize.
Written with tremendous anger as well as love.
A story we see too often.
Apparently somewhat autobiographical, I think the most brilliant part for me was that Agnes- the mother - is SO vivid and believable. Attractive, adored by her parents, aspirational and always slightly removed
Violent, brutal, we feel for young Shuggie, left to manage- as best he can- his shambling mother (once his older siblings have escaped), while coming to terms with his sexuality in the macho council estates of Glasgow...
As it says on the cover: "A debut novel that reads like a masterpiece."
Over the course of the novel Shuggie grows from little boy to teenager. The family experiences several major shifts, driven largely by Agnes’ mental and physical state. Periods of hope are inevitably shattered. This is not a happy story. And yet, Shuggie has a certain resilience that keeps him going, even when things get as bad as they could possibly get. It is clear from the beginning that Shuggie will need to find his own way in life with almost no safety net. It is quite moving to watch him grow up and overcome incredible obstacles, all the more so knowing much of this novel is drawn from the author’s life experience. This is a memorable novel, extremely well-written and a superb choice for the 2020 Man Booker Prize.