Shuggie Bain: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner)

The Book beautifully depicts the scenario of 90’s Glasgow. It is a warming book about a never-give-up relationship between a mother and a son. How far can Shuggie go for his alcoholic mother to provide a better life for her? Penned down exquisitely by Stuart

Even before the shortlist for the Booker was declared, seeing the longlist I already knew this is something that would interest me. I waited patiently for the night the prize was to be announced. Somehow, I knew this book would bag the prize and then I would certainly read it. Predictably, it won and I ordered the book then and there. I began reading the book the morning it arrived and it was, indeed, a read that clings to you and tugs at your heart from the first page. It is the story of a Scottish family managing their lives through economic hardships, substance abuse, physical and emotional violence in the 1980s of Glasgow. Although this book is claimed to be solely the story of Shuggie and his mother, I felt there was more to the story than them only. It was the story of the whole family struggling to remain together, hold each other and save each other from the world in their embrace that they called home. I was moved by the poignant recollection of the author's memory from what he knew of Glasgow and from his mother's own addiction as he grew up. However, I couldn't bring myself to love this novel as I had expected to, especially, given its comparison to 'A Little Life'. There was something about the language that made me take an unexpectedly longer time to finish the novel. Maybe the language did not warm up to me, or maybe Ferrante spoiled me with her prose. I have no complaints with the author as such because it was a well-written book. I could see the incidents in the novel unfold before my eyes very well. I think it is the presence of too many new characters all the time that made me difficult to concentrate on the writing. Nonetheless, the book is certainly an achievement even without the prize, that only adds to its relevance. It painfully captures heartbreaks, hopelessness and hope of a family trying to discover happiness among the dingy neighbourhoods of existence.

Shuggie Bain is a masterpiece, an astounding debut which will make your soul desperate and heart ache. Set in the 1981-1992 Glasgow, Stuart's debut novel is a fascinating reading experience, story of a 14 yr old Shuggie Bain and his mother Agnes Bain, so dark and intense, which brilliantly portrays a broken childhood and hopeless love. It includes multiple themes- poverty, abuse, addiction, gender inequality, religion etc.Shuggie Bain is not a feel good read; it's more like a gothic fiction. The writing style will make you want more of Stuart's works as it's charming, Glasgow dialect and the subtle descriptions of each incident will never fail to take you to the unordinary and unforgettable life of Shuggie.Shuggie and his love...he loved Agnes so much that the only thing he wanted was to make her normal, to live a normal life with her. And her alcoholism, the author is not directly sharing the physical and mental conditions of an alcoholic, but we can feel the depth of darkness inside her and she considered alcohol as an escape from the physical and mental abuse and her unfulfilled dreams. This novel is a rare one with all it's memorable characters and outspoken realities. It was a highly disturbing, yet heartbreakingly-good read, Shuggie and his unusual, painful life will always stay with you!!

The book is pretty good, I haven't had a problem turning a page. Every chapter is uniquely chilling. However I need to smack my friend for recommending this book to me so casually.This is not a world you want to escape into. It is dark, morbid and gets way too real abruptly. And the lexicon is a bit different than I'm used to so I had a bit of trouble getting into it.This is a great read and a classic for sure, but its not for everyone. It might tear out some scabs you had forgotten about. If you want to explore parental conflict, abuse, ruinous effects of an alcohol addiction on a family etc. then it's an easy recommendation for you, you sick bastard.

Imagine a story that rattles you , frightens you , makes you sad and creates a dejected atmosphere in your mind , yet you don't want it to end , yet you wish the story to keep on lingering in your thoughts even after you finished it . That's Shuggie Bain for you .Winner of the #manbookerprize , this book is beautifully crafted by the debutant author . The style of writing is akin to poetry at times , at other times the thoughts in the verses are left unfinished intentionally for you to delve right into the sea of thick stratas of pondering minds to have your own part in the story .This is the story of rejection , of struggles , of alcoholism , of poverty . But , dwarfing all , this is the story of the relationship between the little one shuggie , a boy swimming his way from childhood to adulthood through deep hard layers of realism , this is the story of the indomitable spirit of fighting back and losing the battle against the curse of 'drinking to her death'.The relationship is the key here .Don't miss out on this one .

The title should be Agnes Bain instead of Shuggie Bain, as the boy has little to do with story. It's all about his alcoholic divorcee mother untll the page 300, drinking all the time, left alone and than dating a new man. I hope there would be boy's story in remaining pages.

Every character brought in something versatile to the story. They were very unique, raw and real which we all see in real life and maybe ignore them. It's a story of an alcoholic woman and the sad lives of her three children. The sad and gritty lives of her children Leek, Catherine and Shuggie brings into foray their struggles, loneliness and their fight to make something better out of their lives. Shuggie Bain tries to be devoted to his mother with the hope that she would be on her feet again, fight against her addiction to alcoholism, and lead a better life. When everyone has given up on her, Shuggie stays on with her with a strong ray of hope, that his mother would fight and one day is normal.

It is a long time since a novel has had such a profound effect on me. The book tells the story of a boy’s childhood and teen years in the rather rough-and-tumble world of Glasgow in the 1970s and 1980s. Shuggie grows up in a grim, lower-class environment, in which the ordinary difficulties of life are magnified by the unemployment and economic woes brought on by the policies of Margaret Thatcher. Despite his intelligence, Shuggie senses that he is “different” without fully understanding how or why. His dysfunctional family consists of a dissolute father, who soon abandons the family, a step-brother and step-sister neither of whom is particularly close to him, and his mother to whom he is absolutely devoted. Unfortunately, his mother is also an alcoholic and her disease provides the prime motivation for the events of the novel. It would be incorrect to say that I “enjoyed” the novel for it is hard to enjoy such a tale of unrelieved woe. Shuggie’s attempts to deal with the problems of his family while simultaneously surviving in an unsympathetic and occasionally violent world are heart-wrenching. The author’s skill at recreating the events of Shuggie’s life and at capturing the atmosphere of the era (in, at times, a wonderful Scottish dialect) make this an unforgettable read.

While reading this book, I remembered "For Bread Alone", a biography by Mohammad Chokri, in which he talks about his brutal childhood in Morocco. Since then, I had that question: if this child had been born in a developed country, would things have been different? Shuggie Bain answers my question by saying: not necessarily.The novel is a coming-of-age story about a child growing up in a poor workers' class in Scotland during the 1980s and 1990s. Shuggie suffers while being in a dysfunctional family. His mother suffers from alcoholism after the father left her for another woman. The novel explores the themes of poverty, violence, drugs, sexuality, prostitution and of course alcoholism. I felt the protagonist's pain on each page while looking for love, safety and belonging, which every child wants. Another thing: I do not usually prefer to have LGTBQ+ themes in a novel because this topic has become more like a check list to please the current audience. But in this novel, it was essential to include it to enforce the theme of alienation among peers, especially since people were not really that open towards this community during that period.Highly recommended!

I really liked the book and I recommend it to everyone. The story is nothing new, alcoholic mother with gay son, but it's written in a fantastic, incredible way. Some chapters are pule style, you will always remember them. Maybe with 100 less pages it would have been more perfect, but you will never regret reaing this book.

An absolutely brilliantly written book set in Glasgow in the 80's about a son's relationship with his addict mother. It made me cry and laugh, the portrayal of poverty, abuse and addiction told through the eyes of a child is heartbreaking

Behold, the heart of Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart’s ’s achingly beautiful 2020 debut of the same name. Glasgow’s young Shuggie, who “wasn’t really one or the other”--Catholic or Protestant, boy or man, right or “no right”--is nonetheless fastidiously loyal to his alcoholic mammy. Twice-divorced Agnes Bain can initially hide the wreckage of “the drink.” Vibrant, well-spoken, and pretty, at first Agnes doesn’t show lines on her face, water in her eyes: “Every day with the makeup on...she climbed out of her grave and held her head high...put on her best coat, and faced the world. When her belly was empty and her weans were hungry, she did her hair and let the world think otherwise.”Neighbors gossip and teachers fret, but really, “no one sees the flying woman.” Everyone leaves her: Agnes’ husbands and lovers, her daughter, her son. But Shuggie sees her. He’ll never leave. “I’d do anything for you,” he tells Agnes, when she trades buying him food for more of her drink.After one too many lagers unravels Agnes’ life like the “toe to waist” run in her Pretty Pollys, though, Shuggie—having devoted his school days to buying her lager with food money, putting her to bed, and believing her promises to “give up the drink” and “get a job like other mammies”—wonders, “Why can’t I be enough?”Every child of an alcoholic has asked herself that question. And if anything were ever enough to pull a parent from alcoholism, it would Shuggie—a selfless, earnest, honest, boy whose optimism is exceptionally buoyant. Shuggie is nothing if not wholly dedicated to Agnes’ happiness, her survival. But then, every child of an alcoholic knows that even the most perfect daughter or son is no cure for the urge to drink. Anyone who’s watched their parent stumble through the door, slur meaningless yet wicked insults, reach for another drink while their child goes hungry in belly and soul knows they aren’t as important as the next bottle or can, who takes off their parent’s shoes mid-day and tucks them into bed—these readers will weep.And, at Shuggie’s side, like the coins he feeds and robs and feeds the electric meter, they’ll believe the promises to quit, hold out hope the AA will keep them clean, be the parent till the parent can gets back on his or her feet. The reader flinches at the blatant truths, and at the ‘skills’ with which Shuggie ‘survives’ ten years in the “new economy of the scheme”—the Eighties. Starved, neglected, abused, molested, and isolated, Shuggie wears his suffering on his jumper. But also, he knows Agnes doesn’t want to live like this.Stylistically, the omniscient narrator uses heavy metaphor to put images into context young Shuggie can understand. Every “like” and “as” at once clarifies otherwise ungraspable, while distancing Shuggie from reality. From the opening line—“The day was flat,” throughout the central “limpet” theme, onto the conclusion, where, “like a tugboat,” Shuggie nudges his friend’s shoulder, metaphor gives Shuggie a lens through which he can understand his world. And it is his world. Time is measured by plastic ponies and little green men.Stuart’s portrait—equally Shuggie’s and Agnes’—is imperfect. It’s sometimes rugged, always raw. But an exceptionally tight, polished tale wouldn’t make any sense. Readers who know the drink firsthand can relate. And those who are fortunate not to know the drink, they will forever see alcoholism differently. This is a story of empathy.