Jump to content

Shuggie Bain


historyman

Recommended Posts

I've just bought it on Kindle and have read about a quarter. While the writing is about decent sixth-year English specialist level, that is not the main point of the book and the reason why it earned the Booker; this is a first novel and it has many faults of technique which grate a little, but the power and the unflinching accuracy of the description of the relationship between a young boy and his mother make it an extremely important work. It has no grace or elegance or passages of fine writing, or at least as far as I have read, but there is a compelling need evoked in the reader to find out what happens to young Shug and to his mother and by extension to the other women of the novel, whose fates are described with such clarity and empathy. I hope that the author has more books in him, but I have the impression that this passionate outpouring may well have exhausted him. It's certainly emotionally exhausting for me, but I find it compulsive and can understand perfectly why a novel which deals so sympathetically with the situations faced by working-class women has gained such critical acclaim. I hope Duncan Ewart reads it and says what he thinks of it, as I have lived outwith Scotland since 1980 and no longer have my antennae well-attuned to what thoughtful Scots have to say about their cultural heritage. To reply to the first post, buy the novel. Your money will have been well spent.

Edited by jasper
Punctuation. Nomenclature.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, jasper said:

I've just bought it on Kindle and have read about a quarter. While the writing is about decent sixth-year English specialist level, that is not the main point of the book and the reason why it earned the Booker; this is a first novel and it has many faults of technique which grate a little, but the power and the unflinching accuracy of the description of the relationship between a young boy and his mother make it an extremely important work. It has no grace or elegance or passages of fine writing, or at least as far as I have read, but there is a compelling need evoked in the reader to find out what happens to young Shug and to his mother and by extension to the other women of the novel, whose fates are described with such clarity and empathy. I hope that the author has more books in him, but I have the impression that this passionate outpouring may well have exhausted him. It's certainly emotionally exhausting for me, but I find it compulsive and can understand perfectly why a novel which deals so sympathetically with the situations faced by working-class women has gained such critical acclaim. I hope Duncan Ewart reads it and says what he thinks of it, as I have lived outwith Scotland since 1980 and no longer have my antennae well-attuned to what thoughtful Scots have to say about their cultural heritage. To reply to the first post, buy the novel. Your money will have been well spent.

Thanks. It’s on my Christmas list now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, jasper said:

I've just bought it on Kindle and have read about a quarter. While the writing is about decent sixth-year English specialist level, that is not the main point of the book and the reason why it earned the Booker; this is a first novel and it has many faults of technique which grate a little, but the power and the unflinching accuracy of the description of the relationship between a young boy and his mother make it an extremely important work. It has no grace or elegance or passages of fine writing, or at least as far as I have read, but there is a compelling need evoked in the reader to find out what happens to young Shug and to his mother and by extension to the other women of the novel, whose fates are described with such clarity and empathy. I hope that the author has more books in him, but I have the impression that this passionate outpouring may well have exhausted him. It's certainly emotionally exhausting for me, but I find it compulsive and can understand perfectly why a novel which deals so sympathetically with the situations faced by working-class women has gained such critical acclaim. I hope Duncan Ewart reads it and says what he thinks of it, as I have lived outwith Scotland since 1980 and no longer have my antennae well-attuned to what thoughtful Scots have to say about their cultural heritage. To reply to the first post, buy the novel. Your money will have been well spent.

Great review. Definitely getting it. Heard an interview with him and he was saying he has another book in the pipeline. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...
On 12/25/2020 at 11:07 AM, DuncanEwart said:

I was told about a month ago not to buy this as there was a good chance Santa would be bringing it to me- sure enough, it was underneath the tree this morning. I'm really looking forward to reading it (I'm halfway through Don Winslow's "The Border" at the moment, but "Shuggie Bain" is next on my list).

Don Winslow - fantastic books. Power of the Dog shocking but compelling. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2020 at 8:59 PM, jasper said:

I've just bought it on Kindle and have read about a quarter. While the writing is about decent sixth-year English specialist level, that is not the main point of the book and the reason why it earned the Booker; this is a first novel and it has many faults of technique which grate a little, but the power and the unflinching accuracy of the description of the relationship between a young boy and his mother make it an extremely important work. It has no grace or elegance or passages of fine writing, or at least as far as I have read, but there is a compelling need evoked in the reader to find out what happens to young Shug and to his mother and by extension to the other women of the novel, whose fates are described with such clarity and empathy. I hope that the author has more books in him, but I have the impression that this passionate outpouring may well have exhausted him. It's certainly emotionally exhausting for me, but I find it compulsive and can understand perfectly why a novel which deals so sympathetically with the situations faced by working-class women has gained such critical acclaim. I hope Duncan Ewart reads it and says what he thinks of it, as I have lived outwith Scotland since 1980 and no longer have my antennae well-attuned to what thoughtful Scots have to say about their cultural heritage. To reply to the first post, buy the novel. Your money will have been well spent.

Thanks for the review. Next on my list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...