Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Young Hugh “Shuggie” Bain lives a life of poverty in 1980s Glasgow while trying to understand why he’s not quite like other boys. But that’s not the only specter hanging over his head. His father’s abandonment puts his mother’s decades long struggle with alcoholism and mental illness at a boiling point.
Expectation: A bleak, yet heartfelt story about overcoming obstacles and discovering who you are.
Reality: This would be the most depressing book I’ve ever read if “Betty” didn’t take the crown last week.
Recommended For: People that like to feel helpless.
Why I Read It: It won the Man Booker Prize this year and has received rave reviews and comparisons to “A Little Life,” an all-time favorite.
My Take:
“Shuggie Bain” was the third novel I read this year that was inaccurately compared to “A Little Life” – the others were “Betty” and “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” – and I’m going to kindly request that we stop the madness.
Listening to “A Little Life” in 2019 was a transcendent experience that I still can’t fully explain. It was a beautiful tragedy swaddled with empathy and compassion to keep it (mostly) bearable. The line Hanya Yanagihara walked between emotional torture and ecstasy was razor thin, but she pulled it off.
Comparing every novel that features dark themes, damaged characters and ends up on a short-list does not mean “it’s like ‘A Little Life.’” These lazy comparisons do a disservice to each of the novels, and the readers that go in expecting one thing and instead receive something entirely different.
Which brings me back to “Shuggie Bain,” an imperfect yet captivating novel that left me numb. It’s monotone world of despair is still intoxicating in that you want to know what will happen, but about two-thirds of the way through it becomes clear there is no hope to be found.
It’s a novel I can best describe as well-written but not enjoyable. The same experience I had with “Betty,” and, honestly, I shouldn’t have tackled these back-to-back because you can only carry someone else’s pain for so long — fictional or not.
The story may be named after the family’s youngest son, but it is really about his mother, Agnes, and her decades long struggles with debilitating alcoholism, abject poverty and mental, physical and sexual abuse.
Those that have experienced alcoholism first-hand will find Douglas Stuart’s descriptions terrifyingly realistic. Agnes was a blackhole slowly sucking the life out of everyone around her, but she was too proud to seek long-lasting help.
In many ways the story is her therapy, with others trying to diagnose and treat. Sections explore whether her addiction was brought on by her upbringing, neglect from a philandering husband, disdainful children or the constant judgement from neighbors and acquaintances.
Stuart seamlessly jumps POVs among several of the core family members, which gives an interesting 360-degree view of a situation but never quite delivers the answers one would hope to find.
In many ways that’s the reality and brutality of alcoholism. It’s a vicious disease that can afflict while retaining enough of the hosts’ positive attributes to give those around them hope that better days are on the horizon — usually right before the demon spits them from the bottle again.
This wash, rinse and repeat cycle is on full display throughout “Shuggie Bain,” which amps up frustration at Agnes and those that give her one more chance instead of leaving for the sake of their own sanity.
It’s a lesson Shuggie couldn’t learn, but damnit he tried. Long after everyone else had abandoned Agnes, he stuck around and tried to be the perfect boy — just like other boys and not “funny” — that he thought would turn mother’s life around. You don’t need to read “Shuggie Bain” to know how that story ends.
One of the things that bothered me most, besides the fact that half of the novel is written in a Glaswegian accent that requires the utmost concentration, is that both his older siblings abandoned Shuggie when they could no longer handle Agnes’ nightly benders. It was survival of the fittest, sure, but I could never imagine doing that to my siblings — especially in a helpless situation like the one presented here.
You don’t get a resolution, which is disappointing and, in some ways, the perfect ending. I would’ve liked more of Shuggie’s life once [spoiler] he was free of Agnes, but I can only hope that he found some happiness and his true self.
The story could’ve been about 100-pages shorter, which in turn, may have made it more powerful. Still, I’m not disappointed I read it, as Shuggie and Agnes are characters I won’t soon forget, but I really can’t recommend this novel either. Instead, stick with “A Little Life.”
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Formats: E-book (library loan)
Dates read: November 24 – December 6, 2020
Multi-tasking: N/A
