Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart writes a novel deeply ingrained with the pain of alcoholism, the effects of an economic downfall and the ways that relationships are affected. Based in Glasgow, Scotland Douglas Stuart introduces his debut novel, Shuggie Bain, set in the 1980’s during a pandemic of unemployment; the erosion of industries like shipbuilding, mining, and ironworking; and a guttering recession; men run aground after the closure of mines, women sunk under the weight of drink, families living week to week on public assistance and disability benefits. A country thrown into an economic depression affects all families, and in Shuggie Bain the Bain family  is most affected by the government’s decline. The winner of the 2020 Booker Prize, and the second of the six that I have read thus far and will be reviewing, Shuggie Bain is a very dark, emotional, political and family oriented novel. 

Shuggie Bain has many different narrators throughout the course of the novel, reaching up to five or six narrators having at least a chapter to themselves. The Bain family all give their different perspectives on the effects of Scotland’s current state and the effect their mother’s alcoholism has on the families’ life. I know very little about the changing environment of Scotland in the 1980’s, but I do know the ways that addiction can affect family ties and the children of addicts. Each child in the Bain family is affected differently by Agnes and has a differing connection to her as a mother and as an alcoholic. One thing I disliked during my reading was the limited knowledge we get about Catherine once she moves to South Africa, we get maybe a few lines about her within the last two-hundred pages. I get that she is disconnected from the family but we get nothing at all about her development once she leaves. At least with Leek we get some updates because he is closer to Shuggie and they connect regularly so we learn more about his life. I believe that some more context into Catherine and Leek may be able to show the effects of alcoholic parents, but I guess it would affect the youngest child the most as they spend most of their life with their addict parent, which is Shuggie. Otherwise I enjoyed the flow of the novel and I really liked that it started in 1992, went back to 1981, and then ended in 1992. Starting the novel in the present day gives a bit of foreshadowing and the reader a glimpse into what the novel will be about. 

“Shuggie had only taken a mouthful of the lager to be gracious, and as the man spoke to him, he could think only about the taste of tinned ale, how sour and sad it tasted. It reminded him of things he would rather forget.”

The reader can understand some of the upcoming events and themes that will be prevalent in the coming pages of the novel without having any prior knowledge about the book, which is something that I liked.

A novel that is quite political in its core, is not very in your face about the political aspects and insteads focuses on shared experiences among people. Stuart made a great choice in writing the novel in a way that is based on the different experiences of people and not allowing the situations of the novel to overpower the characters. People enjoy the connection that they can make with characters, it would be very difficult for anyone that didn’t live in Scotland during the 1980’s to connect to the situation that occurred, but anyone can connect to a teenage boy or girl and a young kid trying to grow up. Stuart makes a strong decision in having the narration in a Scottish dialect, further immersing the reader into Scotland. 

One of my favorite chapters throughout the novel would have to be when Big Shug has the narration. A character that you want to hate for the way that he has ruined the lives of his family, but Stuart writes the chapter in such a way that Glasglow comes to life. 

“The city was changing; he could see it in people’s faces. Glasgow was losing its purpose, and he could see it all clearly from behind the glass. He could feel it in his taking. He had heard them say that Thatcher didn’t want honest workers anymore; her future was technology and nuclear power and private health. Industrial days were over, and the bones of the Clyde Shipworks and the Springburn Railworks lay about the city like rotted dinosaurs. Whole housing estates of young men who were promised the working trades of their fathers had no future now. Men were losing their very masculinity.”

Passages like this one during this chapter give a much deeper look into what life was like for not just the Bain family but everyone living in Scotland during this time. Shug’s occupation as a taxi driver really opens up the city life and gives us the perspective of many different types of people that you would see, from the local drunk to the women whose husband just lost his job after 25 years. This chapter really puts together a lot of the thematic plots that arise in the novel, from the economics, addiction, sexuality, masculinity, and relationships. 

I honestly have to say that the relationship between Shuggie and Agnes is so beautiful. A son trying everything that he can to save and protect his mother from her own destructive tendencies even after all of the horrible situations she has put him through. Shuggie has an unwavering love for his mother, and it is really a huge saving point for a novel that otherwise could have been quite sad, hateful and unnerving subject matter. Douglas Stuart masterfully writes a novel riddled with many problematic themes that readers can connect to easily. Shuggie Bain is a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and one of the better books that I have read within this past year. Stuart focuses more on the aspects of his characters rather than the situations that they are placed in, which allows the reader to more easily connect with the characters and the novel. A setting and situation that is foreign to many readers can be difficult and distance the reader from the purpose of the novel and Stuart allows the reader to be fully immersed into Glasgow through the lives of his characters. This book has a lot of teachable moments and I could see it even being used in maybe a history or social studies classroom to study the post-industrialism in Scotland during the 80’s, not even on top of the many themes that could be further explored, especially addiction and how it affects families. I would recommend this book to anyone that is willing to read a darkish story, about abandonment, addiction, family and sexuality. Shuggie Bain is a very enjoyable novel that really invites the reader into its reality, the struggle that all of the characters face with alcohol, presentation and money. I would rate Shuggie Bain a very solid 9.0/10, putting it in the lead and on a high ladder to which every other book needs to reach.