This Booker winning novel was a very personal one for author Douglas Stuart
September saw the Tyneside Book Club tackle Shuggie Bain - a novel that has won the Booker and been widely praised for the power of its storytelling. Its depiction of the life of a family dealing with alocoholism in 1980s Glasgow was a certainly potentially subject.
For some members the book certainly lived up to the hype. Despite its serious subject matter, some said it carried the propulsive narrative drive of a thriller. They felt compelled to read chapter after chapter, and found they raced through what was quite a substantial novel.
For those members it was the power and authenticity of the account of the life of Shuggie, his mum and his siblings that hit home. They felt involved and engaged in the lives of the characters and cared about the outcome. They hoped for redemption, but sensed there would be little on offer.
Although this was clearly fiction, it was strongly based on Stuart's own childhood, and that showed in the convincing accounts of how dependency can take over and ruin the lives of both the addict and those around them.
There was also a sense of reality in the way characters were not good or bad, but complex and real. Many members also felt Stuart captured the bleak reality of a 1980s Glasgow devastated by deindustrialisation and crushing poverty.
Some members found the book less successful though, struck by the its bleakness, or just not finding the subject matter less compelling. Some felt it was a grind as the book got bogged down in the impact of alcoholism and inevitable decline of Shuggie's mother. For them it was lacking the emotional pull that others had encountered. Others though did find some hope in the final scenes. For some though, it was hard then though to move onto other books.
There was a sense though from all that this was a well-written and heartfelt novel. For those who were fans, they felt this was a book that would stand the test of time, though some questioned how Stuart would follow up his debut success given that Shuggie Bain was so informed by his own personal experience.
For some members the book certainly lived up to the hype. Despite its serious subject matter, some said it carried the propulsive narrative drive of a thriller. They felt compelled to read chapter after chapter, and found they raced through what was quite a substantial novel.
For those members it was the power and authenticity of the account of the life of Shuggie, his mum and his siblings that hit home. They felt involved and engaged in the lives of the characters and cared about the outcome. They hoped for redemption, but sensed there would be little on offer.
Although this was clearly fiction, it was strongly based on Stuart's own childhood, and that showed in the convincing accounts of how dependency can take over and ruin the lives of both the addict and those around them.
There was also a sense of reality in the way characters were not good or bad, but complex and real. Many members also felt Stuart captured the bleak reality of a 1980s Glasgow devastated by deindustrialisation and crushing poverty.
Some members found the book less successful though, struck by the its bleakness, or just not finding the subject matter less compelling. Some felt it was a grind as the book got bogged down in the impact of alcoholism and inevitable decline of Shuggie's mother. For them it was lacking the emotional pull that others had encountered. Others though did find some hope in the final scenes. For some though, it was hard then though to move onto other books.
There was a sense though from all that this was a well-written and heartfelt novel. For those who were fans, they felt this was a book that would stand the test of time, though some questioned how Stuart would follow up his debut success given that Shuggie Bain was so informed by his own personal experience.
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