Shuggie Bain

In trial practice, we have a well-established objection, usually granted, when the side putting on its case calls witness after witness to testify to the same facts: objection Your Honor, cumulative — sustained. The practice is objectionable because it wastes time and wears out the most precious resource in the room – the jury’s or factfinder’s attention. That’s my problem with this otherwise well written book. How many scenes of alcoholic excess and degradation are needed to make the point? Too much attention on mother; too little on the engaging character of the son. The author deserved better editing and so does the reader.

I stopped reading after the 7 year old gets assaulted and sexually abused. If repetitive descriptions of poverty, abuse and addiction are your thing, this is for you. Of course the Booker Prize panel loved it. And the National Book Award panel, as well… the winner last year was Susan Choi’s book entirely about women being sexually abused. Funny, the people I have known in dire poverty we’re more dimensional than these drudges. No senses of humor, nauseating sexuality, no street smarts. Just pathos.

This book should become required reading for young adults. It made me understand addiction in a way I never understood before, and I am a middle-aged woman who once lived with an alcoholic, and later with a prescription pill addict. If I had read this book in my 20s, maybe I would have made choices with better outcomes, not only for myself but for those I was codependent with. The point where it clicked for me with this book (and Dear Reader, this is a spoiler, but you already know this is a book about addiction) was when Agnes ended a year of sobriety after being pressured to have a drink by her boyfriend, Eugene. My heart broke for Agnes, and for her sons, when Eugene brought her home drunk after that date. Agnes had tried to resist, but Eugene had no understanding of addiction, and ignorantly thought that after a year of sobriety, Agnes was a different person, \”cured\”. So before getting serious with her, he wanted to see if Agnes could have an occasional drink and not have a problem with it anymore, \”because it\’s what normal people do\”. Agnes was strongly affected by that word, normal. Being normal was what she most coveted. So she drank the glass of wine he had ordered for her, and decided that nothing bad had happened. In fact, she felt quite good. And so she had another drink, and another, and another. I won\’t spoil the book any further, but this passage alone made this one of the most important books I will ever read. It made me understand how we want addicts (and people with mental and behavioral illnesses) to just be normal, and they may desperately want and try to be normal, but once their brain has been programmed by addiction, it doesn\’t just \”get better\” and go away. I think society in general still has a long way to go toward understanding addiction. I am grateful to Elizabeth Berg for recommending this book. If not for my love of her and her wonderful books, I might never have discovered this one.

I’m left emotionally exhausted as this story comes to an end. One way I rate a book is by whether or not I worry about the characters when I’m not reading it, if I find myself wondering what they’re doing while I’m at work or going about my daily business. Shuggie and his family were often on my mind and I couldn’t wait to be reunited with them in the evenings when my day was done. Being a mother myself I wanted to rescue Shuggie from his own. I could almost feel the heaviness and smell the odor of the Bain house. I wanted to get them all out of there. Now mind you, I don’t believe in violence but oh my Lord I sure wanted to outright punch more than a few of the people who were responsible for Agnes’ drinking, including her, at times. So do you see how involved I became in their lives, how concerned I was? Read this book and you will too.

Shuggie Bain is a story about a family devastated by the effects of poverty, abuse, alcoholism, and other devastating realities that came along with the Thatcher policies enacted in Glasgow in the 1980s. This was a hard book to get through; it’s subject matter often so grim and shattering that I had to step away for awhile because of how effectively it was portrayed. Well done, Stuart! Did I mention this is the author’s debut novel? Again, I say, well done! You follow the Bain family from the time that Shuggie is a young child, all the way to his teen years. Seeing the struggles as well as the brief hints of light that shine on them all, but particularly Shuggie and his mother, Agnes. Between the relationships Agnes has with the men in her life (most of which are far less than healthy) and the all too accurate portrayal of what it’s like to be the child of an alcoholic parent (is the parent the parent, or is the child the parent? Unhealthy bonds and no safe place to call home), it hits hard. This is very much a family and individual character centered story, so if that is your cup of tea then you may want to pick this one up! I’m not sure what more to say other than that this book really touched on the right places. The writing was real and it was not hard to fall deep into the world, the very true to life world that existed then and in some areas still exists today. Whilst I do believe this book is going on my “favorites of 2020” list, a few other things should be mentioned: -The dialect may take awhile to adjust to if you’re not already familiar. -Content warnings should be given for rape, physical abuse, mental abuse, substance abuse, and gambling. -Lastly, I would reiterate that this is a dark book and from personal experience would avoid reading it if you are not in a good place mentally. I was given a copy of this title from Grove Atlantic via Netgalley in return for an honest review. (And enjoyed it so much I bought myself a copy!)

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