Download Shuggie Bain By Douglas Stuart Pdf Ebook

Genre : Literary ,Books ,Fiction & Literature ,Family

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2020

'An amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love' The Booker Prize Judges

It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life. She dreams of greater things: a house with its own front door and a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect, but false, teeth). But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and soon she and her three children find themselves trapped in a decimated mining town. As she descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest.

Shuggie is different. Fastidious and fussy, he shares his mother's sense of snobbish propriety. The miners' children pick on him and adults condemn him as no' right. But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.

Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain lays bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the limits of love, and the hollowness of pride. A counterpart to the privileged Thatcher-era London of Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty, it also recalls the work of Édouard Louis, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, it is a blistering debut by a brilliant novelist with a powerful and important story to tell.

LONGLISTED FOR ABIA INTERNATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021

PRAISE FOR SHUGGIE BAIN

'A debut novel that reads like a masterpiece, Shuggie Bain gives voice to the kind of helpless, hopeless love that children can feel toward broken parents.' Washington Post

'The way Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting carved a permanent place in our heads and hearts for the junkies of late-1980s Edinburgh, the language, imagery, and story of fashion designer Stuart's debut novel apotheosizes the life of the Bain family of Glasgow . . . The emotional truth embodied here will crack you open. You will never forget Shuggie Bain. Scene by scene, this book is a masterpiece.' Kirkus Review (starred review)

'It's a formidable story, lyrically told, about intimacy, family, and love.' Elle

'Magnificent . . . Its richly rendered events will give you a lot to talk about.' O, the Oprah Magazine

'A boy's heartbreaking love for his mother . . . as intense and excruciating to read as any novel I have ever held in my hand . . . The book's evocative power arises out of the author's talent for conjuring a place, a time, and the texture of emotion . . . brilliantly written.' Newsday

'Beautiful and bleak but with enough warmth and optimism to carry the reader through.' Graham Norton (via Twitter)

'Not only does [Stuart] clearly know his characters, he clearly loves them . . . Stuart describes their life with compassion and a keen ear for language . . . Such is Stuart's talent that this painful, sometimes excruciating story is often quite beautiful.' San Francisco Chronicle

'Every now and then a novel comes along that feels necessary and inevitable. I'll never forget Shuggie and Agnes or the incredibly detailed Glasgow they inhabit. This is the rare contemporary novel that reads like an instant classic. I'll be thinking and talking about Shuggie Bain-and teaching it-for quite some time.' Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased

Review:

$uper$ecretary

Endlessly depressing

Tried really hard to persevere with this book, but it just got me down in the end. Endlessly depressing and bleak.

Wally Trout

Shuggie Bain

Harsh and tender, bitter and callously cruel. Despite clearly characterising the weak, blunt and dark aspects of human nature, I found that I couldn’t stop reading every word!

Cap'n Bryzo

Mesmerizing

An enthralling insight into a society in decline.

JanMcFran

The Tyranny of Love

At times this book is difficult to read but is always thought provoking. For me, the first section was slow going as the dialect needed to be deciphered. This was soon resolved and the flow of dialogue became easier. The emotional ties and interactions, however, became more difficult to read as the story developed and reading slowed for thinking and reflection. This is not an easy book to read but is well worth the effort. A book to keep and to reread.

Mcmarji

Not for the faint hearted

Shug Bain is a tragic and depressing read but very well written. It is poignant, frustrating and totally engaging.

BobMctavish

Magnificent

I adored this book. The author has taken the most depressing of circumstances and turned them into something altogether beautiful in its grittiness. Just gorgeous.

rhitc

Bain of my existence

3.5 stars Author Scottish. Born and raised in the slums of Glasgow. Since receiving an MA from the Royal College of Art in London, he has lived and worked in NYC. He's had a short story published in The New Yorker, and took ten years to produce his debut novel, Shuggie Bain. Plot Hugh "Shuggie" Bain grows up in public housing in Glasgow during the Thatcher era. Unemployment, alcohol, drugs, and violence feature prominently. The Shugster's old Mum is a hopeless alcoholic, but he still loves her. And did I mention he's gay. Characters Shuggie, Agnes his mother, various dodgy friends and acquaintances. Narrative Third person Prose Vivid, torrid, depressing, exhausting Bottom line There are similarities to Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting and related titles, but they were set on the opposite side of the country where the accent is different. Mr Stuart injects a fair bit of Glaswegian dialogue here, but I found it easier to understand than Mr Welsh's work, possibly because I've listened to a lot of Billy Connolly over the years. Take paroxetine before reading.