Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
After finishing the book, it was no shock to me that Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart’s very first novel, was chosen as the 2020 Booker Prize winner. In this equally painful and beautiful novel, Stuart has crafted an intimate and personal story about a family struggling with addiction, poverty, sexuality, and not fitting in, framed within the cultural and historical contexts of 1980’s Glasgow. While the story is specific to this location and time, the depth of Stuart’s characters allows them to transcend time and place, allowing modern readers from any location to either relate personally to the suffering of the characters in the novel, or at least consider how many of the issues covered in the book have persisted into the 21st century, and not just in Scotland. In addition to Stuart’s selection of complex conflicts and a politically interesting setting, he expertly utilized literary techniques—specifically framing, foreshadowing, and round character development—that ensured the novel was not simply a good story, but a work of art well-deserving of first place for the Booker Prize.
The reader is introduced to Shuggie in 1992. He is fifteen, living on his own in a rented room, and working at a deli. Stuart provides the reader with a single chapter, just a quick glimpse, of this Shuggie, then leaps back to 1982, where a five-year-old Shuggie is living with his mother, father, two half-siblings, and maternal grandparents in Sighthill. I think this choice of framing elevated the novel, creating a sense of both nostalgia and curiosity for readers throughout the entire book. Nostalgia because the reader is aware that they aren’t experiencing Shuggie’s present with him, but rather joining him in reflecting on his past. Curiosity because the reader is constantly wondering “How does Shuggie get from here to there?” It’s impossible to read the novel and not become invested in this unique and touching character. In this short introduction to the novel, Stuart packs in several foreshadowing gems that spark the readers memory throughout the remainder of the book, further adding to the sense of nostalgia surrounding the book, as the reader ends up feeling like they are reflecting on distant childhood memories along with Shuggie.
Stuart has a true talent for character development. His novel is rich with fully dimensional characters that are believable, often relatable, and serve a purpose to the plot or a more important character’s development. I cannot think of a single flat character in novel. Nor can I name a particular antagonist. While at times, the reader may want to label Shuggie’s alcoholic mother, dead beat father, or one of his many “uncles” the bad guy(s) of the novel, as Tara K. Menon said regarding Shuggie Bain, “The only villain in the story is Margaret Thatcher” (Menon 142). Stuart gives all his character’s the depth to be hated and pitied, disliked but understood. He paints the landscape of Glasgow so artfully, the crumbling infrastructure, the abandoned mines, and shipyards, the out of work “jakeys” and their desperate wives and ex-wives. Through his descriptions, he created an incredibly immersive setting for his characters to interact with and exist in, so immersive that readers can imagine the pain and suffering of living in Scotland, under Thatcher and the harsh economic conditions her policies created, regardless of their experience in or knowledge of 1980s Scotland.
This element of Stuart’s novel is what I believe elevated it above This Mournable Body. Both are very political novels and grapple with complex economic, social, and cultural issues specific to their location and time. And both are beautifully, though quite differently, written. However, in my opinion, Stuart was able to weave the politics of Shuggie’s story into Shuggie Bain more effortlessly than Dangarembga was able to weave the politics of Tambu’s story into This Mournable Body. In other words, I felt that outside knowledge of Zimbabwe’s historical, political, and economic circumstances not only made the novel easier to understand, but also made the novel more profound. On the other hand, I think readers with minimal knowledge of Scotland in the 1980s could still understand Shuggie Bain and, if unable to see the political profoundness of the novel, could at least glean other profound insights from the novel, such as the freedom of self-acceptance or the understanding that you cannot force an addict to recover.
I will add that I believe there are two possible reasons for this observed difference between the novels. The first is that Tambu is a much older character who is not reflecting on her childhood and is instead looking forward into the unknown and dealing with adult issues. Her awareness of her country’s history and politics, and how they have affected her throughout her life, are major elements of her character. Tambu being a Zimbabwean woman is extremely important to who she is. Shuggie, on the other hand is a child (or teenager) with minimal awareness of how politics is affecting his life. While he can see the adults in his life suffering from joblessness and addiction, he is barely aware that politics or the economy are something he could blame. And for Shuggie personally, being “no right” is more important to who he is than being Scottish. The second possible reason for this observed difference is that I am an American, and therefore more likely to understand a story based in a Western country without added context, simply because the culture, politics, and economic issues are more like my experience.Shuggie Bain was an excellent novel, truly deserving of the 2020 Booker Prize. Douglas Stuart has proven himself a talented author with his debut novel. I am genuinely excited to read his future novels.
