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anh_read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tex2flo's review against another edition
4.0
Loads of sorrow, little hope
Every movement fills with grit or damp or ooze. Life is stilted and unchanging and horrifying. We see a non-working man’s Glasgow with a world that has little hope. It’s Agnes’ story more than Shuggie’s and regardless of the obvious movement of time, I never seemed to see Snuggie grow older. Perhaps that’s the way he felt about his relationship to his mother—never changing.
I kept hearing the Hee Haw song “gloom, despair, and agony on me.”
There’s a lot of Glaswegian dialect and patter, but the context made it easy enough to understand.
Every movement fills with grit or damp or ooze. Life is stilted and unchanging and horrifying. We see a non-working man’s Glasgow with a world that has little hope. It’s Agnes’ story more than Shuggie’s and regardless of the obvious movement of time, I never seemed to see Snuggie grow older. Perhaps that’s the way he felt about his relationship to his mother—never changing.
I kept hearing the Hee Haw song “gloom, despair, and agony on me.”
There’s a lot of Glaswegian dialect and patter, but the context made it easy enough to understand.
kinda_like_shaft's review against another edition
5.0
Even before I tell you what I thought, I blame Eugene. What the hell! You felt the slow burning disaster coming, and I felt like yelling "AGNES!! WATCH OUT!!!" but Agnes didn't heed my warning. Addiction is hard and while you're trying to recover, there's always that person telling you "it'll be okay if you just try a little." I understand the temptation (although mine is sugar and sugar byproducts - when someone brings me a cookie, I have a really hard time resisting, and if I don't resist, I want a dozen more.)
I really enjoyed this book. The language was easy to interpret, the story was moving, and Shuggie... poor sweet, loyal Shuggie. Just wanting to live his quiet life and such a responsibility.
I really enjoyed this book. The language was easy to interpret, the story was moving, and Shuggie... poor sweet, loyal Shuggie. Just wanting to live his quiet life and such a responsibility.
aness13's review against another edition
2.0
This one is tough to review. Heartbreaking story, which I now know is based on the author's life.
I think the author did a good job of telling the story of addiction; the attempts at recovery, the temptations, the failures. I also think he did a good job of explaining how dark and dreary his life was.
And that's how this book was. Dark, dreary and depressing. Which I knew going into it. But reading this book was a chore for me.
There was a lot going on in this book, so I felt like nothing really was the focus. It felt like it bounced around a lot. Like, oh yeah, mom tried to kill herself and then suddenly it's like it never happened. Moving on to the next thing. Same with Shuggie being "funny" - I feel like that was a common theme but at the same time...I don't know why it was mentioned so often because it was never really a relevant part of the story. Shuggie has a lot of traumatic things happen in his life, but we don't ever know how it affects him or how he deals with it because the book just drops that storyline and moves on to the next thing.
I guess as I write this I'm realizing that my biggest issue is that I never really connected with any of the characters. I feel like we should have learned more about Shuggie, since that's who the book is supposedly about. We learned about things he did, experiences he had, but we don't learn about him. This was a long book, and I never really learned anything other than about Shuggie's sad experiences.
I also really struggled with the dialect. I found myself having to read things multiple times to try to figure out what they were trying to say. I also had to read passages many times to figure out how we moved from one subject to the next so quickly.
1.5 stars for me.
Oh - and PS - F Eugene.
I think the author did a good job of telling the story of addiction; the attempts at recovery, the temptations, the failures. I also think he did a good job of explaining how dark and dreary his life was.
And that's how this book was. Dark, dreary and depressing. Which I knew going into it. But reading this book was a chore for me.
There was a lot going on in this book, so I felt like nothing really was the focus. It felt like it bounced around a lot. Like, oh yeah, mom tried to kill herself and then suddenly it's like it never happened. Moving on to the next thing. Same with Shuggie being "funny" - I feel like that was a common theme but at the same time...I don't know why it was mentioned so often because it was never really a relevant part of the story. Shuggie has a lot of traumatic things happen in his life, but we don't ever know how it affects him or how he deals with it because the book just drops that storyline and moves on to the next thing.
I guess as I write this I'm realizing that my biggest issue is that I never really connected with any of the characters. I feel like we should have learned more about Shuggie, since that's who the book is supposedly about. We learned about things he did, experiences he had, but we don't learn about him. This was a long book, and I never really learned anything other than about Shuggie's sad experiences.
I also really struggled with the dialect. I found myself having to read things multiple times to try to figure out what they were trying to say. I also had to read passages many times to figure out how we moved from one subject to the next so quickly.
1.5 stars for me.
Oh - and PS - F Eugene.
hbkielty's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Shuggie Bain. It is a difficult, sad, poignant story but told with warmth and forgiveness.
linka1000's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5. It would have been much stronger had it been half as long.
ebats's review against another edition
4.0
i saw roxane gay compare this to [b:A Little Life|22822858|A Little Life|Hanya Yanagihara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446469353l/22822858._SY75_.jpg|42375710] which made me want to pick it up (that, and the man booker win)--i can see it. there is a sense of hopelessness, a bleakness that is gut-wrenching. i wouldn't suggest this to anyone looking for reading-as-escape, but this was a lesson in empathy. shuggie as caretaker is just so SAD. ugh. i was a little disappointed we weren't getting more from present day shuggie--it seemed set up for a flip flop between the two timelines--but i was satisfied with how we left him.
laurgalore's review against another edition
4.0
Gray, sad, gritty Glasgow. I was rooting for Agnes and Shuggie until the last page, but life is hard.
chrissollett's review against another edition
5.0
Powerful book, the writing is gritty and enthralling, telling Douglas Stuart's autobiographical tales (I believe) of his childhood in the 80s, growing up in the unforgiving harshness of some of Glasgow's tough housing schemes. His relationship with his mother is heartrenching, her desperate alcoholism combined with misplaced pride and anger, she is ultimately let down by the various flawed and violent men in her life, Douglas Stuart's childhood journey is difficult reading, at times. All credit to him for surviving, escaping and telling his tale so skillfully and somehow remaining compassionate.