Last Tuesday’s meeting on Zoom made for a great discussion about Shuggie Bain. Thank you to Ian Pendleton for leading the discussion.
Our Book Club’s review follows:
‘Our book clubbers approached with trepidation Shuggie Bain, the 2020 Booker Prize winner that told a tale set in the 1980’s wastelands of Glasgow. Was it too long, probably; too bleak, certainly; too tragic, without a doubt. But it got us all in and sparked a very lively discussion.
Shuggie is the young ‘odd’ son of Agnes, the potentially glamorous, selfish, loving, alcoholic mother who is looking to live a bigger, better life – but can’t escape her thirst for lager and a series of abusive men. The slums of Glasgow are brilliantly described and the characterisations memorable. Comments ranged from ‘full of horrible people’, ‘misery porn’ and ‘brilliant but unbearable’. The clubbers rated the book from 4/10 to 9/10! Three word summaries included ‘Alcoholic Reality Tale’, ‘What a Waste’ and, more enigmatically, ‘Despair Confronts Hope’.
Next up is Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason, Tuesday 29th March at 17.30.
Silence of the Grave is a crime novel set in Reykjavík. The novel forms part of the author’s regionally popular Murder Mystery Series, starring Detective Erlendur.
Human bones are found buried in a construction site in Grafarholt. The police start investigating only to uncover dark secrets from 70 years ago and in a parallel narrative we hear the story of an abused woman from the same time, who is somehow connected to the bones…
To join the Book Club or RSVP to the next meeting, please contact events@tattersallsclub.org
