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By: WELL 016
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2025-05-26 14:51:31 |
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Some of us liked it a lot, but others found it was too grim and so didn't finish it. |
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By: WHITIAN 001
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2025-01-15 11:53:54 |
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A very sad story which a few of our group found too confronting. Led to a good discussion. |
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By: DUNED 118
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2024-10-14 20:06:23 |
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The group enjoyed this despite the hard life depicted and the way the characters lived. It wasn’t difficult to read. |
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By: NELS 050
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2024-05-22 11:35:57 |
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A fabulous book. The characterisation and non-judgemental viewpoint enabled us to look past the situation and see the people. A difficult read but very worth the perseverance with the sadness of their situation. |
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By: CHCH 171
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2024-05-01 12:46:21 |
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Very grim but beautifully written. An important read - giving insight into 80s UK under Thatcher. Great characterisation. |
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By: WHANGA 004
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2024-01-10 13:37:54 |
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A tough read. Well-written, sad and disturbing content, but worth the effort. |
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By: SUTHER 001
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2023-11-13 10:14:34 |
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Took some perseverance to get to the end as it was so traumatic and sad. Was well-written with great descriptions. People with alcoholism in their families were not keen to read it though. |
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By: CHCH 532
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2023-11-06 14:01:24 |
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Heart-rending, brilliant and gripping. Led to a wonderful human discussion. |
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By: TAKA 004
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2023-10-18 14:27:13 |
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Bleak and beautiful with vivid imagery and characters that linger long after reading. Many members didn't finish due to heavy content. Trigger warning for sexual assault, child abuse and addiction. |
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By: MAST 004
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2023-09-13 12:32:57 |
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Thoroughly depressing but brilliantly written. Well deserved 'Booker' winner. |
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By: RAWEN 001
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2023-09-13 12:31:50 |
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A "meaty" book. Good descriptive writing of life living with an alcoholic. Good descriptions of poverty and life in the UK after Maggie Thatcher closed the pits. |
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By: GORE 001
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2023-07-06 14:50:42 |
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A profound and unsettling book - 2 members chose not to finish it. Others appreciated the passion and compassion needed by the author to put the story together with strong word pictures, brief flashes of humour, "beautiful" (sic) depictions of individuals and their quirks. A powerful read. |
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By: NELS 015
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2023-06-07 14:59:02 |
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Enjoyed the writing style, and although it was a grim story there were a lot of light moments. We thought the description of living with an alcoholic was told with sensitivity and great humour. What an amazing feat to write with such objectivity about a horrible experience you have lived. |
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By: TAUR 005
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2023-05-31 13:16:40 |
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Small and faint print made this difficult to read. The Large Print version was appreciated. The book highly ranked by the majority. Gave great insights into many aspects of Glasgow life and living with an alcoholic. |
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By: CHCH 478
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2023-05-03 13:52:14 |
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This book brought strong reaction from the group. The ongoing struggles of Shuggie Bain and his family was extraordinarily sad to read. The writing style was delightful and descriptive to the point of creating lasting and vivid memories. |
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By: PALMN 031
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2023-04-20 14:59:03 |
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We all enjoyed this book - but oh so sad! |
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By: WHAKA 003
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2023-04-12 13:22:39 |
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Our Group thought this was one of the best books for quite some time - beautifully written and a sad and poignant glimpse of alcoholism, but with love at the heart. Virginia Larsen's notes were also extremely well put together and thoughtful. |
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By: HUNTER 003
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2023-03-22 10:36:55 |
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I laughed and cried, the story stayed with me and I still think about it. Not everyone read it, but those who did enjoyed it. |
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By: WHANG 015
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2023-03-22 10:35:14 |
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Only a few read the book, and of those that did, one loved it, and 3 struggled. Not because it was badly written, they just found the subject hard to read about. |
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By: WAIKA 014
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2023-03-22 10:31:51 |
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A beautiful portrayal of a community steeped in desperate times. Another family's fight for individual survival of addiction. Our hearts were mutually in grief for Shuggie. |
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By: HINDS 001
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2023-03-01 13:32:54 |
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Very detailed story. Wonderful descriptive language. Hard to get into story at first but once hooked we had to keep reading. Much discussion on alcoholism. |
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By: WANAK 001
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2023-01-27 12:26:14 |
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Rather grim reading, but well worthwhile! |
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By: WELL 134
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2022-11-17 11:49:32 |
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We all acknowledged this was a hard book to read, but we felt the story was compelling and the writing beautiful. It was hard to believe that the story wasn't an autobiography, but the fact that Douglas Stuart had re-created it from memories of his early life gave the story reality; and helped to protect any people who might otherwise have been identified. |
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By: HURUN 001
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2022-09-23 14:53:35 |
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Lots of discussion. |
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By: JERV 001
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2022-09-21 11:34:13 |
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So well-written, but so hard to read about the ground-down lives caught in poverty, alcoholism and dysfunction. A book where the characters really get to the reader. Really hard to comprehend this 'normal'. This will not be everyone's choice of book but skilfully done, with autobiographical elements. |
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By: HAVE 005
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2022-08-01 12:27:31 |
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A very powerful story, very well-written, which gripped our group. Lots of interesting discussion. We all thought that there was hope for a happier future for Shuggie. |
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By: TIMAR 011
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2022-06-27 11:37:08 |
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I found it an utterly absorbing book. I loved the anecdotal approach, and the beautiful writing with such clear fresh images. The subject matter is bleak and challenging. I have alcoholism in my family and could feel for Shuggie. |
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By: ROTO 013
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2022-04-29 12:37:17 |
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Polarising book - some couldn't get past the first chapter, others loved it and found it very moving. |
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By: WHANG 022
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2021-10-27 12:40:13 |
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Loved this book - except for one of us who speaks English as a second language, who found the Scottish accent quite hard to follow. All characters were sympathetically written about - sad and beautiful. |
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