Why you should read Shuggie Bain (If you haven't already) | The Booker Prize Podcast, Episode 30

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Published on January 25, 2024 4:08:57 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX71CcIPvEE

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Duration: 37:43

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A happy Burns Night to one and all. In honour of this day of celebration for ol' Rabbie Burns, and by extension all Scottish literature, we're taking a dive into one of the most popular Booker Prize winners: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. The novel, Stuart's debut, presents a blistering and heartbreaking exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents.

In this episode Jo and James:
- Share a brief biography of Douglas Stuart
- Summarise the plot of Shuggie Bain
- Discuss their thoughts on the novel
- Delve into the characters, particularly Shuggie and his mother, Agnes
- Consider the idea of the divided self in Scottish literature

Reading list:
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/shuggie-bain
- Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
- Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/loitering-with-intent
- His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/his-bloody-project

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/the-booker-prize-podcast-episode-30-shuggie-bain

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The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades. Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.

Previous winners include The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, The Promise by Damon Galgut, Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The Bone People by Keri Hulme and many more.

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