Book Review - Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart
Before I started ‘Young Mungo’ I wondered if Douglas Stuart could use the same world as ‘Shuggie Bain’ and make it feel like a different book. Perhaps he had mined so much of that setting that it would feel overly familiar. I was interested to compare the two.
In many ways ‘Young Mungo’ feels like a sequel to the authors previous Booker prize winning title, as it picks up in the nineties, just where we left Shuggie. Mungo lives in a tenement with his mother ‘mo maw’ (who he loves) and her drunken alter ego ‘Tattie-bogle,’ a shambolic and occasionally pathetic figure, some of whose drunken antics put me in mind of Agnes from Shuggie Bain. But she’s largely an absent mother.
It’s sister Jodie who mostly cares for him, a smart girl whowants away from Agnes, who she largely despises as a bad mother. Also featuring in Mungo’s life is his psychopathic brother Hamish, leader of the local billy boys, who put me in mind of Begbie from transporting. Sectarian violence plays a big part in the schemes.
The heart of this book is Mungo’s friendship with a local Catholic boy, James, who looks after pigeons. Their relationship is evocative and tender, and the dovecote becomes a sanctuary, and they dream of escaping Glasgow.
It’s mostly told about Mungo in the third person, with the occasional short diversion to Jodie and Hamish, and a couple of minor characters, and again, Stuart makes these characters feel just as real. The narrative is divided into alternating chapters - a fishing trip that takes place the ‘may after’ and Mungo’s life ‘the january before,’ so we always know some event has taken place. There’s a creepiness to the fishing trip and a sense of dread that I found hard to shake.
Like Shuggie Bain, this is a completely immersive book. But dare I say it, and I love Stuarts writing, but I found it a bit long. And some of the violence means that it’s definately not for the faint of heart. But that slight criticism aside, this book is an experience, from the vernacular and characters to a world that feels fully realised. There’s few better storytellers than Stuart operating at the momment.
When his books are this good, and such an experience, I hope that Douglas Stuart continues to mine the Glasgow world of his childhood. Emotionally I found this tough going, and the writing is so visceral at time that it punches you in the gut. Would definitely recommend it.
Book review Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart