“SHUGGIE BAIN” OR BACK TO REALISM
“SHUGGIE BAIN” OR BACK TO REALISM

Summary/Abstract: “Shuggie Bain” by the Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart, a semi-autobiographical novel which was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction in 2020, strikes the reader by the realistic approach to the appalling life conditions in the outskirts of Glasgow in the 1980s and early 1990s. The plot of the novel, the setting, the characters orbiting around Agnes Bain and Shuggie, the protagonists, the language used by the author, but also the omniscient point of view speak in favor of a new, contemporary realism. On this note, Stuart is the creator of a tale of love, addiction and otherness which resonates powerfully with the contemporary reader. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that the literature of the 2020s witnesses a return to a simple, clear, empathetic way of writing.

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