Of course, that makes him a perfect target for Hamish and the other louts of Glasgow’s East End. When the book opens, Mungo is getting on a bus with two questionable-looking men, heading off on a fishing trip up north somewhere. He’s sixteen but looks much younger. His mother is waving good-bye from the window. In case anyone is wondering if “Young Mungo”, is as good as “Snuggie Bain”, by Scottish-American Douglas Stuart, the gifted 2020 Booker Prize winner - the answer is YES!!!! Norwegian: Unge Mungo. Translated by Hilde Stubhaug. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. 19 May 2022. ISBN 9788205563469. a b Self, John (May 2022). "Prize-winner reprises and rediscovered tales". The Critic . Retrieved 24 February 2023. We’ll look after ye, Mungo. Nae worries. We’ll have some laughs, and you can bring yer mammy some fresh fish”.

This is going to be the very first ARC I am rating as a 1 star and I hate doing this. But giving it two stars will not represent my experience accurately. It was just a waste of my time and a terribly frustrating read. The only reason I didn’t DNF it was that it was an audiobook. Dutch: Mungo. Translated by Kitty Pouwels and Josephine Ruitenberg. Amsterdam: Nieuw Amsterdam. 7 April 2022. ISBN 9789046829417. Anderson, Porter (14 December 2022). "Douglas Stuart's 'Young Mungo' Is on Scotland's Highland Book Prize Longlist". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. Young Mungo is anxious, needy, sweet, naive and terribly neglected. He is Other and is adrift and friendless until he meets James. The tenderest and sweetest of love unfolds and then...chaos, violence, hurt along with deep care, hope and a yearning for the wider world and connection to nature and beauty.I attempted this several times before my netgalley arc expired, but it sadly wasn't to be. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong because I loved Shuggie Bain and, in many ways, this is a very similar kind of story with a similar tone. I never read Shuggie Bain but saw it got lots of accolades. So, I was excited to listen to Stuart’s second book, Young Mungo. But I really struggled with it. It’s not a bad book. In fact, it’s incredibly well written. But it’s such a sad, deep, dark, ugly, depressing story, I had to force myself to keep with it at times.

It was a funny thing to observe; near strangers who had shared some of their deepest shames, their most vulnerable moments, were now gathering to make small talk about the weather or if If it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s snobbery and one-upmanship. People trying to pretend they’re superior. Makes it so much harder for those of us who are”. Chow, Andrew R.; Feldman, Lucy; Gajanan, Mahita; Gutterman, Annabel; Haupt, Angela; Lang, Cady; Zornosa, Laura. "The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022". Time. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2023.Boasting Stuart's masterful storytelling and characterisation, Young Mungo follows Protestant Mungo and Catholic James as they tentatively fall in love amid the brutal landscape of sectarian divide, family dysfunction and the ever-present danger of living an authentic life. The fear of discovery is constant and Mungo and James dream of escaping the grey city, especially from Mungo's elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. Both this and Shuggie could very well stand having sequels written, and it's a sign of a great book that the author leaves you wanting MORE of his characters, and eager to find out the next chapters in their lives - they are that real to the reader. If the quality of Stuart's writing continues to be of this high caliber, he going to have to make room for more awards on his trophy shelf - I would be amazed if this doesn't garner at LEAST another Booker nomination, and perhaps even take the crown again in 2022. I also predict it will be a smashing critical and popular success when it is published in late April

Kelly, Hillary (31 March 2022). "Review: How Douglas Stuart subverts the Victorian coming-of-age plot". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. Quinn, Kevin (9 April 2022). "Young Mungo, Booker Prize winner's follow-up to Shuggie Bain, is another bleak story of a queer adolescence set in Scotland". Post Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 April 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. There is such an ominous tone to the story and you can't help thinking that this won't end well for our young protagonist. But you read on hoping for a chink of light in the darkness of his miserable life. Douglas Stuart is masterful storyteller and he has created an unforgettable character in Mungo. It's a powerful, heartbreaking tale from one of the very best writers around. I lost my hair at 21 and that was really rough. Sometimes, I grieve for all the wonderful hair styles I could have had.

His debut novel, Shuggie Bain, is the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize. It won the Sue Kaufman award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Book of the Year, and the Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021. It was also Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Shuggie Bain was a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, the Pen Hemingway Award, the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, The Rathbones Folio, the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award, and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize. It's a long time since I've felt such sympathy for a fictional character. Mungo is so confused and anxious - he even has a tic that makes his face twitch when he gets stressed. He yearns for compassion from Mo-Maw, treats her like a queen and gets nothing in return. When his friendship with James looks like it might turn into something more, you're absolutely rooting for him. If anybody deserves a shot at happiness it's poor Mungo, a caring, thoughtful boy who has been dealt such a bad hand. My thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “Young Mungo”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook. I’m very sorry this worked out so badly.

They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. At one late stage Mungo lists the disappointment of others and what they have called him “Idiot. Weakling. Liar. Poofter. Coward. Pimp. Bigot” – all the more heartbreaking as coming in many cases from those closest to him. The boys become friends, and when Mungo later realises James is Catholic, he keeps it secret. Both boys are lonely, neither has had any real friends, and as they gradually grow closer, they begin to feel a romantic attachment which takes them both by surprise. Charles, Ron (5 April 2022). " 'Young Mungo' seals it: Douglas Stuart is a genius". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. When I read the first sentences, I knew this story would be just as dark and disturbing as Shuggie Bain is. So, I tried to keep my emotions at bay. But I didn’t last long, and soon my feelings poured out of my body. My eyes got wet, I almost slammed on the table in anger, and my stomach contracted. But at other times, the corners of my mouth pulled up, and I had this warm feeling in my chest because Douglas Stuart added such a wonderful layer to this story, one that Shuggie Bain didn’t have: a sweet love story between two fifteen-year-olds who explored their sexuality so tenderly.A touching, tender tale of boy meets boy in the bleak tenements of Glasgow . . . Superb' – The Times ‘Best Summer Reading’ Stuart began writing Young Mungo in 2016, after setting aside the finished manuscript of his first novel, Shuggie Bain, due to frustration that he was unable to find a publisher for it. [1] He finished the novel in 2020, before winning the Booker Prize for his first novel. [2] At the time, the novel was tentatively titled Loch Awe and was described by Stuart in an interview as, "a love story between two young men who are separated by territorial gangs, on opposing sectarian lines." [3] The title Loch Awe referenced the fishing trip that Mungo takes in the novel and, according to the author, was changed to Young Mungo to denote the protagonist, the same approach as in Shuggie Bain, as Stuart claimed the two works formed a single "tapestry" alongside this novel. [1] In spite of everything, Mungo adores Mo-Maw (as Shuggie Bain did his mother), and when drink changes her, he’s the one who cleans her up and gets her to bed. The kids then refer to her as Tattie-bogle, which is the Scottish word for scarecrow. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, after receiving his MA from the Royal College of Art in London, he has lived and worked in New York City.