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A review by amandajwampler
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
5.0
Picture: me, sobbing and trying not to throw up at 1:30am, and thinking about calling out for work tomorrow.
I was a little nervous because the overall rating for this book is SO HIGH, and it was also compared to A Little Life (which IS one of my favorite books, but I’m not eager to read many more like it). So, for the record, I don’t really agree with the claim that this is just like A Little Life—I feel like all sad books are being compared to that book now even though there is a lot more to distinguish A Little Life from other sad books. Anyway.
This book was nauseating at times, heartwarming at others, and it made me feel the most angry I’ve ever felt while reading a book. The contrasting tender, warm moments and the dark, horrific ones were created with incredible elegance. Stuart crafted moments of “life lessons” without it ever feeling too cheap (see: first half chap. 24… the most incredible scene he could’ve added to the book). He also crafted moments of despair and pain without it leaning into trauma porn (I know, I know, it’s a buzzword, but it is often used to describe books like this).
I have to applaud his writing, because some of his metaphors he used to describe situations were so vivid and understandable, but not ones I would ever consider— “It was like hot buttered toast when you were starving. It was that good.” Like cmon, that’s wonderful.
Mungo was also an incredible character. As he is described, “Mungo was a deep well of goodness” (AND THIS DESCRIPTION WAS USED AT THE MOST PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR HIS CHARACTER WHICH I WON’T SPOIL). The dimensions to his character, along with the fact that we see him through other peoples eyes, made him such an incredible person to learn and grow with.
This was the most back and forth book I’ve read. Unlike most of my favorites books, it was not automatically a favorite for me. Especially as it got towards the end, I was wary that the book would end in a disappointing way. The five star rating and the shelving as a “favorites” suffices to say that it was not disappointing.
OH I will note that I had a very hard time with the dialogue written in a Scottish accent. I got used to it, but it definitely slowed me down at the start.
I’ll leave you with one last quote that… just… “A fissure Mungo hadn’t known about cracked open in his chest; beneath it was a hollow feeling that had never bothered him before”
I was a little nervous because the overall rating for this book is SO HIGH, and it was also compared to A Little Life (which IS one of my favorite books, but I’m not eager to read many more like it). So, for the record, I don’t really agree with the claim that this is just like A Little Life—I feel like all sad books are being compared to that book now even though there is a lot more to distinguish A Little Life from other sad books. Anyway.
This book was nauseating at times, heartwarming at others, and it made me feel the most angry I’ve ever felt while reading a book. The contrasting tender, warm moments and the dark, horrific ones were created with incredible elegance. Stuart crafted moments of “life lessons” without it ever feeling too cheap (see: first half chap. 24… the most incredible scene he could’ve added to the book). He also crafted moments of despair and pain without it leaning into trauma porn (I know, I know, it’s a buzzword, but it is often used to describe books like this).
I have to applaud his writing, because some of his metaphors he used to describe situations were so vivid and understandable, but not ones I would ever consider— “It was like hot buttered toast when you were starving. It was that good.” Like cmon, that’s wonderful.
Mungo was also an incredible character. As he is described, “Mungo was a deep well of goodness” (AND THIS DESCRIPTION WAS USED AT THE MOST PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR HIS CHARACTER WHICH I WON’T SPOIL). The dimensions to his character, along with the fact that we see him through other peoples eyes, made him such an incredible person to learn and grow with.
This was the most back and forth book I’ve read. Unlike most of my favorites books, it was not automatically a favorite for me. Especially as it got towards the end, I was wary that the book would end in a disappointing way. The five star rating and the shelving as a “favorites” suffices to say that it was not disappointing.
OH I will note that I had a very hard time with the dialogue written in a Scottish accent. I got used to it, but it definitely slowed me down at the start.
I’ll leave you with one last quote that… just… “A fissure Mungo hadn’t known about cracked open in his chest; beneath it was a hollow feeling that had never bothered him before”