Episode 94 - TALKING BOOKS: Exploring Young Mungo

I invited Daily Maverick's Mark Heywood (himself an author, and
also a well-known activist who has spent decades fighting for
justice) to join me to talk about Young Mungo, the second novel
written by brilliant Douglas Stuart. Stuart won the Booker Prize
for his stunning debut, Shuggie Bain.

I couldn't ask for a better guest than Mark. He has a deep love
of literature and of reading - he really remains a student of
literature - and he found the evocative writing of Stuart in both
of his novels to be moving, and a brilliant exposition of
important structural realities and injustices in Great Britain
that endure beyond the 1980s. 

In this podcast episode, we delved into the major themes of these
works (with a closer focus on Young Mungo). With Mark's intimate
knowledge of the country where he spent time during his early
years (he was schooled in Yorkshire), and of his beloved South
Africa, he shone light on the many interesting layers beneath the
shocking, dramatic and melancholic storylines of/in Young Mungo.
The comparisons between Glasgow/Scotland, and our own
community/communities here, are manifold. 

[Enjoy the podcast. Buy the book. And remember to subscribe to In
The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser before you leave your preferred
podcast platform. Kindly also rate the podcast on your app, and
leave a comment.]

Here, for your further interest, is my written review of the book
too:

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/opinion-and-analysis/2022-05-19-book-review-the-quiet-violence-of-young-mungo/