{"id":12475,"date":"2026-06-14T09:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/06\/14\/john-of-john-by-douglas-stuart-how-home-loss-and-religion-tear-apart-community-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T09:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:33:25","slug":"john-of-john-by-douglas-stuart-how-home-loss-and-religion-tear-apart-community-reviews-culture-socialist-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/06\/14\/john-of-john-by-douglas-stuart-how-home-loss-and-religion-tear-apart-community-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"John of John by Douglas Stuart: How home, loss and religion tear apart community Reviews & Culture – Socialist Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Main\n

Main character Cal balances on a fine line<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In his third novel John of John, Douglas Stuart has shifted from his usual scenery of urban Glasgow. He opts for a narrative set on the Isle of Harris and draws on the experiences of island life.<\/p>\n

The story focuses on the relationship between father and son, John and Cal. After graduating from art school in Edinburgh with no job prospects, Cal is called home to the island by his father.<\/p>\n

Throughout the novel Cal is pictured as being in a liminal space.<\/p>\n

He balances on a fine line in every aspect of his life\u2014between the mainland and the Hebrides, between Gaelic and English, between his foul-mouthed grandmother and his God-fearing father.<\/p>\n

John is a stoic and hard-working crofter\u2014a type of small scale farmer\u2014and weaver. He is unable to understand his son. This causes tension, expressed through Gaelic, silence and violence.<\/p>\n

John finds himself with no freedom on the island. He is bound to the church with its constant criticising eyes, unable to be with the one he loves and under threat of losing the croft he has worked his whole life.<\/p>\n

Yet, unlike his son, he has no desire to leave.<\/p>\n

The father and son are so separate, through their religion, experiences, education and personalities. Despite this, John craves intimacy and tenderness with his son. But he has no way of expressing this under the hyper-masculine role he thinks he must play.<\/p>\n

Stuart has commented that this story reflects how religion informs a community.<\/p>\n

The community is collectively self\u2011reliant, with the women especially going to great lengths to help each other. It is the only way to survive in such dwindling conditions.<\/p>\n

The role played by religion and religious hierarchy gives the community a sense of direction and stability.<\/p>\n

But rather than this being a progressive and positive camaraderie, it makes the community feel ashamed of and suspicious towards people they have lived alongside for generations.<\/p>\n

In the novel, there are beautiful images of nature, colour and the significance of island culture and heritage. However, we are not led blindly to believe that these are the realities of island life.<\/p>\n

Stuart makes it abundantly clear through his writing that the cultural fruits of the Hebrides rely on the unjust poverty the community faces.<\/p>\n

The book highlights the paradox people feel between being disconnected from home, whilst yearning for the place of their youth.<\/p>\n

The novel asks the question, who has the courage to leave? And who has the courage to stay?<\/p>\n