I've finished reading Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh! Bittersweet, sort of; it was the most demoralizing, crude, & raw story I believe I've ever read, & I couldn't have loved it more. It follows the lives of Spud, Sick Boy, Renton, Begbie and Scotsmen, who all struggle with addiction in Leith. Most of the characters are hooked on heroin, or other heavy drugs, along with alcohol & womanizing. The novel is basically a compilation of short stories, which forms the plot. Each story is structurally different, varying in points of view, time (it is not linear) & expressed in phonetic Scottish. Needless to say, that can be very confusing & sometimes tedious with all the slang and strange spelling, but it makes the book last longer. So this:
"Ah went tae Augie's, St. Augestine, likesay, then Craigy, eh Craigroyston, ken. Ah jist pit doon Heriots because ah thoat it wid likes, help us git the joab."
Translates to this:
I went to Augie's, St. Augestine [a school], you know, then Craigy, eh Craigroyston [another school], ya. I just put down Heriots [an upper class school] because I though it would like, help me get the job.
When Welsh writes through his characters in first person, it's written through their stream of consciousness, revealing their every thought towards the event taking place. Although the book is about addiction, there are parts that I related to in strange ways; passages about life that I understood, despite referring to dugs. It also includes many song references (Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, The Proclaimers [who are from Leith], Iggy Pop etc...) which I see as a plus. So, if you like dark, crude humour, & don't get offended by extremely explicit language/situations, you should pick this sucker up.
P.S. It's also a movie, which I have yet to see, & is supposedly very graphic & controversial... so I'll probably like it.
14 April 2011 at 22:28
Hello Chloe,
I really enjoyed your view on this novel. You showed me a few pages in english and even read some out loud to me. From what you showed me it really seemed like you were engulfed with the novel. I appreciate you writing this enthralling blog post. The page I saw had many dirty words and I know how much you enjoy that kind of literature (Cindy loves when you read those kinds of books too!)
This post was enlightening.
love you long time.