Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
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Book Reviews of Trainspotting
Book Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
As a reader currently accustomed to standard paperback
bestseller crap "Trainspotting" was a welcome change. I
admit, I didn''t discover this book in its obscurity but
was influenced to read it after the great media-hype
surrounding the film, but I still feel gratitude I read the
book before watching the movie. This book, unlike other
mind-numbing American novels later turned into films,
intrigues the reader and teases his thoughts and his
perception of border lines and what is acceptable and
unacceptable. The novel never urges the reader to try any
drug but rather shows the real side of drug use, the ups
and downs of mainly Heroine and alchohol, in a funny and
provokingly interesting way. With the use of intricate
scottish slang Welsh manages to expose the dark realities of
hopeless junkie lives and bring out the humor of those empty
lives, while still incorpporating hilarious sex scenes, harsh
violence and drug use. A definate must-read, this book will
hopefully open the minds of its readers, if there is any hope
in the youth of this great world of ours!Book Review: New voices, A modern classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
Irvines Welsh's, Trainspotting, is by far one of the best books I have read to date. Welsh is able to take a simple plot, but still hold a readers attention. He has a wonderful way of making the reader feel for his charaters. No matter how demented and perverse they are. He writes about the darker side of human nature. The parts we all have, and don't admit, or refuse to ever put into words. At least not as fluidly as Welsh. I poured myself into this book. So much so, that I had to read the screenplay for movie, and the screenplay for stage. Each is a remarkable peice of literature. Dare I be bold as to say, a modern Sakespeare. If you have only seen the movie, then you are missing out. The wonderful use of scottish slang, the charater interaction, and pure morbity make this read a must for anyone who is sick of popular fiction. This book is a part of a new wave of literature creeping over from the U.K. In particular, Scotland, and Welsh is just a part. I don't suggest for the light hearted, and the weak stomached. It does have that happy ending we all like though.
Book Review: Masterpiece - through and through!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is simply one of the best written, laid out, and especially entertaining books I've ever read. The best thing about Trainspotting is that it allows you, the reader, to see everything not only from Renton's eyes (as it was in the movie) but also all the other characters. And it's this that gives you that insight into how all the other characters actually think. So, when all these scottish people are talking to you they don't say, 'I drank down twenty beers and got drunk,' they say, 'Ah drank doon tweinty bevvs and got bevvied.' Other than the incredible writing, it's an overall cool story. The best part, is that it's not confined to one set plot. When hearing 'Trainspotting' you probably just thought about heroin. In truth, the book also has a whole lot about drinking in bars, getting along with 'yer mates' and just living. It's just a story about a bunch of guys, their problems, their needles, their beers and how they manage to get away with most of it. It's just a masterpiece! Also recommended: Survivor by Palahniuk, The Losers' Club by Richard PerezBook Review: More Whacked Out + Rough Than the Film
Summary: 5 Stars
You've seen the movie, now read the book (or vice versa). Despite the phantasmagorical nature the film adopts at times, the book is even more whacked out--in a good way-- not to mention rougher in many senses. Although it flows chronologically, the novel is plotless, skipping from vignette to vignette, told by a wide range of people. The main characters from the movie are the main characters in the book, but there are a number of stories narrated by more minor characters as well. This makes the whole thing more impressionistic and loose, and of course, allows space for many more entertaining stories. There are a few scenes that get really nasty, such as a scene where Renton has sex with his just-dead brother's pregnant wife in a bathroom after the funeral. The guys are also a fair bit older than the movie makes them out to be, Begbie is a good deal nastier, etc... It's actually rather amazing they found a movie in all the stories in the book. In any event, don't be intimidated by the dialect and slang, it's great fun once you get into it.Book Review: well worth your trouble...
Summary: 5 Stars
The honesty and orginality of this work is refreshing and exciting. For the first time in my memory (aside from my viewing of the subsequent movie) I felt that an accurate and unbiased view of a very seedy sort of lifestyle was presented to me. The characters are not glamorized, nor are they condemed for their choices. They are just that - choices - and the reader is left to form his/her own opinion. Admittedly, it is rough going at first due to the Scottish phonics. But stick with it for a few chapters, read aloud when you have to and you will get use to it. By the end, the words will have ceased to be a challenge and will have become great fun.
I highly recommend it for anyone desiring a new outlook on what is beginning to become a tired story. You will not find the usual prejudice, pity, riducule or sappiness attached to other similar stories. One warning: Parents, please read it before passing it on to your teen kids. The language can be strong and drugs, sex and other 'vices' are pervasive.