Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
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Book Reviews of Trainspotting
Book Review: Totally brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
After getting used to the admittedly difficult language (it's written entirely in dialect), I was totally engaged by Welsh's story. This book is a brutally honest look at Scottish junkie subculture and although it isn't pretty, it's one of the funniest books I've ever read. "Laugh out loud" funny, like I think Brett Easton Ellis tries to be but doesn't quite get there. At first I wanted to throw it against the wall because the language was so difficult, but once you get used to their cadence and slang you realize that the book couldn't have been written any other way. Also, although I'm a huge Danny Boyle fan, I'd say in this case skip the movie, 'cause it doesn't even come close! Easily one of the best books of the late twentieth century.Book Review: Brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
See the movie or not, but you've got to read the book. Welsh is brilliant in his gritty, yet all-too-real, portrayal of the disaffected, heroin-addicted, corrupted, conniving, comical youth of Scotland. Welsh gets criticized for glamorizing heroin, but it's just honesty. There's got to be a reason, or multitude of reasons, why people shoot up and Welsh tells it like it is. No more no less. Shades of Burroughs' 'Junky' and Johnson's 'Jesus' Son' are here. Just different faces and places.This isn't a "Go out and try heroin now!" book, it's a fascinating glimpse into the life of a junky, and if it's too real or too right on for the mass media than Welsh has done his job. Read it. Love it. Savor it. Books like this don't come along that oftenBook Review: Literary Excellence
Summary: 5 Stars
Welsh's "Trainspotting" is a wild ride through the minds and lives of this group of Scottish junkies. This is a novel that will transcend time and become one of the most popular cult books ever. It is as vivid in description as it is in Scottish-drowned humor. The Scottish dialect only adds to the remarkable essence of the book. Soon, the reader will be speaking as one of the characters. The movie, though terrific in its own right, hardly does the novel justice. The reader is forced to look at the problems and lifestyle of Mark Renton, Sick Boy and the others. It's as close as one will ever get to being strung out on smack and living in a pit of desperate measures for their next hit without having to actually shoot up.Book Review: Buy this one (if you haven't already got it)!
Summary: 5 Stars
Welsh wrote this one while he still was a member of a writers' group in Edinburgh.
You can tell. It's a page turner, episodic and full of gallows humour, twisted morality and ultrabathos. The film won't prepare you for even a fraction of it. This and The Acid House are Welsh's finest works in my opinion (excluding his early b-sides, hem-hem).
Even Scots readers often have problems with the language at first. Try reading aloud. If you enjoyed A Clockwork Orange, you'll have no problems, however, as even sans glossary, you can work out most of the slang... for anything else, go online. Resources on this book are extensive, and it is widely held to be one of the most popular literary books of this centuary.
Book Review: Keep a strong stomach and enjoy
Summary: 5 Stars
If you truely want a book that will entertain you as well as shock the hell out of you, this may be the book for you. In this book Irvine Welsh takes an uncomfortably close look at the dark side of the human spirit as well as friendship, with one of the most vulgar and cynical texts that I have ever read. But if your wondering if this takes away from the story, let me assure that it only enhances it. This book has the type of humor that will cause you extreme guilt after laughing. I would certainly not recommend this book to everyone but I have yet to read a more facinating book. Irvine Welsh is a master of dialect and his dialogue is nothing short of brilliant. I would imagine that Mr. Welsh is probably a very good listener.