Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Trainspotting
Book Review: An novel of pure genious.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first saw the film Trainspotting I was blown away by one of the funniest and most creative films I had seen since Pulp Fiction. When I discovered there was a book behind this remarkable film, I was determend to read it. Borrowing my sister's copy, I spent about a month going through this book's 345 pages (it didn't take so long out of boredom, I'm just a slow reader), and I ended up with only one conclusion...I HAD JUST READ ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER!! Trainspotting is a hilarious, violent, and even sickening book that takes us into and below the lives of a group of junkies in Edinburgh, Scotland. It takes us into the minds and emotions of several characters, all who at one point in time act as narrator. The book is about heroin, sex, fighting, dead people, almost dead people, stealing, cheating, but most importantly, friendship (or lack of). It is a truly remarkable book which, as "Reble, Inc." says, "deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."Book Review: Are we straights really that different from junkies?
Summary: 5 Stars
I couldn't put it down. I was amazed at the self-annihilating
depths to which young people can sink. Welsh's exquisite
writing illuminated for me that the seemingly insane
rationalizations the characters invoke, to themselves and to
others, are different from those used by the rest of us
only in degree.Book Review: BRILLIANT!
Summary: 5 Stars
This brilliant piece of work deserves more than 5 stars! The Scottish is written phonetically, which makes it fascinatingly complex (for those of you who can't understand the first few pages, it gets easier! One of the most enthusiastic, witty, living books I have ever read. After reading Trainspotting, you will UNDOUBTEDLY become a huge fan of Irvine Welsh....he is the insane genius of the written word....JUST READ IT!Book Review: Better than Bible!
Summary: 5 Stars
In the darkest corner of a drug fuelled Scottish sub-culture, its members being sociopaths of the highest order, Irvine Welsh exposes the truth about societies fringe, delving from personal experience as an unemployed, drug using Scot. He, and his characters, resemble "normal" more than the common man dares to allude. Trainspotting is undoubtedly aimed at the general population in Western society who are so willing to prejudge members of certain sub-cultures. Heroin is tool unto which the protagonist, "Rents", uses to kick against society- his philosophy being, "ah choose no tae choose life". He and his "associates" habituate in the working class city of Leith, Scotland. The mentality unto which the heroin users live is that, "nothing exists in ma life except masel and Michael Forrester (heroin)". It is a sub-culture where nothing else in the world matters but getting to the next hit, which Rents claims to be virtuous, as it is an escape from reality...life.Trainspotting is a post-modern novel. It the narrative is a series of disjointed anecdotes unlike a carefully constructed novel in literary traditions. This allows it to aim at a wide range of people within society who it is attempting to communicate with, each of them being able to relate to Trainspotting on their own individual levels. Every anecdote is a narrative of events, in both first and third person perspectives. The novel rotates through perspective, giving a voice to the unheard people in our society. Trainspotting gives us a unique perspective on ordinary events in ones life through the eyes of unordinary people. This is important, as it allows Trainspotting is an important way Trainspotting relates to a broad audience. The characters are not narrating the story; it is simply a digest of their thoughts. Trainspotting chronicles how what may seem as exceptional and anti-social behaviour occurs to the junkies, and their subsequent acquaintances, as normal. For instance, throughout the book the character drink alcohol with the sole purpose of intoxication and regularly solve disputes through violence.
When Trainspotting is being narrated in first person perspective it is written in phonetic Scottish. The character all speak in a distinctly Scottish sociolect of the lower class, using words such as ken, radge, scoobied, likesay, giro and bairn. Their speech is also filled with expletives. This could possibly isolate non-Scottish readers with little tolerance for other cultures- the type of people Trainspotting is seeking to enlighten. Rents is Welsh's authorial voice, which he has cleverly setup so that it is conceivable that Rents has a sophisticated vocabulary (because he was a university drop out). This is mixture of language aptly communicates to many levels of audience and also serves as breaking certain clichés and stereotypes of lower socio-economic sub-cultures by the fact the author of the book, which would be considered in some circles "high brow", is (or was) a member of this sub-culture.
Trainspotting's social ideology is vehemently disestablishmentarianism,. The characters, particularly Rents, reject all of societies institutions such as education, parenthood in the traditional sense, employment and politics. "... them all," asserts Sick Boy. The characters themselves are constructed in a way where really on the rejection of institutions to live their lives, the reason that they become a sub-culture. Society, in Rents opinion, is filled with "boring middle class ...". People in Western society who are willing to pre-judge people are almost always tied into institutions, particularly political institutions.
It is an imcredibly powerful book that indeed does "deserve to sell more copies than the Bible".
Book Review: Book that depicts brilliant realism
Summary: 5 Stars
'Trainspotting' is a book that has suffered from becoming a sucessful film. Many readers will only come to the book after seeing the film itself and will therefore be forever comparing the book with the movie. However, as a book it screams comedy, realism and social comment. At first difficult to read, as it is written in Glaswegian dialect, it creates a real sense of being young in 1990s Britain, facing the prospect of lifelong unemployment and seeking escapism from reality through the use of drugs. 'Trainspotting' is brilliant in the way that it addresses social problems, creating some funny moments that are always somehow tinged with sadness and thus requiring the reader to use their minds and challenging them to face the realities of the situation. Welsh explore social attitudes and doesn't hold back in expressing any views about the wider cultural problems that face the youth of Britain today. I would recommend eveyone to read this book, to stick with the unusual writing style as it does get easier to follow, and to enjoy the book for what it is and to abstain fromn the temptation to constantly compare it with the film starring the gorgeous Ewan McGregor.