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jacquelinepon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, Rape, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Drug use, Alcohol, Terminal illness, and Sexual content
yossy_cookie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The main thing to be aware of is the writing style. The book is written entirely in Scottish dialect, quite a lot of which is phonetic, which forces you to read it in a Scottish accent and it also uses Scottish dialect words. It took me about 20 or so pages to get used to - once I was used to it, I was able to read at a reasonable speed and wasn't really thinking too much about it (until I got to a bit that I didn't understand and had to re-read/think about). I didn't like it at first but I did as the book went on, I felt that it got me more into the characters heads and lives. If you aren't used to the Scottish dialect though, I think that this would be a really difficult book to read.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, and Sexual content
jamesphillips0108's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Cursing
amethystd28d4's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- I'm sure the Edinburgh dialect is off-putting to some, but Welsh's storytelling simply wouldn't be the same without it. There's a flow to the writing that makes it an addictive read (which is more to do with Welsh's skill than how our speech translates to the page), and it really does the dark and deadpan local sense of humour justice.
- Every character's voice is so well-defined, partly because this is a bunch of short stories put together, but there's never anything in the title telling you this is a Renton part, a Sick Boy part, etc. You can tell immediately within the text whose voice you're hearing.
- When I was a teen I was reluctant to start this book as I already knew it had more focus on women than the film, and anything "gritty" written by a man automatically rings the alarm bells. I LOVED how women were written in it though, and I actually appreciate it more now that I'm older. Not to praise men for the bare minimum or anything, but I've always felt like Welsh deserves more credit for his ability to sympathise with other points of view to the extent that he can write through a woman's eyes without objectification. Something I appreciated this read-through, though, is how this goes both ways - female characters are allowed to be every bit as disgusting as the men are, with the same self-awareness and no external judgement.
I hope one day I also get to squeeze a tampon into the soup of an English tourist - On that point about self-awareness, it's this quality that allows Welsh's characters to at once navigate their darkest thoughts, recount their worst actions, but still invite you in for more. Renton in particular traverses many sore subjects - Scots vs English, Catholic vs Protestant, black vs white...the real beauty of the book is that as horrible as these characters' actions are, the philosophising from them is nowhere near the eye-rolling slog we've come to expect from white male authors. For a novel set in the 80s and published in 1993, the politics that Renton lingers on are insanely relevant to Scots of the same age here in 2021, and actually verbalises a lot of the apathy, but ultimate rejection of bigotry, you'll hear from any pro-indy Scot under 35 today. These characters may be challenging, disgusting, and morally reprehensible in many ways, but the last thing you can accuse them of is being alienating.
Anyway, this is very much an "If you want to know me, read this" book for me, and I implore you to give it a try if you can handle the content warnings. Just do us all a favour and don't embarrass yourself by trying to write the accent yourself when you come back to leave your review, eh?
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Xenophobia
moonandmadness's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
noreen's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, and Violence
niamcat's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Child death
theneverendingtbr's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Anyway enough of the movie..
This book was absolutely brilliant, I now understand why it's such a cult classic.
It's written so well, the character development is spot on, it's dark, it's hilarious and a true masterpiece.
Go read it ya radge! 👊
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence