Scan barcode
thomasdj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Vomit, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Death, Sexual assault, Excrement, and Child abuse
Minor: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Murder, Fatphobia, and Miscarriage
camila_v'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Addiction
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Hate crime, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal cruelty
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
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