Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Crime

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

beckymfrancis's review

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No

1.0

Very difficult to read!

Content Warnings

foxo_cube's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

I have read this at least once before. I think I read it when I was 18? maybe another time also? But I hadn't re-read it for some time. The first time I read it, it was in two sittings, and I had no clue if it would hold up to how much it gripped me back then.

It is, indeed, very compelling. If you've read a lot of Irvine Welsh, then it certainly isn't the most... Irvine Welsh book. A lot of his other books are a bit more playful in their narrative techniques, I think - my personal favourite being the tapeworm in Filth, probably. The parallels of Ray's history and the stuff happening in the present is well done, though.

This is also probably one of the more sanitised Welsh books that I've read, myself (which I know sounds awful given the subject matter - I just mean it's less graphic and nasty comparatively speaking). This feels like Welsh trying to write a more "normal" piece of crime fiction/thriller. That said, it's probably a mercy given that it's about, you know, child abuse. It still has his hallmarks, though - Scottish protagonist from a working-class background; drug and alcohol abuse; some light left-wing political commentary; lots of moral ambiguity.

Even if it isn't totally perfect, I am giving it a high rating anyway, because it's fantastic! It's horrible and so hard to read but it's hard to stop reading, too. I think the way that Ray, Tianna, and Les (the latter in less detail) are shown to respond to their history of CSA is fantastically portrayed. They all react differently and go different routes to deal with what happened to them. I kind of wish we saw more of Robyn because I do really like her: she is mostly used (successfully, I'd say) as an example of how somebody being abused can leave them more open to abuse later on in life.

It does seem that Welsh tried to approach the subject matter as delicately as he could, but the gentleness that's pretty uncharacteristic of his writing doesn't obscure the sheer nastiness of it all, which I really do think is admirable.

One little detail I do like is Ray's tendency to assume, in his head, that most people around him are nonces. I do think that it is, firstly, a call-out of how common it is for paedophilia to be brushed under the rug (famous examples come up sometimes, like Elvis marrying Priscilla when she was 14), but it also is to the point that even Ray acknowledges it goes to the extent of paranoia. I have a similar habit, so it just stands out to me.

I do think Trudi could have been a bit more important a character, but then a lot of her interactions with Ray are a lot more focused on how Ray is struggling to communicate properly with her and so she remains clueless as to how bad things are. She does really love him, but for a lot of the book she's a bit overly vapid, and it seems a little unfair - even if I do think some of it is a deliberate way of characterising her as easily dismissed as far more shallow than she is. Maybe I'm giving too much benefit of the doubt, but there're a few little bits of Trudi lore scattered here and there that led me to think that.

The best thing about the book is the surprisingly heartwarming relationship of Ray and Tianna as he panics and tries to get her to safety with a family friend of hers. Tianna is understandably wary, and Ray's thinking "oh god oh fuck this is a ridiculous idea this is a random child but I can't live with myself knowing more shit could happen to her" and that builds to a really lovely familial dynamic. He's Uncle Ray from Skatlin :)

Welsh books often don't come to nice happy ends, but this one does, and honestly, I'm glad. I sometimes find it kind of unsatisfying when an end is too neat, but after everything that happens? nah, Ray and Tianna and their respective friends and family need a fucking break.

This is probably one of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors. I'm glad that it held up to my recent re-read.

Content Warnings

lofrando's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

This book is one of the greatest books I have ever read. The plot is dark and real, the characters are complicated and nuanced. The main character's journey throughout this story is so overwhelming, I could not put this book down until it was done.

The way Irvine Welsh can spin heartwrenching prose from utter depravity is a talent in its own right, and adds to the overall tone of the novel. Lines like

Lennox's excited head fills with the notion that our bodies and souls desire the poison, crave the superhuman promise and temporary madness it offers; the chance to throw off all the shackles of deceny, surely the prerequisite to real intelligence and love.

dig right into the heart of what it means to be human in a world that isn't so black and white, good and bad, cut and dry.

We are human because we are complicated, and we are complicated because we are human. And some select people have the capacity to be truly deplorable, but that doesn't give them the right to drag us all down with them.

IMPORTANT: This book is extremely graphic, so proceed with caution. The content warnings should be attached below, please take them seriously.

Content Warnings