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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Excrement, Lesbophobia
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Too many things to talk about in this book. Let's just say I loved the cast and the authenticity. Mark Renton and every person interconnected with him in this book are so interesting. And it never preaches, which is what books dealing with drugs, crimes and other social problems tend to do.
I think I've learnt a lot from this book, really.
I must say I had higher expectations for the ending, but maybe after a re-read I will figure out what the author wants to convey. The initial chapters though, were breathtaking. I will never forget the things that went through Renton's mind as he scrambled in a dirty toilet for the rectal morphine pill. Or David Mitchell and Alan Venters' baby.
I think I've learnt a lot from this book, really.
I must say I had higher expectations for the ending, but maybe after a re-read I will figure out what the author wants to convey. The initial chapters though, were breathtaking. I will never forget the things that went through Renton's mind as he scrambled in a dirty toilet for the rectal morphine pill. Or David Mitchell and Alan Venters' baby.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading this it struck me that a novel like this would be just as successful today as it was when it came out. Maybe the subject matter would be a little different but the frenetic style and pace lends itself a timeless modernity. In the film Starship Troopers there is a gag where after every fake commercial a voice says would you like to know more. With this book it felt the same way. After every story, I kept clicking yes to go deeper down the rabbit hole. Where it leads who really knows but that’s sort of the point.
challenging
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars
okay so after reading the first few pages and discovering it was written out with the Scottish dialect in mind, i did have to immediately grab the audiobook to help out with comprehension (i actually can’t recommend the audiobook book enough though, it is such a great narration!!). BUT this book was such a brilliant read. the multitude of short stories inside offered so many emotional arcs and insights. it’s primarily a character driven narrative, and that shows in all the different positive and negative lights these characters are exposed in.
Given i read this after watching the movie i was already primed to love Renton, Spud and Sickboy (though Sickboy did have less of a presence than I thought he would). However there were also so many more characters that never made their way into the movie that wormed their way throughout the book that really held their own. (especially freaking chapter 25 “Bad Blood” 👀👀👀 fuck me!)
Overall: this was such a black hole of a book. every time i opened it it felt like i was completely being pulled into the world. I actually adored reading it.
okay so after reading the first few pages and discovering it was written out with the Scottish dialect in mind, i did have to immediately grab the audiobook to help out with comprehension (i actually can’t recommend the audiobook book enough though, it is such a great narration!!). BUT this book was such a brilliant read. the multitude of short stories inside offered so many emotional arcs and insights. it’s primarily a character driven narrative, and that shows in all the different positive and negative lights these characters are exposed in.
Given i read this after watching the movie i was already primed to love Renton, Spud and Sickboy (though Sickboy did have less of a presence than I thought he would). However there were also so many more characters that never made their way into the movie that wormed their way throughout the book that really held their own. (especially freaking chapter 25 “Bad Blood” 👀👀👀 fuck me!)
Overall: this was such a black hole of a book. every time i opened it it felt like i was completely being pulled into the world. I actually adored reading it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Written in phonetic scottish, this can be challenging until you parse the dialect. A series of moments written like a stream of concious, details the lives of Renton, Sickboy, Spud, Tommy and Begbie, and the various others that inhabit their world and lives. The vague structure is broken into parts, when they're on heroin, when they've kicked when they're back on heroin before ending like the film adaptation.
This is written based on the experiences of Irvine Welsh, who developed a heroin habit and took to scamming extra giros and shoplifting to fund his habit. Every page is detailed in a way, that you get to experience second hand, what its like to be at the bottom, and at moments through Renton it drips with scorn for non junkies, who spend their lives living 'more productive' lives.
With the exception of Spud who is the chill member of the friend group, non of the others are decent people, they use violence and scams to rip off anyone they can, and barely like each other, hanging out together because they always have.
Though initially hard to get into, this is a book that is worth reading, and provides a snapshot of the late 80's in Edinburgh and Scotland.
This is written based on the experiences of Irvine Welsh, who developed a heroin habit and took to scamming extra giros and shoplifting to fund his habit. Every page is detailed in a way, that you get to experience second hand, what its like to be at the bottom, and at moments through Renton it drips with scorn for non junkies, who spend their lives living 'more productive' lives.
With the exception of Spud who is the chill member of the friend group, non of the others are decent people, they use violence and scams to rip off anyone they can, and barely like each other, hanging out together because they always have.
Though initially hard to get into, this is a book that is worth reading, and provides a snapshot of the late 80's in Edinburgh and Scotland.
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
read "cunt" so many times it stopped feeling like a real word after a while.