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A review by ishcrux
Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
If you went straight from Trainspotting to this you might have some whiplash. Irvine Welsh takes you on a very bumpy ride between Pasts present and a coma induced dreamlike near psychosis. The novel half written in Scottish phonetic spelling which can be difficult to translate on the fly if you aren't used to it. It has a quick flow and the story goes back and forth between semi lucids states of our unreliable narrator. The book content is challenging, rough, sobering and dark. See content warnings for some idea.
The only thing that breaks up the downward slope of the story are the more than colourful range of characters, echoing true Scottish personality and language. So many "fucks" and "cunts" that you will struggle to find a page where there aren't less than 5 on each page. The swears become more of a punctuational-peppering rather than a usual filler of expletive.
The writing is good, I was engaged. Even if the content was often messed up. I didn't like Roy, but I'm not supposed to. It's a good book that I probably wont ever read again, there is little edifying about it except for the demonstration in style.
The only thing that breaks up the downward slope of the story are the more than colourful range of characters, echoing true Scottish personality and language. So many "fucks" and "cunts" that you will struggle to find a page where there aren't less than 5 on each page. The swears become more of a punctuational-peppering rather than a usual filler of expletive.
The writing is good, I was engaged. Even if the content was often messed up. I didn't like Roy, but I'm not supposed to. It's a good book that I probably wont ever read again, there is little edifying about it except for the demonstration in style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Classism