My Trainspotting experience was one of the few times that I saw the film before I read the book. And it is also one of the incredibly few times that I consider both items of equal high quality.
Irvine Welsh, for my wager, is as good a writer alive today. Although his settings are fairly specific (in this book it all takes place in the Leith district of Edinburg, Scotland–I assume Leith is a district, please correct me if I am wrong), he has a keen and wide world view. Any type of person can be profound; few are, but never should one think like the Baconites v. Shakespeare. No fancy degree certifies human depth. You would think we would have moved away from such limiting prejudices, but there they still are, all over and just as specious and snobbish as ever.
The structure of the book is a series of short vignettes featuring various people, but it all weaves together brilliantly into one complete tale. The heroin world is a peculiar hell along the border of heaven place, a strange DMZ in which the highest and lowest actions of our race happen simultaneously. There is no bottom floor in that world. The glory of heroin, and the need to at least have enough in you to escape the singular monstrosity of withdrawals make it the Only Thing that Matters. Sure, it’s terrible that the baby is dead in his crib, but give me a hit before I deal with it. And everyone involved understands that way of thinking without question (the baby in the book–apparently–died from SIDS, not neglect–but that is probably not how the Law would look at it.)
And although Welsh gives you a wonderful array of solid characters and harrowing scenes, two things set him especially up on the high. He writes completely in the local idiom, yet even an American such as I am able to get with it. He has his own lilt, like Mr. Shakespeare. And he is goddam funny. His wit flies off his work like gamma rays bursting from a super novae. You cannot create a Spud or a Begbie without a sense of humour, and Mr. Welsh shows that quality with tremendous zeal–and do not get me started on “the worst toilet in Scotland.”
I’m a fairly tough person and grew up with a view from the bottom, but you can see a lot from the low and I feel that anyone should be able to share in Welsh’s wisdom, even though it is most decidedly not Disney.
Image: An old, overcrowded bookshop with higgldypiggledy shelves loaded with volumes. From Pixabay.com
literally stories 
I enjoyed the movie (and soundtrack) and your review makes me want to read the back. “His wit flies off his work like gamma rays bursting from a super novae. ” Excellent simile and image.
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Hi David
Thank you for your great comment. I truly appreciate it. The book is amazing because it really is a collection that winds up telling the tale. And it is not a short book, either!
Leila
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Hi Leila
I like how you point out the view from the lower regions, that bring the most depth from an artist. It would have been a tragedy if Denis Johnson or Raymond Carver were born to wealth.
I’ve never seen the movie, but I definitely want to. The book sounds really good too,
Thanks,
CJA
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Hi CJA
Thank you! I wholeheartedly recommend the book and film. They are funny as hell yet harrowing and tragic all at once–as only the truth can be.
Thanks again!
Leila
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Leila
This is a book and a writer I know about but have never read. Since you’ve mentioned him in other contexts recently I put him on my list and this piece makes me even more excited to explore his work. There’s something about a marginal, desperate, yet hilarious scene that is much more interesting than the cartoonish world of your average billionaire villain. All those super-rich guys are, plain and simple, just so boring. (Hannah Arendt’s phrase “the banality of evil” meant something else but it applies to these clowns in another context.)
I also don’t remember the film very well because when I saw it in the theater when it first came out, I was so drunk I passed out and slept through most of it. Then again, I missed many movies in that manner back in those days.
But I’ve always been aware that Mr. Welsh is there and I’ll be checking out his work in more detail, because of you, not too far in the future.
I’ve also been exploring the work of the short story writer, Harlan Ellison, lately, in greater depth, because of you. I’d love it if you wrote a piece on him one of these days! What a writer, and what a character he is…He wrote over 1,700 short stories, articles, and essays.
Thanks!
Dale
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Hi Dale
Thank you! And I really should thank Hugh (and I will here and now), he was the one who told me about the wide variety of works by Welsh and, as usual, he nailed the topic perfectly.
I agree, there ain’t nothing duller than the cookie cutter super bad guy villain who is flooding the multiplexes anymore. Alan Richman was one of a kind brilliant in that role and we have so many poor copy cats (Gary Oldman is pretty good at it too). Tarantino excels at antiheroes and he really stays away from basic bad guys–even Jules and Vinnie from Pulp Fiction were more anti-heroes than anything. Same with Uma in Kill Bill. He’s what you get when a director loves film–many love money more.
Thanks again! And I hope it is not too bold that I suggest readers to check out your fine work today at Saragun Springs (saragunsprings.com)–you truly and elegantly rule the realm of Sunday!
Leila
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Leila
It’s no wonder that many people who first read the story in 1846 thought Poe himself was insane. That is truly great fiction writing, when the line between the reality and the fiction becomes blurred in the mind of the reader.
And then Michael Madsen’s (RIP) character does the same thing to Uma. The way she finally regains her calm and fights her way out of the box is brilliant. And what a symbolic life lesson it is.
As an actor and a man, Vincent Price was a great gift to literature! Among other things, he’s brilliant in a film that combines three Nathaniel Hawthorne tales (can’t remember the name).
Dale
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Hi LA
The end of Kill Bill 2 after she finds Bill will never leave me; and the rest of that film is almost as good, except that I can’t really stand to watch the Edgar Allan Poe buried-alive scenes due to my claustrophobia, which I sometimes theorize was caused by reading Edgar Allan Poe himself when I was a kid, especially “The Cask of Amontillado” (shiver), which can mark you for life in less than 2,500 words. The first time I read that story I threw the book across the room and wished I’d never read it; but for some reason I kept on going back, maybe because it’s one of the greatest revenge tales ever imagined or penned. For anyone who feels they need revenge, take your enemy and place him or her in a similar position to that of Fortunato (in your own mind only) at the end of that story. You will release the psychic tension immediately and can now go on your way.
DB
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Hi Dale
Yes, buried alive is the worst possible thing and there are many candidates.
Cask is a great story. On YouTube there is a clip by Vincent Price in which he acts the whole thing solo. The idea of it; I cannot imagine what “offense” earned that!
Leila
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Hi Leila,
Thanks for the thanks!!!
This was a brilliant tribute to a brilliant writer.
When I first read this, it was Welsh’s bravery that stood out to me. I hope that he genuinely didn’t give a fuck by how the book could have been received. To me that shows a writer who truly does have something to say.
I wonder, how many folks of the type ‘Trainspotting’ was about, read it? The idea of a hit or reading a book may have influenced the numbers.
Excellent!!!!!!!
Hugh
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Hi Hugh
I can tell you that American junkers are truly for the book and especially the film.
Funny thing there, heroin addicts (although far from the only topic Welsh writes about) love being in print! WS Burroughs, Drugstore Cowboy, etc. Not sure how healthy that is, but it is true.
I don’t think Welsh worries much, anyone who would use font specific to disease (forget the title) must be extremely dedicated to his POV.
Thanks again! (in the future you have a second reccomendation showing up on a Sunday)
Leila
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I haven’t seen either the film or read the book. You have me sorely temped with the book now. I’m sure the film is available all over the place but maybe in this case reading it would be better (at least first of all). I like a bit of dark and dastardly but I have steered away from this because somewhere I had formed the opinion that the dark was too dastardly. I’ve got it on my list now though. dd
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Hi Diane
I know that I would not be for the thing if it lacked humour. Without humour or wit the lifestyles here (or anywhere) would be utterly pointless.
Thank you for stopping by!
Leila
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