Customer Reviews:
 Fortune's Always Hiding January 28, 2008
I'm half way through reading Ecstasy, after having read Trainspotting and seeing the film. I've also seen the film Green Street and can't stop seeing the parallels between the story of Green Street and the second story, Fortune's Always Hiding... I've looked around online to see if there's a reason for this but have come up with nothing... Has anybody else noticed this?
A collection of entertaining yet sadistic stories December 19, 2007
"Ecstasy" is a hard read. It explores the likes of sadism, drugs, ultra violence, necrophillia, rape, and disturbing writing. Yet, it is somehow funny and entertaining. It explores three stories, all revolving around the "Acid House" scene, which involves a lot of partying, smoking, drinking, sex, and taking drugs (they varify from light-weights such as weed, to heavy-weights like heroin and ecstasy). It explores the same culture as "Trainspotting" and the similiar "The Acid House".
The first story, entitled "Lorraine Goes To Livingston", involves the life of Rebbeca Navarro, a best-selling romance novelist, discovers the truth about her corrupt, pornography-loving husband. With the help of Lorraine, her sexually confused nurse, she plots her revenge. Another nurse at the hospital, Glen, has been secretly admiring Lorraine but after a night at a club, decides to pursue her friend Yvonne instead. Meanwhile, Glen has been accepting money from Freddy Royle, a necrophiliac TV personality. The hospital trustee's turn a blind eye to Freddy's nefarious pastime but have to do some fast talking when the new coroner begins asking questions.
"Fortune's Always Hiding" is the 'Tenazedrine'. It's about a victim and her lover whom seek revenge on the drug's marketing director.
The longest story, The Undefeated, presents slice-of-life episodes from the lives of two recreational drug users. Lloyd, an aging clubber, begins to question his life and considers the possibility of falling in love.
The stories are always intresting, and sometimes gripping to read, however, I did have trouble with the annoying encounters of the books in the first story. Rebecca's stories are not crucial to the storyline, or in fac the character(s). They get irritating and annoying, but that is however the only downfall, for me, of the entire work. I think it's a fantastic piece of literature of a brilliant working-class writer.
 it's not just about ecstasy February 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I can see why people would be dissappointed with this book if they wanted an insight into MDMA. The real focus in the book are the characters, not the drug.
In my opinion this book is up there with trainspotting, the plots move at such a speed that it is hard to put down, with the narrative styles changing to keep things interesting. Yes it is at times shockingly twisted, especially near the beginning, but this leads you to empathise with the far more normal charcters presented in the last tale. Highly Recommended.
 astonishing yet strangely wonderful October 14, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'd never read one of Irvine Walsh's books before this one but my sister had recommended him many a time so I thought I'd attempt it. It wasn't an easy read, the narrators chop and change in each story and Walsh writes the dialogue exactly how they speak it (which could be hard to understand if you've never met anyone from Scotland)! Some of the subjects that crop up in the first 2 stories are slightly disturbing but they kind of give you a gross intent to keep on reading. The last story was definitly my favourite as I felt like I was on drugs myself whilst reading about Lloyd's life. And the humour is rich - I found myself laughing loudly on many trains whilst reading this book! A good read but not for the faint-hearted.
Extremely Accurate December 16, 2001
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
I picked up Ecstasy while wandering around Europe and honestly only bought it for the title...I used to be into the whole lifestyle and I wanted to see how another author would try and fail at accurately describing the experience of a good pill...after reading it I can say that while the storylines werent the greatest, the descriptions were wonderful...especially the last story...it not only describes how your stream of thought runs while on a pill but gives you an insight into the mentality of someone who uses not only for the first time but also someone for whom the newness has wornoff...and also does something i once thought impossible...it also gets you into the head of someone whos tripping......absolutely wonderful dialog of consciousness and well written....welsh could have put more thought into the stories but overall i would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about ecstasy or acid or to anyone who has every tried them
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