| Trainspotting | 
 enlarge | Author: Irvine Welsh
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $0.69
You Save: $13.26 (95%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  179 reviews
Sales Rank: 39390
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 348
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0393314804
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780393314809
ASIN: 0393314804
Publication Date: May 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Irvine Welsh's controversial first novel, set on the heroin-addicted fringe of working-class youth in Edinburgh, is yet another exploration of the dark side of Scottishness. The main character, Mark Renton, is at the center of a clique of nihilistic slacker junkies with no hopes and no possibilities, and only "mind-numbing and spirit-crushing" alternatives in the straight world they despise. This particular slice of humanity has nothing left but the blackest of humor and a sharpness of wit. American readers can use the glossary in the back to translate the slang and dialect--essential, since the dialogue makes the book. This is a bleak vision sung as musical comedy.
Product Description
For the first time in hardcover with the original jacket art: "The best book ever written by man or woman...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."—Rebel, Inc. Trainspotting is the novel that first launched Irvine Welsh's spectacular career—an authentic, unrelenting, and strangely exhilarating episodic group portrait of blasted lives. It accomplished for its own time and place what Hubert Selby, Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn did for his. Rents, Sick Boy, Mother Superior, Swanney, Spuds, and Seeker are as unforgettable a clutch of junkies, rude boys, and psychos as readers will ever encounter. Trainspotting was made into the 1996 cult film starring Ewan MacGregor and directed by Danny Boyle (A Shallow Grave).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 174 more reviews...
 brilliant! August 23, 2008
After reading Trainspotting I had to ask myself what else I've been missing. The main characters are addicts, junkies, heavy drinkers and a sicko or two, with heroin as the star here. It's an alien culture to me, but I just couldn't put the book down, dialect and all. I also have no clue about this subculture of underclass in 1980s Scotland, but Welsh writes it as if he's been there and followed this group of people around. I won't go into the plot here (there are lots of places you can find info on this book), but at times I was horrified to find myself actually laughing in the midst of what seemed several pointless and hopeless situations - in appreciation of some scenes of incredibly black humor. At the same time, I found myself getting into the characters emotionally, seeing them as people who are disenfranchised on many levels. Welsh does a superb job of capturing the anger, boredom and disconnection of his characters (who come off as being very real) showing both the positives & negatives of friendship & other emotional connections in a series of small, connected vignettes, told in chronological order.
Very well written; I highly recommend it. If you get stuck while reading it, there's a glossary in the back; I found myself at least at first trying the dialect orally and after a while it wasn't even noticeable and the book flowed. Readers of Palahniuk or other writers who have the ability to capture the rage of a generation might enjoy this one, but this book is definitely not for everyone.
Yeah son May 23, 2008
I was a little skeptical at first. Loved the movie, but only so many good movies are made from good books. Excellently written. Had to get accustomed to the phonetic Scottish accent, but it allowed for the creation of recognizable narration styles that you come to recognize throughout the book. Wonderfully written- unyielding, brutal. Fantastic.
By Adam W., a 7th Grader May 21, 2008
Trainspotting is a brilliant book that delves deep into the mind of an addict. Or more so addicts, as there are multiple narrators through out the story. Each chapter is a short story but yet a somewhat central plot ties them all together. The main character (who's in most of the chapters) is Renton, a drug addict and a failure to his parents. Through out the book he engages in many various, disgusting, vile things as well as an attempt or so to stop his addiction after getting another addicted and seeing the horrors of heroin.
Everything has pinpoint accuracy. Even the language and the accent is perfect. There are certainly some strong points in the fact that you can actually feel the need for heroin and how the characters become slaves to it. It's an uncommon, unbiased view.
Trainspotting has no candy coating. There is no kid friendly wrapping, it's all the terrible truth. However it's still hilarious. It's the kind of dark humor that's not expected in a book about addicts.
The plot isn't terribly complex. It's a rather loose one, since it's just a bunch of short stories. Renton and his buds are druggies, and they basically do a lot of drugs and various assosiated acts. Renton introduces Tommy to heroin early on, which ends up affecting his conscience later on.
I would not advise skipping over reading this book to see the movie. Both are absolutly brilliant but the book is different. Going into their minds is dark, real, and somewhatr funny. Everyone should read this book that doesn't mind 8 swears a paragraph and constant vile activities.
One Of My Favorites March 27, 2008
Sure the movie is fantastic, pretty much everyone will agree on that, but to really get the full story one has to read the book. Yes, as alot of people will say, it is hard to understand at first because of the dialect, but Welsh is a master at the Scottish dialect, and to truly be absorbed "intae" the story, you have to have that key component.
Welsh brilliantly combines all emotions here over a rollercoaster ride through the drug scene in Scotland. An absolute must read for any book lover. Read "Filth" also. Welsh is flippin great.
 A solid primer in modern Scottish vernacular... December 18, 2007
Although it took me about 30 pages to get the hang of the language, I found Trainspotting to be a intriguing balance of crass humor and sub-cultural commentary, with the occasional note of revelation.
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