No spoilers. Explicit Language.
I thought I'd enjoy this in the same way I enjoyed A Clockwork Orange. Interesting language devices, violence, drugs, an antihero that makes you really think about the human society etc.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. What's the book about? Well in a nutshell, it's almost a collection of short stories, revolving around the lives of a group living in Edinburgh who are all either on heroin, have other addictions. or are affected by those addicted. It covers all the typically associated - alcoholism, violence, HIV etc. It's mainly from the perspective of Mark Renton, or Rents, who tells us about his daily existence - on heroin and off - and about his interactions with his friends, other 'classes' of society and himself. However the story does occasionally switch to the POV of other characters, who are often introduced to the reader without any backstory or warning. This can get a little confusing. You have to be on the ball with this book. Not least because of the dialect.
As with the Nadsat in Orange, once you get into the Scottish dialect of Trainspotting, it's fairly easy to read. It just looks daunting initially. Top tip: Put aside at least half an hour to begin the book. It's not something I found easy to just 'dip into'. I needed time to get used to the way it was written, then I was away. A random example below:
"Naw but, listen the now. You jist think aboot it. In the army they dae everything fir they daft cunts. Feed thum, gie the cunts cheap bevvy in scabby camp clubs tae keep thum fae gaun intae toon n lowerin the fuckin tone, upsetting the locals n that. Whin they git intae civvy street, thuv goat tae dae it aw fir thumsells."
That's a fairly easy example. It's actually very clever and I wish I had the skills to be able to pull something like this off. Reading this book feels like your emotions are getting slapped with a wet, very Scottish, fish. You'll feel disgusted, you'll laugh, you'll feel actual scorn and hatred, you'll want to punch something and you'll want to hug the characters all within half an hour.
So what's got me essentially feeling a bit...meh, about Trainspotting. After all, it's hailed as a cult classic, "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent". Danny Boyle made a film about it in 1996. I think I'll watch the film, as it will be interesting to see how some of the scenes play out onto screen. Fans rave about it the world over. So what on earth is my problem?
I just...didn't really get the point. Nothing had really changed by the end for most of the characters. I understand the message that the image of a classless society is a false one. I understand that it's making big points about reality and image. Everyone associated with Rents is messed up somehow. I understand the points it made...I just didn't care. Which sounds horrible. But there was no plot. No resolution, apart from the notion of escape at the very end. But it doesn't even put that across fully, as Rents will never really be free, because of the actions he performs at the end of the novel. I didn't care because a lot of the time, the character of Rents made me not care. I thought I'd feel the same way about Rents that I did about Alex in Orange- emotionally tied - thinking about the bigger moral picture. Maybe that's my problem, I'm trying too much to compare it to Orange. I just can't help it. They're similar, but Trainspotting just didn't leave me as thoughtful afterwards. I didn't really care what happened to Rents. He was a very selfish character. And I think that's what got to me the most. There was nothing to like him for because he cared for nothing and no-one really apart from the big H.
One thing I did like about Trainspotting was that it painted a very real, bleak and sometimes pure gross image of what taking drugs can do to a person. We're talking grim here. It didn't sugar coat anything. The times Rents talks about how heroin is the best thing since sliced bread:
“take your best orgasm, multiply the feeling by twenty, and you're still fuckin miles off the pace”
are really shot down by the picture painted of the aftermath and effects. If you're teen has just read Junk by Melvin Burgess and thinks that there's not really anything too bad that can happen if you take hard hitting drugs, because everything will turn out okay in the end, get them to read Trainspotting and they'll probably run a mile if offered.
Blah. This has been a very ranty review. I'm finding it difficult to put across my feelings for this one. I think it's worth a read. Because it will make everyone feel different things. It didn't offend me, it just wasn't my cup of tea. So, onwards we read.
Over and out.
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