Trainspotting (Book) REVIEW

Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh, tells the story of a group of Scottish youths involved in an endless cycle

or drugs, sex, HIV, death and sobriety. The book moves in a somewhat linear, chronological order, however each section is told from a different persons point of view, giving different understanding to actions, repercussions and inner-turmoil each person feels. The groups main choice of drug, albeit the only one they really have an addiction is Heroin, ergo the title Trainspotting, a Scottish saying for trying to identify and locate a drug dealer or connection. The main characters of the book are Renton, Daniel, Simon, Franco Begbie, Tommy, Rab and Davie (although each has a nickname that they refer to each other as). Each of the characters goes through a personal struggle in the book because of their problems with drugs and alcohol.

• ·      Davie contracts HIV
• ·      Tommy starts off the novel avoiding heroin, but ODs on it when his girlfriend dumps him
• ·      Renton (the main character if one has to be picked) blames himself for Tommy’s death and tries to sober up
• ·      Simon’s daughter dies while he is on an intense heroin binge

    At the end of the book, Tommy has died and the gang heads to London for a heroin deal, unfortunately for the rest of the gang, Renton steals all of the money and flees with it to Amsterdam, leaving the rest behind.

   This book helps to demonstrates a lot of Scottish culture in the 1980s apart from the drug side of life in the UK. It often mentions the rain, and even when the sun is out their clothes are always wet and their trousers and jeans never seem to be dry. There is a lot of racism within the Scottish community depending on what accents people have, the city they reside in, and where their parents are from. There is a lot of distaste for Northern Ireland talked about, and a few times when the characters are on a really big bender or coming down from a high their internal monologue dissects racist remarks that they make about themselves and others (like being lazy, hard working, or how terms that used to be used for blacks are thrown around for Scotsmen now).