Trainspotting
A Novel By Irvine Welsh
Trainspotting is a captivating story of the random events that occur during a critical
time in a group of Scottish junkies' lives. Irvine Welsh illustrates the confusion,
anger and turmoil many heroin addicts are subjected to and what happens once they try to
quit.
The story is centered around Mark Renton, an ordinary twenty-two year old who was raised
by a loving mother and father. He has two brothers: one was catatonic and the other was
an overachiever. Through court-mandated therapy he was told he envied his parents and
resented his older brother. This was what contributed to Rents (what his friends call
him) starting to use heroin.
Bit by bit the reader is introduced to Rents' friends, cousins, friends' of friends,
parents, friends' parents, the list goes on. Anyone with relevance to the life of Mark
Renton, the reader meets sooner or later. Everyone in Rents' life is messed up or gets
that way somehow. His friend Begbie, for example, is an unhappy little man. He feels he
has to make himself seem tough by surrounding himself with ?friends? who do nothing but
boost his ego by letting Begbie put them down. Aside from being on and off heroin, his
good friend Danny Murphy, or Spud (as everyone calls him) is a habitual thief. His friend
Simone is nicknamed Sick Boy for good reasons. When he is high he hears voices in his
head willing him to do evil things. He likes to shoot dogs as their masters are taking
them for a walk, and he enjoys using women for nothing but sex.. Rents' date on occasion,
Hazel, was abused by her father when she was young, and she chooses to shoot up to solve
her problems. Rab McLaughlin, or Second Prize, drinks himself into oblivion every chance
he gets. Davie, a cousin of Renton's has recently become HIV positive from a girl who was
raped by a psychopath. Davie chooses to take revenge on him by pretending to kill the
only thing he ever loved, an illegitimate child the psycho fathered but is no longer
allowed to see. Tommy, Davie's and Rent's friend, was the only one of the group who was
completely normal. He even had a beautiful girlfriend that made him the envy of many of
his friends. But when the two of them broke up, he became the most wasted on heroin of
the whole lot.
Throughout the story Rents is on a rollercoaster of highs and lows; trying to kick his
habit and being so wasted he doesnt care about anyone or anything
There is no intricate plot to this story; just small bits and pieces that give the
reader insights into each characters' life. There are amusing anecdotes and deep thoughts
to contemplate all on one page. The author does a great job conveying his feelings,
through the characters, to the reader. It takes a while to adjust to the dialect the
story is written in. Also, in some parts it is hard to know who is speaking as almost
every chapter is written in first person, with different characters speaking to the
reader.
The complex plot is that there is no plot, the meaningful theme is that there is no
theme; it is just one boy's struggles with himself, the people around him, and a hard,
cruel world.
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