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Glue
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
With a title like Glue, it would seem reasonable to assume that Irvine Welsh's new novel is a profound reflection upon the pitfalls of solvent abuse. In fact, the glue of Welsh's book deals with the bonds that unite four boys growing up together in "the scheme", the "slum-clearance" flats of Edinburgh, whose optimistic construction in the 1970s give way to the poverty, unemployment and crime of the 1980s and 1990s. It is this despair that defines the lives of Welsh's central protagonists: Terry Lawson, work-shy and sex-mad; Carl Ewart, budding DJ; Billy Birrell, boxer, and Andrew Galloway, a drug addict who tests HIV-positive.
Glue is a bildungsroman of growing up bad, recounted in Welsh's inimitable style. The novel follows the boys through their early forays into sex, drink, drugs and football violence, written in the author's trademark vernacular. Carl Ewart poses crucial questions such as: "How dae ah chat up a bird?" and "Do I wear a rubber johnny? (If so, nae problem, I've started trying them on so ah ken how tae fir them)". Welsh also attempts occasional political comment on the friends' difficulties: Billy Birrell reflects: "Having money is the only way to get respect. Desperate, but that's the world we live in now." However, Welsh is better at grotesque moments of sex and violence and offhand one-liners, such as: "Guilt and shaggin, they go the gither like fish 'n' chips". Fans of Trainspotting will love Glue, even down to the brief appearance of Begbie and Renton, but others may feel that the novel is just more of the same, and that this performance finds Welsh stuck in a rut. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
"Welsh is brilliant in what he does... This is his most readable and memorable novel since Trainspotting." - "Independent on Sunday"
"Full of incident, mad, crackling dialogue, attractively appalling characters, and some of the funniest and rudest sex scenes I have read since Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint... wild, brave and funny." - "Sunday Times"
"Full of incident, mad, crackling dialogue, attractively appalling characters, and some of the funniest and rudest sex scenes I have read since Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint... wild, brave and funny." - "Sunday Times"
"From the Trade Paperback edition." --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
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First Sentence
The sun rose up from behind the concrete of the block of flats opposite, beaming straight into their faces. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
The sun rose up from behind the concrete of the block of flats opposite, beaming straight into their faces. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Just like Oasis, Welsh shot into the public consciousness with a staggering debut ("Trainspotting") and has spent the rest of his career trying, and failing, to match it. 1999's "Filth" came pretty close, but the tapeworm sub-plot showed that Welsh still hadn't got over his penchant for playing literary games instead of doing what he does best, i.e. characterisation and dialogue.
With "Glue", however, he is definitely back to his best. On the face of it "Glue" sounds similar to "Trainspotting", following as it does a group of mates from the Edinburgh schemes as they get drunk, stoned and generally battered & bruised over a 4-decade period.
But the book is as much about Scotland, and Britain as a whole, as it is the central characters. Welsh's grasp of period is faultless, as he traces the social changes in British society from the 1970s through Thatcherism and the E generation to the present day, and the way his characters either ride the wave or are swept away.
The usual Welsh elements are all there - drugs, booze, sex, football, humour, swearing, politics - but for the first time there's a maturity here, a soul, a desire to place the characters and their activities into a sociopolitical context which can in some way explain their lifestyle choices.
Ultimately, it's a book about friendship and loyalty, and how these qualities somehow manage to endure even when the world keeps on kicking you in the teeth. A funny, gripping, and for the first time touching Welsh novel.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was a brilliant book i thought. I am a fan of books that follow groups of mates through their lives, and this definately did not disappoint. Lots of funny moments, but also i found some parts very moving - particularly the end. I was on a train reading it at the time and hoped no-one saw me visibly moved by the ending! 3/4 of the way through i thought it lost it's way slightly when introducing the new female characters, but this did not prevent me from loving this book. A real recommend.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The strength of this book is the vivid, believable, acutely observed characters. The story meanders through the lives of four "schemies" as they grow up together and grow apart in adulthood. A great book about ordinary life. In 100 years' time this will still be read, at least by literature students.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amazing
There are only so many words you can use to describe this.
Great book, Really enthralling and try as I might I just couldn't put it down.
Great book, Really enthralling and try as I might I just couldn't put it down.
Published 1 month ago by Evlar
fantastic
I could talk about this novel all day long. It is quite simply, my favourite book of all time. Who knew Irvine Welsh had a masterpiec like this in him. Well done sir.
Published 1 month ago by Mark WIlson
Glue
A cracking read, it gives a real insight into life in a scottish town....
Great characters and a very well thought out plot. Read more
Great characters and a very well thought out plot. Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by Mr. M. Harvey
"sticking together even when falling apart"
Of the Irvine Welsh books i've read so far Trainspotting, Filth, Porno and Glue, this is my favourite. It tells the story of four friends growing up in the schemes of Edinburgh. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2009 by Gary Kinney
Hilarious
I have read all of his books and this one was well worth a read it was funny and hilarious, Irvine Welsh is a brilliant and talented author all of his books are well worth buying.
Published on 22 Feb 2009 by L. James
IRVINE WELSH CLASSIC
For me, Welsh's best - indeed one of the best novels i have ever read.
Just shades it from Trainspotting & Marabou Stork Nightmares. Read more
Just shades it from Trainspotting & Marabou Stork Nightmares. Read more
Published on 16 May 2008 by Adam Jackson
Great, great book
I've read a few of Welsh's books and this is easily one of the best. It's trademark Welsh - gritty, and harshly real, but this one will actually leave you feeling good about life... Read more
Published on 14 April 2008 by Bee ist B
edinbra
glue is a great story of growing up on the schemes and enduring friendships.Regarding it being written in east coast dialect,im originally from the west coast and found the dialect... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2007 by Thomas Smith
My first irvine welsh...loved it
This book is the first irvine whelsh book i have read, i must say i loved it and it got me back into to reading mostly irvine welsh.
Published on 1 Oct 2007 by Sandrea Montrin
Irvine Welsh's Finest Hour
Many suggest that Trainspotting was Irvine Welsh's best book. I agree that the film is peerless, but I don't think it is his best book, mostly because it is quite nihilistic and... Read more
Published on 28 July 2007 by Magic Lemur
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