Glue (Paperback)

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.

More the nephew of Trainspotting than any relation to Filth - the reader is back to the extreme Scottish vernacular with each character given a slightly different slant. We are taken into the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the early 2000s'.The story is told from the perspective of the four main characters and explores their emotions and their lives. The scenes are often extreme and as always with Welsh graphic.

I found the book readable and worthwhile but I have to say that the first 200 pages are the best as we explore the early years and development of these characters and background. My favourite portion was the football match - when the tension and sweat fair dripped from the narrative and the page.

The final section was a little daft in places but did tie up the lifes of the compadres well if not satisfactory.

Trainspotting was original but this is a worthwhile book and a must read for 2001.

The book is colourfully written in the vernacular of Edinburgh and it is this feature which, in a similar vain to Welsh's other books, can make it hard to read - but once into the patter makes it a scream.

The characters are all different and flawed in different ways - there is Juice Terry - a Silver Tongued Cavalier who seems to be growing the shape of Marlon Brando more than Graeme Souness, who he idolises. Terry is a beer swilling, piss taking womaniser, who's outlook on his warped morality can only be summarised by his own phrase for it; "the spice ae life".

Playing the butt of the jokes of Juice Terry are Billy "Business" Birrell - a quiet, talented boxer, Carl "NSign" Ewart - an albino headed Hearts supporter who makes it as a Club DJ - and Andrew "Gally" Galloway - who lady luck does not shine upon in any way.

The rich tapestry of their interaction and the other characters brought along make this book difficult to put down. As ever, with Welsh, there is grit and sorrow in the book, but the moments where humour takes over, either in dialogue or in circumstance bring tears to the eyes.

On the whole - excellent read.