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Irvine Welsh

Trainspotting Paperback – 11 July 1994

by Irvine Welsh (Author)

4.6 2,947 ratings

Book 2 of 5: Mark Renton

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Read the seminal bestselling novel that changed the face of British fiction and inspired Danny Boyle's film.

'The best book ever written by man or woman... Deserves to sell more copies than the Bible' Rebel Inc

Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced.
Choose life.

'Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius.' Sunday Times

Book 2 of 5

Mark Renton
Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

11 July 1994
Dimensions

12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm
ISBN-10

9780099465898
ISBN-13

978-0099465898
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Product description

Review

Abhorrently dark and raw to the core, Trainspotting is an insight into one of life’s many ugly personalities ― addiction and the accompanying domino effect of grim inevitabilities… Irvine Welsh’s novel will always be a cult classic. -- Tori Chalmers ― Culture Trip

Welsh’s skill as a storyteller is undeniable, bringing both wit and compassion to a grim subject matter. If you liked Danny Boyle’s film adaptation, you’ll love the original. -- Maddy Searle ― i

The voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent ― Sunday Times

The best book ever written by man or woman... Deserves to sell more copies than the bible ― Rebel Inc

Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius. He is the best thing that has happened to British writing for decades ― Sunday Times

Review

`A complex, episodic read'

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0099465892
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; New Ed edition (11 July 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780099465898
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099465898
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 54,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 5,963 in Humorous Fiction
- 8,683 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- 12,281 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.6 2,947 ratings

About the author

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Irvine Welsh

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Irvine Welsh is the author of Trainspotting, Ecstasy, Glue, Porno, Filth, Marabou Stork Nightmares, The Acid House, If You Liked School, You’ll Love Work, The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs and Reheated Cabbage. He divides his time between Florida, Ireland, and Scotland.

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4.6 out of 5

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JakubWz

Damaged "new" book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 17 May 2023

Verified Purchase

I ordered supposedly new book in paperback and received one with damaged cover with two scratches and small dents in the ridge of the book. Don't trust buying another book would be any different, but will try if it arrives in time.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 14 June 2019

Verified Purchase

'rhetorical questions are the stock and trade weapons of women and psychos' - a paraphrased quote from this admittedly flawed novel that can't be shifted from the upper tier of my favourites.

When I first read this book as a teenager, many years ago now, it was an awakening, a realisation that books don't have to be like the ones at school, and that the written word can be genuinely shocking. I thought it was genius and it turned me onto a lifetime dedicated to reading, studying and teaching literature. So on a personal level, this text remains tattooed into my brain and is often a stock answer when asked what my favourite novel is - though I have undoubtedly read better prose, better plots and more skilled attempts at tackling similar themes since.

If you are unfamiliar with Welsh (and if you've not read Trainspotting and are familiar with him, you've read the wrong book. This one is head and shoulders above anything else he has penned) then you may be unfamiliar with his version of Scots - most the of the novel is narrated in a phonetic representation of language used by Edinburgh's underclasses. As a 14 year old working-class Dundonian, I regarded this as genius. Readers from outwith Scotland, or those unfamiliar with the accents portrayed in here, may find it difficult or grating; think Scottish People Twitter on Reddit.

Whilst the positive feelings associated with the use of hard drugs are described in this book, these pages are undoubtedly a warning about the dangers of heroin, alcohol and cocaine - nobody can surely read this and think 'that's the life for me'. The biggest issue with this book is not the sentimentality surrounding the use of recreational chemicals, it's the faux political preaching of it's author. Yes the Tories are total unguided toe punts, and have never shown anything but complete and utter disregard for Scotland, but the political views, educated language, and projected reasoning for some of the principle characters decent into addiction is too liberal and ham fisted. What percentage of junkies in Scotland are truly politically motivated academics?

I think the author and I share many similar views, I just don't think he is subtle enough in portraying them - which is why a teenage me slavered over it's simplistic philosophising I suppose. That is a small bugbear - this book is tragic, beautiful, disgusting and poignant in equal measures. It is difficult to read because of how real it is - yes the stories are far fetched, but the setting and lifestyle is so real that it becomes too much for many.

A snapshot of Scotland's underbelly that the world would have ignored had it not been put to paper. Far better than the film adaptation, if you know or have the patience to work through Welsh's language style.

23 people found this helpful

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Ms. M. Galster

Love this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 1 November 2022

Verified Purchase

Book came promptly and print was good.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 May 2019

Verified Purchase

Like many, I have watched the movie on a number of occasions and really liked it but had never read the book. Although I have found Welsh's books inconsistent (love maribu stork nightmares, didn't like filth) I was looking forward to reading this and I wasn't disappointed. The film is very faithful to the book and the chances are of you like the film you'll enjoy the book. Some reviewers find the local dialect hard to follow but I didn't and found it really adds to the characterisation of the main protagonists. The reason it doesn't get five stars is that when characters change it is not always clear who is narrating and I found that slightly off-putting.

One person found this helpful

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Warren Stalley

Offski

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 18 August 2015

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Trainspotting is one of those difficult books where the native language can very much be a barrier to the reader but where it is also the central core to the novel, the glue binding the fragmented narrative pieces together. Author Irvine Welsh uses multiple character episodes to create a bleak tale of Scottish drug addicts swirling around in the deprived areas of Edinburgh. Hilarious and sickening vignettes chronicle the lives of Mark Renton (Rents), Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie and various associates in a whirlpool of social observation, booze, battles and grim addiction. But can true friendship really exist when you’re an addict? Although written in the 1990’s this is still a modern topical novel which doesn’t flinch when showing the filth and despair of all too realistic characters. This isn’t a cool or inspiring lifestyle, it’s real and depressing. A necessary read.

2 people found this helpful

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Jonathan Ryan

A must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 September 2012

Verified Purchase

The first thing you will notice about this book is the language it is written in. Much of the book is written with the dialogue written phonetically.

For example:
Ah = I
I ken = I know
eywis = always

But do not be put off by this! You will get the hang of of it and soon you will be fluent! The book is narrated by many different characters with each chapter being a sort of short story in itself. A big difference from the film is that there is no real story in the book, the book being more a chain of events not really going anywhere. In the film, a big deal is made of Rents running off with the money but this is not an important part of the book and is only briefly mentioned at the very end. This should not detract from the enjoyment of Trainspotting because instead the reader gets a rich and detailed account of the characters and their lifestyles. A film, no matter how good, could never replicate this. Trainspotting is both shocking and hilarious.

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Ronald Fraser

Gritty and funny whilst also depressingly accurate and harrowing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 26 July 2021

Verified Purchase

If you liked the film then seriously give this a read. Makes the film feel watered down once you've read this. I know Irvine Welsh isn't everybodies cup of tea, and fair enough, don't buy/read the book. Done. But if you are partial to dizying accounts of drug misuse, gritty counter culture and how friendship can be both won and lost within a push of a plunger... Then you might be into this and other works by Irvine Welsh!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 29 May 2022

Verified Purchase

A great book. I felt every emotion possible reading this book and laughing at my own pronunciation was a blast, I truly think everyone should read this book..

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