Reviews

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

ophelia_impersonator's review against another edition

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4.5

mi-a placut tare mult, consumatorii de heroina sunt drogatii mei preferati
personajul lui renton a fost foarte dezvoltat aici si nu e pus intr-o lumina atat de buna ca in film dar mi se pare mult mai natural si mi-a placut
si spud a fost mai simpatic si mai dezvoltat decqt un caz de cretinism

nazaalopz's review against another edition

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5.0

Inteligente. La adicción a la heroína descrita crudamente.

zellreads's review against another edition

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3.0

This book had a LOT of characters and I felt that sometimes it was hard to tell who was narrating, and the voices were often pretty similar. Besides that, and the dialect being a challenge, I thought this was a hard-hitting and realistic portrayal of addiction, and an important read.

megan_guest_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

4.5

aslanbeatz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

emscolqu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

cbt00004's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I certainly understand why this is considered one of Scotland’s great novels, the story tells the sad truth about life for many people here. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really a book for me.

kwacky's review against another edition

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3.0

Think I need to re read. Heard to understand the vernacular initially and then trying to absorb what’s going on at the same time is tricky

emleemay's review against another edition

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4.0

I must have read the first page of [b:Trainspotting|23955|Trainspotting|Irvine Welsh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327435133s/23955.jpg|1087421] more than twenty times since purchasing the book years ago, and each time I would put it back in fear of all the Scottish dialect. There's no point lying, this is a challenging novel, sometimes you have to read things twice or pause to think about them to fully understand what's being said. But, unlike a lot of books that are difficult to read, this was ultimately rewarding and once you get used to the slang words it becomes a very gritty, moving and funny read.

[b:Trainspotting|23955|Trainspotting|Irvine Welsh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327435133s/23955.jpg|1087421] is a story about a bunch of Scottish heroin addicts (Rents, Sick Boy & others), it's about the dregs of society and it's about prostitutes. If you don't like reading about these kind of people, you won't like the book. If you have problems with the 'C' word, you definitely won't like this book. It's told in several short stories that switch between first and third person narrative and switch between character point of views. Many of my usual rules have been broken for this book: I don't like multiple perspectives, I don't like spending time deciphering the text, I don't like sentences that are made up of profanities. But all of those factors come together to make a great novel in this rare case.

All the characters are oddly likeable in a way, which really says something to me about the author's talent as a writer. Even though they are morally questionable individuals with an ocean of problems, they have a very dark and hilarious sense of humour, and it is this colour and vivacity that makes it all the more heartbreaking when Rents' loses his close friends to HIV and other illnesses.

It won't suit everyone, [b:Trainspotting|23955|Trainspotting|Irvine Welsh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327435133s/23955.jpg|1087421] is about the people at the bottom of the pile who get easily written off as hopeless and a waste of space, but Welsh gives a sense of humanity to these addicts, he makes them people with unique characteristics and personal struggles that we can offer sympathy to. I'm just sorry I put it off for so long.

jaybie08's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0