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Description edit
For the first time in hardcover with the original jacket art: "The best book ever written by man or woman ... deserves to sell more copies than the Bible." — Rebel, Inc. Trainspotting is the novel that first launched Irvine Welsh's spectacular career — an authentic, unrelenting and strangely... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Trainspotting takes place in Scotland in the 1980s and deals with addiction of multiple types, primarily heroin. The story is not linear but made up of dozens of short vignettes and narrated by several characters, mainly in Scots or phonetic Scottish English.
The book is about Mark, an... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Mark Renton (aka Rentboy, Renton): Mark is the main protagonist. While he is personable, attractive, and interesting, he is cynical, misanthropic, and as addicted to the substance of heroin as he is to the simplicity the drug provides.
- Simon Williamson (aka Sick Boy): Sick Boy is a heroin addict and one of Mark's oldest friends. He is cruel and amoral but attractive to women.
- Daniel Murphy (aka Spud): A heroin addict who is kind but childish and uses the drug for no reasons deeper than pleasure.
- Francis Begbie (aka Franco): Begbie is a violent and aggressive sociopath. He mocks his friends for their heroin addictions but constantly drinks and smokes.
- Davie Mitchell: Davie is featured little and is the one of the few characters who does not narrate in a very strong dialect. He leads a straight life, the life his friends avoid.
- Tommy Laurence: Tommy is one of Mark's old friends and does not use heroin, just speed recreationally. He is one of the few characters with a steady girlfriend and a relatively stable life.
- Rab McLaughlin (aka Second Prize, Secs): A drug addict and friend of the boys. He has a relatively minor role.
- Johnny Swan (aka Mother Superior): A drug dealer to the boys. While he was said to have been a friend of Mark's before the novel's opening, his transition into dealing has lead him to cut ties.
- Dianne: A promiscuous, precocious 14 year old.
Quotes edit
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“Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed- interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit- crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing you last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?”
Renton -
“I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who need reasons when you've got heroin?”
Renton -
“People think it's all about misery and desperation and death and all that shite, which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not fucking stupid. At least, we're not that fucking stupid. Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it. When you're on junk you have only one worry: scoring. When you're off it you are suddenly obliged to worry about all sorts of other shite. Got no money: can't get pished. Got money: drinking too much. Can't get a bird: no chance of a ride. Got a bird: too much hassle. You have to worry about bills, about food, about some football team that never fucking wins, about human relationships and all the things that really don't matter when you've got a sincere and truthful junk habit.”
Renton -
“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”
Renton
First Sentence edit
The sweat wis lashing oafay Sick Boy; he wis trembling.
Table of Contents edit
Section 1: Kicking
Section 2: Relapsing
Section 3: Kicking Again
Section 4: Blowing It
Section 5: Exile
Section 6: Home
Section 7: Exit
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 3 in Trainspotting. (standard series)
Followed by Porno.
This is book 187 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This is book 10 of 97 in Waterstone's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 191 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Irvine Welsh (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Secker & Warburg
Country: Scotland
Publication Date: 1993
ISBN: 0-7493-9606-7
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Secker & Warburg
Country: Scotland
Publication Date: 1993
ISBN: 0-7493-9606-7
Page Count: 344
Awards edit
- Scottish Arts Council Book Award (1994)
- BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #187)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 828'.914
Subjects edit
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Movie Connections edit
- Trainspotting (IMDb): 1996, Directed by Danny Boyle
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