Trainspotting

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Irvine Welsh's controversial first novel, set on the heroin-addicted fringe of working-class youth in Edinburgh, is yet another exploration of the dark side of Scottishness. The main character, Mark Renton, is at the center of a clique of nihilistic slacker junkies with no hopes and no possibilities, and only "mind-numbing and spirit-crushing" alternatives in the straight world they despise. This particular slice of humanity has nothing left but the blackest of humor and a sharpness of wit. American readers can use the glossary in the back to translate the slang and dialect--essential, since the dialogue makes the book. This is a bleak vision sung as musical comedy.

Book Description

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 exhilarating episodic group portrait of blasted lives. It accomplished for its own time and place what Hubert Selby, Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn did for his. Rents, Sick Boy, Mother Superior, Swanney, Spuds, and Seeker are as unforgettable a clutch of junkies, rude boys, and psychos as readers will ever encounter. Trainspotting was made into the 1996 cult film starring Ewan MacGregor and directed by Danny Boyle (A Shallow Grave).

Customer Reviews:

great.......2007-09-06

fantastic once you get the hang of the language and slang. Suggestion--watch the movie first to put a face with the characters. The movie is but a fraction of the book, so it won't spoil anything. LOVE IT!!!

Drug addiction and friendship.......2007-04-15

Once you get over the dialect (it is written a scottish accent), and it doesn't take long to do. You find a funny, sad and disturbing account of drug addiction and the nature of friendship.
There's so much more here than in the movie.
One of my favouries.

Grim and accurate portrayal of the drug scene in the UK.......2006-12-26

If you like the movie and you've also got the soundtrack cds then go the whole hog and give it a read. It consists of a series of vignettes that were woven together superbly for the film. Readers might be put off initially by Welsh writing in a scottish dialect, but once you suss it out, it works most effectively in setting the scene and the characters - and there's a almost complete dictionary in the back. Some of the scenes are a tad grimmer than the film portrayed - hence the beauty of books allowing character development etc. But that said the film captured the essence of the book very, very well. The cover shows the cast of the film, and I think they did a grand job matching up the characters to the actors especially Begby.

Welsh indicates how easy it is for the disenfranchised of the western world, and probably all cultures, to find themselves trying drugs "just the once, I can handle it" and then caught in the embrace of addition, needing the next fix and how to fund it etc.

A very powerful protrayal of the sad and seedy world of drug addiction. (The "Mile End" track by Pulp captures it perfectly).

Recommended!

Choose Life.......2006-10-18

As other reviewers have noted, Trainspotting is more a collection of short stories than an actual novel. Beyond the gritty surface, Trainspotting is more idea-driven than story-driven, as what ties it all together is the theme of addiction and acceptance.

On one level, heroin addiction is portrayed as a symptom of a moribund Scottish working-class, struggling to deal with a post-industrial, post-Thatcher UK. It's telling that the only thing for a healthy person to do in the book is to move to London or out of the country entirely.

On another level, heroin addiction is portrayed as a symptom of existential angst. Mark Renton AKA Rent-Boy is a nihilist for whom heroin is simply the most ready-made, prepackaged form of self-negation that he has access to. He fancies himself a martyr for the cause of oblivion, but as he himself attests, this martyrdom is childish, romantic, and entirely ego-centric.

I would argue that, in essence, Trainspotting is a coming-of-age story. It deals with a group of young adults who are addicted to self-pity in varying degrees, in this case in the form of heroin. Some of the characters are able to get beyond their own fear and needless self-loathing and become full-fledged human beings. Others are not so lucky; the book is littered with psychic debris. In a more just society, more people might make it, but not everybody. That's life, and nobody can make you choose to live it.

hard to understand, must be patient.......2006-06-16

i was real excited about reading this, being a big fan of the movie and all, but in the end was dissapointed. It just seemed to be a bunch of random scenes with no connection, and it was depressing, people shooting heroin, getting AIDS and dying all the time, getting off the heroin, and then going back to it. Also, the hard scot dialect was difficult to read, even out loud and irritating...this is a book that requires a lot of patience

Average customer rating:

A case study in how to adapt a difficult book for the screen
Good Stuff
Must have f
Horrid
A great way to accurately understand the movie's dialogue.

Trainspotting
John Hodge , and Irvine Welsh
Manufacturer: Miramax Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786882212

Customer Reviews:

A case study in how to adapt a difficult book for the screen.......2002-04-14

There are two reasons to pick up John Hodge's screenplay for "Trainspotting," based on the novel by Irvine Welsh. The first is because you have trouble understand English spoken with strong Scottish brogues and you cannot figure out how to use closed captioning. Admittedly, this is the minor reason. The second and major reason is to appreciate how well Hodge transformed Welsh's novel into a solid screenplay. After all, the novel was a collection of loosely related short stories about several different characters that neither aspires to nor reaches a complete narrative form. Also, the key to the characters comes as much from their internal monologues as it does from anything they say or do. Of course the solution was to focus on one character and make him the "narrator" of the film. This becomes Mark Renton, the unrepentant drug abuser who does not seem to be as hell-bent on self-destruction as the rest of his mates.

This volume includes an introduction by Hodge, who explains how he came to be coerced into writing the screenplay. The screenplay is indeed the screenplay, and not a transcript of the film, so there are plenty of changes in dialogue and editing if you actually do sit down and follow along while watching Danny Boyle's film. Notations tell you want scenes or bits of dialogue were cut from the film and there are plenty of black & white photographs of the various scenes (but just Ewen McGregor coming OUT of the toilet...). The Afterword consists of a brief interview with author Irvine Welsh, conducted during the penultimate week of the shooting of the film (Welsh was doing a cameo performance as the drug dealer Mikey Forrester). Welsh speaks candidly about the transformation of his novel into a film and how the drug scene in Scotland has changed since the book's original publication. However, for those who have actually tracked down and read the novel, reading the screenplay soon afterwards will give you a greater appreciation of how excellent a job Hodges did with this adaptation.

Good Stuff.......2001-04-21

I didn't buy the Screenplay for a need to understand the movie persay, however it was a definate treat. Sometimes you just don't want to read the entire book but you want to visualize the movie in your head. The screenplay is perfect for this. I recommend it for any Trainspotting fan.

Must have f.......2000-07-20

Trainspotting the movie was full of great details and funny dialogue that has to be tasted and thought about which like good wine gets better with age.

The companion interview with Irvine Welsh is a real treat. The man is articulate, funny, and has a lot to say. It is seldom one can get inside the author and his feelings on a movie that is made.

There is also a preface written by John Hodge himself that details his process of from writing Shallow Grave and how that movie got made and then how the others convinced him to make trainspotting although he was terrible reluctant. That in itself was an amazing story.

I loved his note to the readers about how he was sorry he didn't put our favourite bits of the book in the movie and how he didn't get to put his own favorites bits himself. He also comments about the liberty he took with the text, and explained some of them. As an Irvine Welsh fan I felt placated and had a new respect for Hodge.

As for the screen play itself. You can read about Sick Boy's ideas about Sean Connery, personal thoughts of renton, his relationship with Diane, in detail. Everything in the movie is amplified. A small detail and a big scene takes the same importance on the page.

I love picking it up and reading my favourite bits. As an avid Irvine Welsh fan I could really take the time to see what John Hodge added to the film and apreciate it.

Watching the movie again takes about two hours of your time, and replaying your favorite bits is never the same. This screen play allow you to do just that without much effort. It is short and easy to read, and hey to be honest, I didn't hear what was said in the film because of the accents. Here I can read exactly what was said. If you love the book and/or the movie god this is a great companion to go with it.

Horrid.......1999-06-19

The screenplay was horridly written. A complete mockery of hte book and of the movie.

A great way to accurately understand the movie's dialogue........1999-02-22

I loved the movie "Trainspotting." I watched it in the theater on my 14th birthday and have worshipped it since. This book was an instant buy after watching the movie, not only to memorize the entire script (well, not exactly,) but also to actually understand what the movie was saying. After all, the movie was a bit difficult to understand with the strong accents and all. Buy this book, it's a great way to "see" the movie all over again.

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Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh
Manufacturer: VINTAGE (RAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0099465892

Book Description

Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting on 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.

Trainspotting (Compactos Anagrama) (Compactos Anagrama)

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Trainspotting (Compactos Anagrama) (Compactos Anagrama)
Irvine Welsh
Manufacturer: Editorial Anagrama
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 843396643X

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El libro se convirtio en uno de los acontecimientos y extraliterarios de la ultima decada. Sus protagonistas son un grupo de jovenes desesperadamente realistas, habitantes del otro Edimburgo, capital europea del SIDA y paraiso de la desocupacion, la miseria y la prostitucion, embarcados en una peripecia vital cuyo combustible e sla droga, "el elixir que les da la vida y se la quita".

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Trainspotting (BFI Modern Classics)
Murray Smith
Manufacturer: British Film Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0851708706

Book Description

In 1996, Trainspotting was the biggest thing in British culture. Brilliantly and aggressively marketed, it crossed into the mainstream despite being a black comedy set against the backdrop of heroin addiction in Edinburgh. Produced by Andrew MacDonald, scripted by John Hodge, and directed by Danny Boyle--the team behind Shallow Grave (1994)--Trainspotting was an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's barbed novel of the same title. The film is crucial for understanding British culture in the context of devolution and the rise of "Cool Britannia."
Murray Smith unpicks the processes that led to Trainspotting's enormous success. He isolates various factors--the film's eclectic soundtrack, its depiction of Scottish identity, its attitude to deprivation, drugs and violence, its traffic with American cultural forms, its synthesis of realist and fantastic elements, and its complicated relationship to "heritage"--that make Trainspotting such a vivid document of its time. Although it heralded a false dawn for British filmmaking, Trainspotting is, Smith concludes, both authentically vernacular and yet transnational in its influences and ambitions.

Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)

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Not cheap, but definitely worth it

Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)
Robert A. Morace
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Trainspotting

ASIN: 082645237X

Book Description

This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years - from `The Remains of the Day' to `White Teeth'. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.

Customer Reviews:

Not cheap, but definitely worth it.......2001-11-21

This is a small book but they've managed to pack an amazing amount of information and opinion into it. I'm a huge fan of Trainspotting, in all of its incarnations, and the energy of the work really comes through in this book - Robert Morace is clearly a big fan as well. He provides some fascinating background on Welsh's own background (especially about Thatcherism and its effects on Scotland) and his analysis of the novel itself is readable and hard to disagree with. I've read Trainspotting 4 or 5 times, but this has made me want to go and read it again.

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30 Years of Trainspotting
John Stretton
Manufacturer: Unicorn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

From Trocchi to Trainspotting - Scottish Critical Theory Since 1960

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From Trocchi to Trainspotting - Scottish Critical Theory Since 1960
Michael Gardiner
Manufacturer: Edinburgh University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criticism | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0748622322

Book Description

This provocative book argues that Scottish writing since 1960 has developed in tandem with the ideas of such continental critical-theorists as Gilles Deleuze and Paul Virilio. Scottish writers are examined within a wide theoretical context and include Muriel Spark, Edwin Morgan, Ian Hamilton Finlay, James Kelman, Alexander Trocchi, Janice Galloway, Alan Warner, Irvine Welsh, Alan Riach, and Pat Kane., reviewing a previous edition or volume

Irvine Welsh Omnibus, The - Trainspotting - The Acid House - Marabou Stork Nightmares

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Irvine Welsh Omnibus, The - Trainspotting - The Acid House - Marabou Stork Nightmares
Irvine Welsh
Manufacturer: Jonathan cape/secker & Warburg
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0224050036

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LOCOSPOTTERS ANNUAL FOR 1969
CECIL ALLEN
Manufacturer: IAN ALLAN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RZC326

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Essential Collection: Opera Gold (Gold Essential Collections) (Gold Essential Collections)

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The Essential Collection: Opera Gold (Gold Essential Collections) (Gold Essential Collections)

Manufacturer: Chester Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1844496082
Release Date: 2005-06-30

Product Description

The essential collection of the world's finest opera music for solo piano. An essential addition to your library.

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