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Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh - 2012
By: Irvine Welsh
Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn
Series: Mark Renton, Book 2
Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 09-13-12
Categories: Literature & Fiction, Urban
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
Format: mp3 64/48 stereo
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 f****n junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and  eing yersel in a home, a total f***n embarrassment tae the selfish, f****d-up brats ye've produced. Choose life.
Editorial review
By Seth Hartman, Audible Editor
TRAINSPOTTING TAKES A LONG LOOK AT THE UGLY SIDE OF MODERN LIFE
Famously, Trainspotting is written almost entirely in Edinburgh slang. This uncompromising decision by author Irvine Welsh forces the reader to play by his rules. Despite the somewhat difficult learning curve, this choice eventually pays off in dividends. By the midpoint of the story, protagonist Mark Renton’s idiosyncratic voice makes sense to the reader in a very visceral and intimate way, to the point where you almost feel like a part of his degenerate friend group. Who would have thought words like "dosh," "skag," and "eywis" could mean so much?
Speaking of uncompromising, the world Welsh drops the reader into is equally brutal. The narrative of Trainspotting sees Renton and his friends Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud, and Tommy trying to get by in the big city while managing their addictions. The Edinburgh experienced by Mark Renton showcases an underserved community crawling with violent criminals and anguished street urchins. Welsh takes great care to highlight the cultural context of this gritty cesspool, displaying his characters as products of their environment. Their lack of education and the normalization of their behavior is front and center in the narrative, occasionally used to comedic ends. These aren’t evil people (except for maybe Begbie), but they are nonetheless drawn to a life of crime in order to get by.
Most people know Trainspotting from the 1996 film adaptation starring Ewan McGregor. But I personally think the book is the true way to experience this story. Despite its heavy subject matter and bleak outlook, Trainspotting actually has a hopeful message attached to it. Through the narrative, Renton seems to want out of his circumstances. Despite having several backslides and committing one or two felonies, he is looking for a way to better himself. As he puts it in one iconic speech, "Choose life."
©1993 Irvine Welsh (P)2012 Random House AudioGo
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