#irvine welsh

[bitterhalf]

FMK gen X dudeauthors: bret easton ellis, chuck palahniuk, irvine welsh

[tinycrownpenguin]

I love the Welsh novels but I wish there wasn't so much page time dedicated to all the ways Mark Renton can shit incorrectly

[longfieldsofbarleyandofrye]

Found this. While I'm all about sickrent til I die, I whole heartedly believe Tommy was the cause of Rent's big bisexual awakening.

cw: usual expected drug references, death etc

Mark Renton hasnae kept in life. London. Amsterdam. Leith. He ae traveled light. The baggage in his heid's heavy enough.

He ae took the photo though. Some hings just need tae be treasured. Sometimes he disnae ken how he's still got it. Keepin its aboot as much eh an achievement as anyhing he's done. Its one ae the only hings he managed tae achieve even when he wis oan the gear. These days it lives in the slevve ay a vinyl he cannae bring himself tae play.

Its no even a very gid photo. Somebody's finger is in the corner ae the lens. The lightin's no the best. Noo its got all sorts eh lines and creases coverin it but at least he's still got it. He nearly threw it oot a few times. Looking at it made him boak wi guilt.

Him n Tommy. Taken on one eh they times they went doon south fir an all nighter. He thought eh they nights when he wis DJing, thinks that must eh been where he got the bug fir clubbing. Thinks how Tommy woulda loved the raves if he hadnae...

Mark disnae even recognise himsael in the picture. It feels like it wis taken ten lifetimes ago. He looks aw healthy wi the glow eh youth. He disnae think anybody wid recognise the wee lad in the big jeans is him. But Tommy's unmistakable. He couldnae have been very auld at aw when it wis taken. His hair is aw quaffed and even though he's aw gangly airms and legs, he looks pure handsome. Naebody could mistake the smile fir anybody but Tommy, cheeky but pure friendly like one eh them boys in the films who would smile in slow motion wi the camera oan his lips and his teeth sparklin . That smile's imprinted oan Mark's brain, nae photo needed. He jist wishes he didnae mind when Tommy stopped daeing that smile at lassies and snooker. He'd like it if he didnae think eh Tommy still managing that smile when he wis half deid and excited tae buy mair skag.

Sometimes Mark looks at the picture eh wee Tommy and says sorry. Tommy wis meant to be his mate. He used tae be angry at Tommy fir dying, fir taking the drugs but thats a bit hypocritical eh him. Naw, Mark kens noo that he's angry wi himsel fir letting that happen tae Tommy. Even if he wis oot eh it and a rattlin junkie at the time Mark should eh done better by his pal. Tommy wis the best eh the lot eh them bit he's the wan thats deid. Doesnae feel right at aw.

He wonders whit Tommy would think eh him noo. What he'd hink eh music these days and state eh the Hibs team. There wis a right barry photo he had had eh him and Tommy in their fitbaw scarf afore a match wi their airms roon oan another. Mark couldnae tell you whit happened tae that picture but he minds how Tommy wis looking right at the camera and he wis looking at Tommy. Cause he wis daeing that smile and it wis sunny fir once so his hair looked extra shiney. That wis the day Mark ken men could be pretty. It wisnae the first day Mark looked at Tommy's lips and kenned they'd probably be dead soft but sometimes Mark would look at the picture just tae eye them up. No in a million years wid he have telt him like but Tommy was a handsome bastird.

Aye, Tommy had been important tae Mark's life in more ways than he ever knew. Mark didnae learn men could be pretty enough to want them in his bed at the uni. He didnae learn it by reading auld posh boy homoerotic shite or experimenting wi ex-private school wankers missing. Naw Mark Renton learned he was intae laddies as well as lassies fae Tommy wither Tommy evir realised or no. Mark wanders if Tommy wouldae got mair handsome wi age. Probably, lucky cunt that he wis wid probably hae ended up a pure silver fox by the time he got tae middle age and be fighting aff maws at the school gate.

But Tommy didnae get tae get auld. Tommy's frozen in time in a hidden photo oan Mark's shelf. Once in awhile he'll hold it like he should hae held Tommy when he came tae him broken hearted and greetin. Or been there tae hold his hawn when he breathed his last. Then he puts Tommy back oan the shelf, hidden in the Iggy Pop record sleeve and acts like Tommy wis nowt mair than some other pal thit was part ae a life he's long left behind and in daeing so Mark feels like he's letting Tommy doon all ower again

[manic-maniac-man]

HUgE Jan 2009

Alright? 015

close-up; Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh, the novelist who captivated the world with his debut novel "Trainspotting," is now 50 years old. We spoke with him about his unchangingly free-spirited lifestyle and his inexhaustible passion for writing.

"If we tore down religious sites all over the world and built nightclubs in their place, I think we could solve 90% of the problems plaguing the world."

Irvine Welsh is actively touring with readings, and house music is played as background music during his tours. He himself is such a music lover that he says there is a hidden background music for all of his works and characters. Welsh tours all over the world, but his fondest memory of Japan is "when I casually stopped by a record store and used my credit card, the girl at the register noticed my name and asked for my autograph."

While many people in Japan may be familiar with Danny Boyle's film "Trainspotting" (released in 1996), it's likely that not many know its author, Irvine Welsh. However, Welsh enjoys immense popularity not only in the UK but also in the US, and his novels consistently become bestsellers. Welsh's novels blend humor and wit with a remarkably realistic portrayal of Scottish daily life, which is said to be the secret to his popularity. This realism is entirely due to the fact that he himself, a true Edinburgh native, has built his stories on a foundation of a turbulent life.

"Everyone projects their own life into their work in some way. Everyone's basically writing an autobiography through their work. Besides, everyone's teens and twenties are interesting, right? It's a time when you're searching for your identity and doing whatever you want. In contrast, your thirties are a time when you're trying to get your life on track and doing things properly. If you ask me, it's not interesting at all. I'd say your forties, when you realize you're not young anymore and start doing weird things out of desperation, are far more interesting material for a novel. The older you get, the more you start thinking about retirement and stop doing anything other than making money. That's also a boring time. So the most interesting period of life is from your teens to your twenties."

"It was around my 20s, and then my 40s."

Welsh's life before becoming a novelist was a treasure trove of material, but it was by no means easy. Since dropping out of school at the age of 16, he drifted from job to job, and at times even got involved in criminal activities.

There was also

"I've spent more than half my life doing odd jobs. I was always looking for change, so I've never been able to stick with one job for more than three years. Is that not so bad?"

"Maybe so, but the important thing is that I couldn't do any of those things properly. That's why I can only say that I'm lucky to have found a job that I can be truly satisfied with from the bottom of my heart." However, even after starting his career as a writer, Welsh has been arrested several times, and his life is still full of ups and downs.

"I'm exactly 50 now, and I've been arrested three times in the last 25 years, and in the 25 years before that, I was locked up more than 20 times. If I said this in Japan, I'd sound like a total delinquent, but it's different in Scotland. It's normal to go out drinking as a teenager, and as a result, you end up spending every weekend in jail. Well, it's part of the culture." It was during this kind of youth that Welsh's life changed, and he turned his attention to "writing."

What was it that awakened him? "I think all writers are also avid readers. I myself love books. When you read a book, anyone can go to another world. That's what's fun about it. So I wanted to pull a lot of people into the world I live in. But when I looked for books with that in mind, I realized that there were hardly any books that depicted the world I live in. So I thought, 'Well, I guess I have to do it,' and that's how I started writing novels."

His novels, which began with such impetus, are filled with devices that symbolize "my world." First and foremost, there's the English written in the Edinburgh dialect. Because it's written with the pronunciation as it is, reading it in the original language can be a bit challenging until you get used to it, but once you decipher it, you can fully immerse yourself in the Welsh world. And the frequent cameo appearances of characters in other works, which have continued since his debut novel "Trainspotting," are also one of the "flavors" of his works. Welsh's novels skillfully share a single world, even across different works.

The characters move freely between works, meaning that anyone who reads the books will unconsciously enter Welsh's world. In his latest work, "Crime," which has just been released in English, Ray Lennox, a character from the 1988 police novel "Filth," has been chosen as the protagonist.

"Ray gives off the impression of being a mysterious character. That's why I thought he was perfect as the subject of this novel. He certainly played a big part in moving the story forward."

In fact, Welsh's latest film, "Crime," is set in Miami, USA. Moreover, it deals with sex offenders who target young children and the world surrounding them. This is a departure from Welsh's previous works, which were mainly set in Scotland and England. However, by depicting America through the eyes of a Scotsman named Ray, he maintains the familiar Welsh world.

"I usually don't like detailed descriptions. So I usually skip over the details and get straight to the point, but this time I tried to describe everything. That's because I wanted readers to know Miami as I experienced it with all my senses. In 'Crime,' the point was to go to a completely different world. But I didn't just want to write about Miami; I wanted to write about Miami through the eyes of a Scotsman. There's an American scent there that Americans can't perceive. If you do laundry there, it smells different after it's hung out to dry than in England (laughs). I wanted to express those subtle but clear differences through this novel."

In this work, which deals with the heavy theme of child sexual abuse, Welsh apparently often found himself unable to write due to the difficulty of the subject.

"Children are killed or abused"

Writing those scenes was really tough. No matter how much of a writer I am, I'm still human. Even though I had to write them, there were so many scenes that I just wanted to close my eyes to. At times like that, I would distract myself by doing something else before I could write."

Thus, in Welsh's works, crimes that people would normally want to avoid, such as those involving drugs and the sex industry, are depicted not from a bystander's perspective, but with unwavering realism. He argues that the declining employment rate, a problem currently plaguing the world, is the breeding ground for such crimes.

"I think this problem is really huge. It's really tough when you can't do the work you want to do, and that kind of life is incredibly boring. Since you only live once, you might as well do something interesting and make it memorable. But you should stop for a moment and think about it in a longer timeframe. If you commit a crime, you'll either end up in jail sooner or later, or be killed. Rather than meeting that fate, it's better to use your abundant energy for something more creative. You should realize sooner rather than later that you'll get a much bigger reward that way. It's fine to be reckless when you're young, but you'll regret it when you start to get older. So, how can we make the world a better place? Well, tear down every religious building in the world and build nightclubs in their place. I think that would solve 80% of the world's problems."

Welsh's witty remarks are sometimes so ambiguous that it's hard to tell if he's serious or joking. When asked about his next project, he grinned and replied:

I came

"That's right!" "The film I'm shooting now, and the novel I'm writing now, are both masterpieces. A Nobel Prize in Literature isn't out of the question. If you think I'm just a one-hit wonder with 'Trainspotting,' you're sorely mistaken." (Titles omitted in the text)

[appointedmrsplotch]

❤️Mark❤️

[slimjimfiend]

It just took an eternity, but, I finally finished Marabou Stork Nightmares today!

It was such a crazy ride (and dark one), especially the whole shifts between his past, present, and his make-believe world

I'm happy it had a good ending, I was so disgusted and pissed at the main character lol

My next read: George Orwell's 1984/Animal Farm!

(another book from my GoodReads to-read list that I got from the thrift store!)

[obe-yawn]

[canthaveauniquenameanymorecani]

20260606