“Trainspotting” is a hard-hitting look at the life of drug addicts, set in Edinburgh in the nineteen eighties, written by Irvine Welsh. It follows the story of heroin addict Mark Renton and his drug induced misfit friends and associates. Besides Renton the core group of characters are Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson, Renton’s oldest friend and an amoral con artist; Daniel “Spud” Murphy, the naive and kind-hearted member of the group; and Francis “Franco” Begbie, a violent sociopath whose friends fear him more than they like him. Other narrators include peripheral characters such as Davie Mitchell, Tommy Lawrence, Rab “Second Prize” McLaughin, Kelly, and the occasional third-person point-of-view story. The plot of the novel is not linear, and most of the narrations are written in a Scottish dialect with words spelled phonetically. It only switches to Standard English during the third person narrations. The story is told in a disjointed way that jumps from character to character as they struggle with the drug addiction.
Deep down, as he struggles through life, Renton knows he needs to change his ways. This is easier said than done and the drugs, crime and court appearances continue.
The novel is basically a series of short stories. Each chapter focuses on a given event, for example, some chapters focus on Renton's sexual morality: in one chapter an old man masturbates onto him while he is sleeping, and in another he has sex with his dead brother's pregnant fiancée in the bathroom after his brother's funeral.
Mark’s view of the world is cynical and full of dark humor, which keeps him from forming meaningful relationships and he is unable to find enjoyment in anything. It is also harder for him to withdrawal completely while he remains in this environment, as his friends are all addicts and the drugs are easy to obtain.
The book culminates with four of the friends (Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Franco) becoming involved in a drug deal which will, they believe, change their lives, or at least aid it. This is not to be. All along, in the back of Renton’s mind, a plan has been developing, and after the deal is done, as his friends asleep, Renton takes the money, leaving nothing and disappears.
“Trainspotting” feels alive and covers controversial topics such as, domestic violence, cot death, HIV and of course drugs. Rebel, Inc. (counter-culture publishing company) wrote this about the novel: "The best book ever written by man or woman...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."
The novel has achieved a cult status, added to by the global success of the film based on it, “Trainspotting” (1996), directed by Danny Boyle. Welsh later wrote a sequel named “Porno” in 2002. “Skagboys”, a novella that will serve as a prequel, is expected for publication in 2012.