Escape from Leith

Tucked on the northern half of Great Britain is Scotland. Like England, Scotland has a long tradition of producing top-caliber writers. Although Scottish literature has recently been defined largely by Scots writing in English and, often, living outside of Scotland, Scotland nevertheless boasts one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Europe that features a vast array of genres. Among the many prominent writers Scotland has produced over the years are Sir Walter Scott, John Buchan, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.M. Barrie, and Muriel Spark. They have published some of the most prominent and most studied literary pieces such as Scott’s Ivanhoe; Stevenson’s  Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and Treasure Island (1881); Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; and Barrie’s Peter Pan.

Meanwhile, William Auld was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was also born in Scotland. The baton for Scotland’s rich literary tradition and heritage has been passed on to an equally talented group of writers. Ian Rankin is renowned for his Inspector Rebus novels. John Kelman’s How Late It Was, How Late was the first book written by a Scottish writer to win the Booker Prize. In 2020, Douglas Stuart joined Kelman to be the only Scottish writers to win the Booker Prize; he copped the prestigious prize with his debut novel, Shuggie Bain. Meanwhile, Ali Smith’s works were nominated for the same prestigious literary prize four times. Several other The future of Scottish literature is in safe hands.

Another contemporary Scottish writer of note is Irvine Welsh who broke into the literary scene in 1993 with the publication of his debut novel, Trainspotting. Set in the mid-1980s, the novel charted the fortunes of the Skag Boys. The Skag Boys is comprised of residents of Leith, a part area in Edinburgh who are heavily involved in the city’s heroin scene. They are either heroin users or friends with the core group of heroin users. The novel opens with Mark “Rent Boy” Renton and Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson watching a Jean-Claude van Damme movie. Both were heroin addicts who wanted to curb their addiction. However, it didn’t take long before withdrawal symptoms started to manifest, prompting them to contact their dealer, Johnny Swan who was also referred to as “Mother Superior.”

“We start off with high hopes, then we bottle it. We realise that we’re all going to die, without really finding out the big answers. We develop all those long-winded ideas which just interpret the reality of our lives in different ways, without really extending our body of worthwhile knowledge, about the big things, the real things. Basically, we live a short disappointing life; and then we die. We fill up our lives with shite, things like careers and relationships to delude ourselves that it isn’t all totally pointless.”

~ Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

The story then moves forward through a series of splintered but interconnected episodes from the lives of its core cast and the people around them, with Mark as its primary driver and most frequent narrator. For the longest time, Mark wanted to quit his heroin addiction; a hefty portion of the story was devoted to his repeated attempts to kick his habit. However, his efforts to rehabilitate himself always ended in failure. In his latest effort to quit heroin addiction, Mark decided to move to a new apartment and quit cold turkey. Unfortunately, the changes he instituted were again all for naught as his withdrawal symptoms only worsened. In his desperation to get better, he started taking opium suppositories which he was sourcing from another drug dealer, Mike Forrester.

The story is divided into seven sections and as the story moves forward, more characters are introduced, among them Francis “Franco” Begbie, Daniel “Spud” Murphy, Tommy Lawrence MacKenzie, Davie Mitchell, and Rab “Second Prize” McLaughlin. They were, in different ways, connected to Mark and Simon. Unlike their friends who are junkies, Frank, Tommy, and Stevie don’t do heroin. The novel is marked by several pivotal points in the characters’ journey to sobriety, one of which was captured in the chapter It Goes Without Saying. The morning after a house party where many were high, Rent Boy was roused by his friend Lesley’s cries. Lesley, who was also a heroin addict, found her daughter Dawn dead in her crib.

Just high the night before, the characters were unsure how to respond as there were some truths left unspoken. Shaken by this sudden turn of events, Simon resolved to reform himself and finally kick the habit. For Mark, however, it was the usual cycle. He attempted to quit only to relapse soon after. To fund their vice, Spud and Rent Boy defrauded government unemployment benefits by sabotaging their job interviews. Mark even registered himself under several different addresses to collect more unemployment benefits. They also turn to stealing to obtain more money to purchase heroin. One instance led to their arrest. While Danny was sentenced to ten months in prison, Mark found himself in a rehabilitation facility; Mark’s previous attempts at rehabilitation resulted in a suspended sentence.

As the characters walk in and out of addiction, it begs the question of why they keep on getting addicted to heroin. Take the case of Mark. He was intelligent and even well-read. He can get himself involved in mainstream society but he finds it unbearable. Of all the characters, he was the most cynical; his cynicism was driven by his chronic depression. To escape all of these these, he resorts to heroin. It was also a form of self-indulgence. Because of his addiction, Mark has had a contentious relationship with his family. His strained relationship with his family was also caused by his brother Billy’s bullying when he was younger; Mark did not feel any grief when Billy died while fighting for the British army in Ireland. Meanwhile, Davie, his disabled, catatonic brother, has passed away and his death was cited by the rehabilitation center as the driver for his unresolved issues.

“Choose a 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 DSY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away in the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself, choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that?”

~ Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

The story was bereft of a robust plot. Instead, the story was built around the characters. With the perspective alternating between the characters, Welsh makes the readers inhabit their minds. We learn about their proclivities and even their worldviews. One character, we learn, turns to heroin after a bad breakup. Simon, on the other hand, views sex as transactional. Sex is a prevalent subject that runs almost parallel to the characters’ addiction to heroin. Simon has built a reputation for being promiscuous and casually having sex with anyone he wants. This was in stark dichotomy to Mark and Spud who both struggle in their relationships with women. Simon is viewed as the most amoral character as he has no qualms about manipulating those around him to fund his addictions.

The novel also highlighted the disparities in how sex is viewed; traditional gender roles were underscored. Men casually have it but they shirk their responsibilities once the women gets impregnated. Women are left to take care of the child. In Lesley’s case, she took the brunt for her child’s accidental death. Misogyny permeated the story, with female characters often finding themselves dealing with various forms of harassment. At one point, some of the characters witnessed a woman beaten publicly in a club. Meanwhile, Giovanni, an Italian bisexual man Mark meets in London, is forced to run away from Italy because of his nation’s idea of masculinity. Even Mark struggled to understand his own sexuality.

Apart from sexual and drug addictions, some characters were alcoholics. Rab “Second Prize” McLaughlin, for instance, was often inebriated. He used to be athletic and once had a promising career as a soccer player which was cut prematurely by his growing reliance on alcohol. Second Prize was a further iteration of how addiction destroys one’s future prospects. Like Second Prize, Begbie was also an alcoholic. He was also a psychopath and a violent bully. All of these characters came alive with Welsh’s impeccable characterization. While they are not necessarily likable, Welsh nevertheless provided them ample space to share their experiences and make the readers understand them. In this interesting clique of scam artists addicts, betrayal and loyalty both existed.

One interesting facet of the story was the backdrop upon which it was juxtaposed. Welsh subtly painted a portrait of Thatcherian Scotland. Margaret Thatcher’s conservative policies closed Scotland’s heavy industries; thousands relied on these industries. As such, unemployment was high. The available jobs, on the other hand, provided no sense of fulfillment, hence, Mark and Spud’s act of defrauding the government. Discontent was running high among the Scots. They also had to deal with the brutality that pervaded social housing schemes. To escape these ugly realities and the oppressive boredom, the characters resorted to different forms of addiction which also adversely impacted their lives and the way they viewed the world. It comes as no surprise that some characters yearn for physical escape.

“He emphasised basic truths: you are not dying yet, you have to live your life until you are. Underpinning them was the belief that the grim reality of impending death can be talked away by trying to invest in the present reality of life. I didn’t believe that at the time, but now I do. 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.”

~ Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

Trainspotting, however, was no easy read. The subject alone was heavy, making it a depressing read for some. This was exacerbated by the use of vernacular; the language alternated between Scots, Scottish English, or British English which can be disorienting. The novel was also laden with profanities which was contrasted by musicality. These different voices nevertheless made for a distinct reading experience. The depressing tone of the story was contrasted by the black comedy which manifested in the interactions between the characters. They also often find themselves in unusual situations to which they respond in hilarious manners. There was also a liveliness in the friendship of the characters that contrasted with the squalid conditions they had to deal with.

Welsh’s debut novel, Trainspotting has certainly elevated Welsh to global recognition. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize and was even adapted into a film in 1996. The novel is a vivid portrait of a society in decay where young and capable men resort to various forms of addiction – drugs, sex, alcohol – to escape from the ugly realities that were making them feel suffocated. Despite its dark subjects, Trainspotting is also about friendship, love, and loyalty. It is also about the celebration of life. Welsh crafted and introduced an eclectic cast of characters inhabiting the margins of society yet whose voices deserved to be seen and heard. By making readers see their experiences, he is iterating how they also have stories to share.

“The pit of melancholy was a bottomless one, and he was descending fast, falling further away from the good times. Such times often seemed tantalisingly within reach; he could see them, going on all around him. His mind was like a cruel prison, giving his captive soul a sight of freedom, but no more.”

~ Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting
Book Specs

Author: Irvine Welsh
Publisher: Minerva
Publishing Date: 1996
No. of Pages: 344
Genre: Literary, Crime Fiction

Synopsis

The bestselling novel by Irvine Welsh that provided the inspiration for Danny Boyle’s hit film “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 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” (Source: Goodreads)

About the Author

Irvine Welsh was born on  September 27, 1958, in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was four, his family moved to Muirhouse, in Edinburgh, where they stayed in local housing schemes. Welsh left Ainslie Park High School when he was 16 and then completed a City and Guilds course in electrical engineering. He became an apprentice TV repairman until an electric shock persuaded him to move on to a series of other jobs. He moved to London in 1978 where he played guitar and sang in The Pubic Lice and Stairway 13. In the late 1980s, Welsh moved back to Edinburgh where he worked for the city council in the housing department. He gained a degree in computer science and studied for an MBA at Heriot Watt University.

In 1993, Welsh published his first novel, Trainspotting. The novel was a critical success and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. It was also adapted into a film in 1996. He published his sophomore novel, Marabou Stork Nightmares in 1995. His other novels include Filth (1998), Glue (2001), Skagboys (2012), and Dead Men’s Trousers (2018). He is set to release a new novel, Resolution, in 2024. His oeuvre also includes short story collections such as The Acid House (1994), Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance (1996), and Reheated Cabbage (2009). He also wrote screenplays and plays. He also directed some short films.

He is currently residing in Miami, Florida.