Fankle Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 On Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 7:54 PM, DuncanEwart said: Maribou Stork Nightmares is probably his weirdest book. A lot of it reminded me of The Bridge by Iain Banks. A lot of it is just mental. Great book. He was at the peak of his powers then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 I've been reading about his forthcoming novel "Dead Men's Trousers", out in March. I'm looking forward to reading it. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115641/dead-men-s-trousers/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme S Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 6 hours ago, DuncanEwart said: I've been reading about his forthcoming novel "Dead Men's Trousers", out in March. I'm looking forward to reading it. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115641/dead-men-s-trousers/ Looks good but I'm just not a fan of hardbacks! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahakillie Posted February 8, 2018 Report Share Posted February 8, 2018 On 2/3/2018 at 7:15 PM, DuncanEwart said: I've been reading about his forthcoming novel "Dead Men's Trousers", out in March. I'm looking forward to reading it. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115641/dead-men-s-trousers/ sounds promising but I am just a bit worried that he is milking it now and taking it too far with these characters, perhaps with Trainspotting 3 film deal in mind. I will definitely read it though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 I think the novels and the films exist independently of each other- Danny Boyle rejected "Porno" as source material for his second Trainspotting film and got a script written that better suited his vision. I would be surprised if Irvine Welsh now tailored his work to fit into the film's version of events. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 04/02/2018 at 12:35 AM, Graeme S said: Looks good but I'm just not a fan of hardbacks! How so? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme S Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 23 hours ago, DuncanEwart said: How so? Mainly the weight of them makes them tricky to carry around and read on the bus/train. Also they tend to be more expensive. Of course there are some coffee table style books which are excellent in hardback but in the main I purchase books to read and not to display. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 "Dead Men's Trousers" is the usual Welshian mix of black humour and outrageous sex and violence. The principal characters are all older but not necessarily any wiser. I like that they struggle to forgive and forget their shared past as old grievances and jealousies still influence their behaviour. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted October 27, 2018 Report Share Posted October 27, 2018 On 10/21/2017 at 11:15 PM, historyman said: A very important author in recent Scottish literature, certainly groundbreaking in the early 90s but not as good as James Robertson. That guy hasn't hasn't written a poor book as far as I'm concerned. I'm fast becoming a James Robertson fan myself, @historyman. I thought "Joseph Knight" was incredible and I've very nearly finished "The Testament Of Gideon Mack". "The Fanatic" is next. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted October 27, 2018 Report Share Posted October 27, 2018 I've recently read Welsh's "The Bedroom Secrets Of The Masterchefs", another novel of his that I feel is somewhat underrated. I really enjoyed this, finding it funny and very clever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyman Posted October 29, 2018 Report Share Posted October 29, 2018 On 10/27/2018 at 7:07 AM, DuncanEwart said: I'm fast becoming a James Robertson fan myself, @historyman. I thought "Joseph Knight" was incredible and I've very nearly finished "The Testament Of Gideon Mack". "The Fanatic" is next. The Fanatic was the first one I read. I was living in Edinburgh at the time and that made it even more intense. It's another great read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted November 3, 2018 Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 On 10/28/2017 at 10:02 AM, historyman said: They are all very much worth reading so you may as well start with The Fanatic. And The Land Lay Still will probably be seen as his defining work. I loved it and raved about but you probably need to be a nationalist to fully enjoy it. He has a new book out this year which is supposed to be a comic novel. I'm intrigued to see what that's like as I wouldn't have thought that was his thing. Looks like something Jonathon Coe might have written. Have you read "To Be Continued", @historyman? I have read the brief synopsis on Amazon, and it doesn't sound like something that would greatly interest me but I always like to get the opinions of someone who has read the book. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 I've just this morning finished reading "The Sex Lives Of Siamese Twins" (the only novel of Welsh's I hadn't up to now read) and if nothing else, it again emphasised for me just how central the trope of the double is in Welsh's work. Lucy Brennan/Lena Sorenson, Danny Skinner/Brian Kibby, Bruce Robertson/Carole, Jim Francis/Francis Begbie- this fascination with the double is not only a theme of Gothic literature but we know it is also prevalent in a lot of Scottish writing. I think this places Welsh as working from within the Scottish literary tradition (albeit placing his own grotesque spin on it). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 I've started reading Welsh's short story collection "Reheated Cabbage". The story "Elspeth's Boyfriend", set on Christmas Day in the Begbie household, is a work of genius that made me laugh out loud and is arguably one of the best things Welsh has written. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 " I Am Miami" in the same collection is also a very good read as Juice Terry and Carl Ewart encounter a hated former teacher of theirs in South Beach. There isn't a bad story in "Reheated Cabbage", to be honest. It was while assembling this book that Welsh came across his notes about, and discarded sections of, "Trainspotting" and these inspired him to write "Skagboys". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahakillie Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 Thanks for info. I will have to check out 'Reheated Cabbage'. I enjoyed his other short story collections and have read all the other books. Not sure how I managed to overlook this one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 The only story that hasn't appeared elsewhere is "I Am Miami". The rest have been published previously in various magazines and compendiums ("The Children Of Albion Rovers" for example). But I've never come across any of the stories before, so it was a bit of a treat for me. I hope it is for you too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.