Customer Reviews

Glue

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"Glue" is Welsh's best since "Trainspotting." I have loved all of his books (even if "Filth" was a Scottish version of "The Bad Lieutenant"). This time, there's no wacky parasite running down the middle of a page declaring its hunger, no wacky type face or font putting you in the frame of mind of the user. "Glue" is the straightforward tale of four boys growing up in the schemes (projects) of Edinburgh. Their friendship tries to survive the test of time as their lives take different paths. There's Juice-Terry, the womanizer of the group; Carl Ewart, record collector who becomes a world class DJ: Billy Birrell, the boxer; and Andrew Galloway, whose life takes many tragic turns. Welsh once again displays his gift with language. A lot of readers complain about his use of Scottish dialect, but after you've read his other books it becomes quite easy to read. This book features his most sympathetic characters to date; in fact I found myself getting teary-eyed in many scenes because I did not want bad things to happen to them. But of course this is Irvine Welsh's world, so bad things happen to them all. There are great set pieces (such as the entire Oktoberfest in which they befriend German ravers), plenty of drugs, and plenty of shagging. God, I did not want this book to end. There are even cameos from the lads of "Trainspotting" which take place before and after that landmark work. If you are a Welsh fan, you will love this...

(I originally wrote this review for my daughter who is a big Irvine Welsh fan)

Ay wisnae goan te tell ye, ma wee lassie, boot that
Irvine Welsh fellay's new book "Glue", 'cause ay knows
ye to be a big fan of 'im n aw, ya ken? Ah mean eh's
the author of "Trainspotting", n prackly a nashnul
treasure in Scotland, nae one can deny, right?

Bit seein' as ays yir dear oold faither, ah didnae
think ye'd feel it oot of order for ays to share me
thoughts boot the subject with ye, me bein' a capital
gadge n aw.

Jes a wee warnin' fore ah git started with me
review--fir sum strange reason, eh put nae one, bit
two! shocking scenes of dug croolty early inna book.
Now ye know ays well enaw te know that ah'm nae
easily shocked, bit when ay read what eh wrote 'boot
the dugs...ah sicked all oer the front of me t-shirt,
messy like!

Okey, now for te story n aw. Ah'm sure for a certain,
that ye wondered how twas that the wide radges in
"Trainspotting", "The Acid House", 'n "Filth" got to
be the way they wir, worthless radges and crim-oes,
right? Whut wazzit boot grawn up in Edinburgh 'n
Gleskay innem council flats, thet made 'em jes hang
out in pub, drunk on bevvy 'n eckies 'n jellies 'n
smack, 'n sichlike? Ah know ah did, for a fact!

"Glue" splains it, er at least tries te. T'is the
story 'o four wee bairnes, all of 'em bairn boot the
same time in the '60s. Thaes Juice Terry, Gally,
Billy, 'n Carl the Milky Bar Kid. Actually, they jump
from bein bairnes straight inta the '70s, 'n we seeum
as mid-teeners, 'n all thaes wantin' is fanny 'n
fightin at the fitbal...'n not necessarily in thet
oorder!

"Always stand up fir yir mates" and "Nivir grass on
friend nor foe"--these are the pearls 'o wisdom gaen
taem by their Ma's and Pa's ( 'n most of thaem are
drunk out ev thair heids, mosta time anyweys...).
Beats the 'ell outa whut I teld ye boot livin
rite, nosay thet ye wee radge!

So we seeum grawin up intae preddy much the same as
Rents, Spud n the ressa te 'Spotters, boot praps nae
quite as heavy intae crim-o. Thaes lotsa birds in
toon alweys, n fanny at German raves, n some offem
endup as girlfriends, wives, and ex-wives, as ivir
was, but.

Yessee, these blokes 'r mates, innit's thair thet is
the "glue" that the fellay is relly telkin boot.

Nae gonna say enneymar boot the story tho. Iftir all, ye
may well get roond te readin' it after aw.

In yir bookcase in yir auld room, it is.

da

GLUE is a hard-hitting, frank, and often violent recount of the friendship between four boys growing up in Edinburgh's economically depressed scheme. The reader is taken on a wild ride as Juice Terry Lawson, Carl Ewart, Billy Birrell, and Andrew Galloway engage in such youthful acts as football hooliganism, street fighting, excessive drinking and drugging, shagging (getting your hole), and incessant encounters with the police. Meanwhile, their life at home is often less than satisfactory as they have to deal with divorce, joblessness, and emotional neglect. Relations between the four friends transform as decades pass and circumstances change, but they are never able to let go of the past. Each character must confront their past if their friendship is to survive into the new millennium.

Irvine Welsh performs an admirable task of developing characters that are both believable and three-dimensional. Each character comes alive on the page. Additionally, the bonds of friendship between the four characters are not portrayed in a simplistic feel-good manner. Although they might have been friends since childhood, they do have their grievances and anger with each other. Relations aren't always perfect between them resulting in this novel's greatest strength.

GLUE is written in Welsh's signature style of working-class Scottish dialogue, which makes the experience of reading this novel very rich and animated. If you are familiar with TRAINSPOTTING than GLUE will be familiar in its form and context. There are even cameo references to the characters and plot of TRAINSPOTTING in this book. My only complaint with GLUE refers to the torture killing of the guard dogs occurring in the first part of this book. I was repulsed by the gruesome details and I strongly wonder about the merit of including this scene at all. This must be an attempt by Irvine Welsh to push the literary boundaries. Regardless, GLUE is a novel written from the imagination of Irvine Welsh and therefore is sure to entertain those readers wanting a unique reading experience.

Although "Glue" contains lots of the sex, drugs, and violence that can be found in other Irvine Welsh books like "Filth" and "Trainspotting," it also finds Welsh seemingly trying to inject some more meaning into his writing. And for the most part, it's successful. The book follows four friends, Billy, Gally, Terry, and Carl, at ten-year intervals from their childhoods in the Edinburgh projects to their mid-thirties. With all four men getting a turn to narrate and some third-person narration as well, Welsh gives us a look inside the heads of each one, and we get to see how they're shaped by their working-class urban background. Welsh has a knack for crafting believable characters who are flawed but sympathetic, and "Glue" is no exception.

As "Glue" wears on and Billy, Gally, Terry, and Carl get older, their lives become more difficult and complicated. As teenagers, they're preoccupied with little more than getting girls into bed and taking part in soccer riots. By the book's conclusion, they've had to confront the realities of adulthood: changing social mores, marriage, kids, jobs, drugs, crime, street morality, death, and more. And although the four men are joined by the bonds of friendship, Welsh also gives the reader an idea of the often complex and self-serving nature of these relationships. I think what Welsh was essentially going for was an examination of how life's complexity and ambiguity only grows as people get older, and he nails it.

Of course, it wouldn't be an Irvine Welsh novel without loads of profanity and graphic prose, and there's enough of that here to keep just about anyone entertained. Much like a Chuck Palahniuk novel, "Glue" is full of set pieces that are both revolting and hilarious at the same time (Terry's partner in crime getting covered in excrement is one prominent example). But at more than 450 pages covering a thirty-year period, "Glue" also aims to be more epic in scope than the typical Welsh or Palahniuk book. I don't like this book as much as the utterly hysterical "Filth," but it's nice to see Welsh trying to add some more nuance and meaning to his work.

I think one of the reasons Irvine Welsh is one of my favourite authors is because he can get reactions out of me. Generally speaking, horror books don't frighten me or get under my skin in any way, but Welsh never fails to horrify me with his negative portrayals of human behaviour.

Glue contains numerous examples of unconscionable actions, but it also shows that even the most horrid people have glimmers of humanity. You can detest one of Welsh's foul characters, but at the same time, he has a way of pointing out characteristics which show you're not as far removed from monsters as you might like to be.

As a buddy book, Glue traces a group of Scottish friends from childhood to mid-thirties. At first, I had a bit of difficulty following the action. I thought it was a collection of unrelated short stories. It took me a little while to clue in that it was merely changing points of view. Once I had that straightened out, I was along for the whole manic-depressive ride.

Glue is not an easy read. The almost unpenetrable dialect is about as easy to digest as a cold, greasy plate of fish and chips. There were one or two parts where I had no idea what was just said, but with patience, I was able to slough it out.

If you're a fan of Trainspotting, you'll recognize some of the characters. Renton, Begbie, Spud, and Sickboy make cameos. Thematically, Glue isn't too far removed from Trainspotting. There is plenty in the way of drug culture, shoplifting, and football hooliganism. Welsh retains his black black sense of humour, and I did catch myself laughing out loud at several points, including what is perhaps the most comical sex scene I've ever read.

The book makes me giggle, and then, a few pages later, it makes me want to bawl my eyes out like a wee bairn. Go figure. Glue is the perfect cure for those Chicken Soup books.

Irvine Welsh blows my mind, with his genious. Having lived in Scotland for 26 years (I'm a weedgie! (Glaswegian)), I got into the dialect easily, and was instantly "glued" to the book. Fantastic stuff. Vulgar, depraved, hilarious, sexy, sad and joyous all at the same time. Welsh's books take you places no other author can or could go. Brilliant. Please make a movie.

Many might feel with this effort that Welsh is merely rehashing Trainspotting...in fact all of the major characters from that story make a brief appearance in Glue. Nevertheless, though Welsh's familiar themes of drug abuse, sex and delinquency abound, Glue is a story about people.

The book details the life of four close friends growing up in Scotland from the 1970s into the new millenium...through troubles and joys. It is a fun read told with Welsh's unrestrained yet stylish flair. The human element is very strong here...we see the four friends in every light; what brings them together, what drives them apart and ultimately the tragedy that they must all overcome. It is a sad and beautiful story, yet more upbeat than some of Welsh's previous works. Personally, I think it is his finest. If you enjoyed Welsh's other efforts, definitely pick this one up today. It is worth every page.

Irvine Welsh's "Glue" may be read as the flipside to his earlier, and much more compelling novel, "Trainspotting." Whereas in "Trainspotting" four friends are driven apart by forces such as drugs and a parasitic lifestyle that threaten to submerge their individuality, in "Glue" another set of four friends discover, following the suicide of one of their member, the importance of friendship (the "glue" of the title) in the face of similar forces. When familiar faces from the earlier book appear in "Glue," they are treated with suspicion or outright disdain. Mark Renton, the hero of "Trainspotting," is known to Gally, Terry, Billy, and Carl, the heroes of "Glue," simply as the boy who betrayed his mates. The idea is an interesting one, and Welsh makes sure that we come to know his heroes well. But this time the ideas, and even the language, seem less fresh. As in "Trainspotting," the bulk of the novel, which is set primarily in Edinburgh, is written in Scottish dialect, and Welsh is a master of this form. But, after having painstakingly developed his thesis in the first two-thirds of the book, he mostly abandons the vernacular language for a rather flat Brit English prose in the final third. Even worse, subplots that are brought in to flesh out the narrative don't really mesh, especially the one involving an unconvincing friendship that develops between the priapic Juice Terry and an aging American pop star. Nevertheless, "Glue" offers a handful of genuine laughs, and some memorable characterizations, as in the above-mentioned Juice Terry and his aging "alter ego" Post Alec. But there is no one in the novel quite as engaging as Renton, the Sick Boy, Spud, or Begbie. If you haven't already read "Trainspotting," do so first. And by all means, see the film. Then you may be eager for whatever narrative crumbs Welsh has to offer in "Glue."

"Glue" was my first Welsh experience. I have seen the film "Trainspotting," but have yet to read the text.

"Glue" is a wonderful story for those who appreciate the struggles and the work involved in solidifying good friendships. The book hit a personal note within myself and should do with those who know what it's like to grow up with two or more very close friends.

I would rather not dive into any descriptive detail about the book, as I would recommend going into it blindly the same way I did. Just know that it has all the elements: the comedy, the tragedy, the drama, the humour, the violence, the sex, etc. It's quite a wild ride, like many of us have had ourselves.

Yeah, I know saying that this is better than Trainspotting sets me up for ridicule, but it has to be said. Unlike Trainspotting, Glue has four fully fleshed out characters. Sure, trainspotting had four main characters, but Spud, Sickboy and Begbie were fairly one dimensional, especially in comparison to the four main characters of Glue. Glue has four well developed characters, and although their actions at times will drive you mad, you can't help but like them. At least, I couldn't. At its heart, this book is about friendship, above all else and that's where most of the pleasure of reading it comes from. Four kids become friends at the beginning of their life due largely to circumstance, but one's father teaches them the most important rule in life, always back up your mates. It is this theme that carries the book, no matter what they endure and even when they aren't the closest of friends, they're always there for each other when they're needed. The book uses time effectively, using it to show the ways people and friendships can and will change over time, which is another thing that Trainspotting lacked. Its conclusion is more satisfying, and ultimately I found its story more entertaining as a whole than Trainspotting.

That said, there is a complaint that this book has drawn on the board that needs to be addressed: the dialect. Yes, nearly all of this book is written in a heavy heavy Scottish dialect. It's used extremely well though. It is only used when the reader is actually inside a characters mind, listening in on his thoughts (which admittedly, is nearly the entire book). This makes sense though, after all, one likely thinks the same way he talks. The characters talk with an accent, odds are they think in an accent too. The accent also gives a unique identification with the characters as well, lending each one a distintive voice. Not to mention, it would be rather unrealistic if a group of teens from the working class of Edinburgh spoke in perfect American English. And if readers could slug through "Clockwork Orange" where the slang isn't even real, it really isn't too difficult to figure out that "nae" means "no" and that "bairns" means "kids." You may want to read Trainspotting first, since most copies of that come with a glossary, which is helpful, although a bit incomplete. You'll also notice characters from Trainspotting make cameos in Glue.