Fans
of the classic Trainspotting will be
delighted with this one, as Welsh’s consecrated style is extremely potent in
the collection of stories that make up Acid House. The book will strive to get
you through your full spectrum of emotions, as the heartfelt and refreshing
style will have you ending up appreciating and sometimes even identifying with
the most unlikely characters.
Although
the main themes are still the moral decadence, nihilism and selfishness of the
proletarian, drug-addicted Scottish youngsters specific to Welsh’s universe,
somehow, the dark humour, unexpected plot twists and elements of social satire
give it a new depth altogether. From professors who decide to settle a lifelong
philosophical argument by means of a fistfight to a youngster wasting away his
talents to such a degree that an angry God turns him into a fly, the randomness
with tangencies in both the banal and grotesque will challenge you to hold an
ever-changing perspective about this book and, why not, life itself.
Extrapolating this work, one could argue that life is a series of bizarre,
often unrelated events which you can sometimes only observe and learn from. Or
laugh at. Or empathise. It would be a great injustice to attribute little literary
value to Acid House simply due to the visceral style, crude language and
uncomfortable flow of events.
There is something in this book for everyone, if only just a change of style and tempo. I would recommend it as a light read. Having no narrative flow it can be picked up and gone through in small, infrequent bits without losing any of its value.
About the reviewer
Sebastian
Sfat was born in Arad, Romania. Currently working as a Service Desk Analyst at
the University of Leicester, which he graduated from with a degree in
Management and Economics, he likes what he calls random literature. He will
often pick the first book that catches his eye in the store for no obvious
reason. It seems to work so far.
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