The sweat wis lashing oafay Sick Boy; he wis trembling. Ah wis jist sitting thair, focusing oan the telly, tryin no tae notice the cunt. He wis bringing me doon. Ah tried tae keep ma attention oan the Jean-Claude Van Damme video.
The novel’s opening line sets forth the problem that most readers around the world are going to face: it is written in a deep Scottish dialect. While it can be problematic for the average reader, such speech also presents a pretty interesting experiment for those up to the challenge. Much of Trainspotting actually reads a lot better if you speak it out loud. In that way, it is one of the most enjoyable interactive novels around.
The next day, however, the moustache is gone. Faither now ‘cannae be bothered’ growing it. Claire Grogan’s singing ‘Don’t Talk To Me About Love’ on Radio Forth and Ma’s making lentil soup in the kitchen. I’ve been singing Joy Division’s ‘She’s Lost Control’ in my head all day. Ian Curtis. Matty. I think of them intertwined in some way; but the only thing they have in common is a death wish.
Any reader who has seen the film adaptation of the novel knows that the soundtrack is an integral part of the film’s construction. What one might be surprised to discover is that this was not a decision imposed by the filmmakers. References to music, bands and artists populate the novel and many of those songs and artists make the transition from page to screen. This particular passage also intensifies the theme of dying young and wasted lives with the reference to Joy Division’s suicidal lead singer.
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.
What is probably the most famous line of dialogue from the film—certainly its most famous monologue—is also found in the novel. Renton does not recite his litany of choosing at the same place in the novel, however. Nor does it lead to the cynical ending with which the film opens. And it is not repeated as a coda at the novel’s end to offer at least a fleeting possibility of redemption. The novel provides a context to Renton’s infamous riff on choosing that is absent from the film.
Wee Gi’s standing by the fireplace, sipping a can ay lager. He looks frightened and bemused. Ah think tae masel, ah might end up whappin it up the wee cunt’s choc-box yit.
One of the elements which did not succeed in making the transition from the novel to the film is a minor incident which nevertheless does propel the entire section titled “London Crawling.” It takes place when Renton heads off to London and while living on the streets meets a homosexual named Gi while at a porno theater. The story of Gi is really quite sad and depressing and would definitely not have fit into the overall groove of the film, but perhaps the real reason this digressive chapter was left out is because it reveals that Renton has considered having sex with another man just to make sure he isn’t bisexual. By the end of the chapter, the quote above indicates this possibility is not just some passing fancy.
