Publication
London Cape 2002
ISBN
022406181X / 9780224061810
Language
Collection
Series
Description
Ten years on from Trainspotting, Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson is back in Edinburgh after a long spell in London. Having failed spectacularly as a hustler, pimp, husband, father and businessman, Sick Boy taps into an opportunity, which to him represents one last throw of the dice. However, to realize his dream of directing and producing a pornographic movie, Sick Boy must team up with old pal and fellow exile Mark Renton and a motley crew that includes the city's favorite ex-aerated-water-salesman, 'Juice' Terry Lawson. In the world of Porno, however, nothing is straightforward, as Sick Boy and Renton find out that they have unresolved issues to address, concerning the increasingly unhinged Frank Begbie, the troubled, drug-addled Spud, but, most of all, with each other.… (more)
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member lmarin
I had enjoyed ecstasy and trainspotting from Irvine Welsh but when I tried to read this one, it just fell from my hands. Seemed just like "more of the same" with a title and basic storyline to attract the masses whilst not delivering in either storytelling or the further exploration of what he had
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produced before. Show Less
LibraryThing member shrubbery
Readable and he does get at some uncomfortable truths, but it's got the usual dollops of plain nastiness. And the ending's a terrible copout.
LibraryThing member roastedkidneybean
If you liked Trainspotting and are interested to know what the characters are up to 10 years later, then read this. :)
Typical Welsh, funny, shocking, horrifying & great dialogue.
Its a very well plotted story, told in alternating first-person chapters by 5 main characters.
Although a lot of the plot
Typical Welsh, funny, shocking, horrifying & great dialogue.
Its a very well plotted story, told in alternating first-person chapters by 5 main characters.
Although a lot of the plot
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is pretty predictable, bar a small twist or two, Porno kept me very interested to the last word and left me feeling satisfied. Show Less
LibraryThing member sailornate82
This book, a sequel to "Trainspotting," has potential, but lacks focus. One review lauded the satirical commentary on gender roles and capitalism. I just don't see it. There are a few interesting passages, and on the whole it's better written than "Filth," but it seems to wane, reconciling no real
I don't think I'll revisit any other Welsh book in the foreseeable future.
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point or purpose.I don't think I'll revisit any other Welsh book in the foreseeable future.
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LibraryThing member sailornate82
This book, a sequel to "Trainspotting," has potential, but lacks focus. One review lauded the satirical commentary on gender roles and capitalism. I just don't see it. There are a few interesting passages, and on the whole it's better written than "Filth," but it seems to wane, reconciling no real
I don't think I'll revisit any other Welsh book in the foreseeable future.
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point or purpose.I don't think I'll revisit any other Welsh book in the foreseeable future.
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LibraryThing member Praj05
Ah’ll tell, fuckin crappin Welsh ah think masel jist git a beer n read aboot aw auld Leithers. Ah’m thinking aboot thit cunt book Porno like it wis pillin ma heid oaf.
Porno marks the arrival of the conniving Leithers-Sick Boy, Renton, Spud and Begbie. The narration parting in three dimensions
As the novel progresses, the iniquitous members of Leith’s most fucked up dwellers intervene in each other lives trustfully, shagging their way to merriment whilst fabricating plots to avenge Renton’s swindle.
It is highly unfeasible to deter from comparing the two novels as it a continuum. Welsh’s struggle to fetch the magnetism of Trainspotting seems to be lost in the uncanny setting. Contrasting the former, the asymmetrical placement of each character’s existence into alternate segments of defined chapters thwarts the streaming of the offered storyline. Welsh bringing new characters viz: - Nikki Smith, Rabs, Carl Ewart; interlinking his other novel Glue (another feeble rationalization of Trainspotting) does compose the intriguing element giving an inventiveness. Alas! All fails to electrify and recapture the daunting enchantment of his sole winner- Trainspotting. At present I mull over the prospects of Skagboys- prequel to this scamming cult.
Porno marks the arrival of the conniving Leithers-Sick Boy, Renton, Spud and Begbie. The narration parting in three dimensions
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Stag, Porno and Exhibition; drafts the homecoming of Simon (Sick Boy) to Leith amid resuming his wayward Machiavellian schemes to earn hard cash through filming a lowly dissident pornographic film with few distorted local chums and couple university chicks. Meanwhile Mark Renton is a co-owner of a classy club in Amsterdam however discontented with his whorish girlfriend. Spud on the other hand is still the low-life scum trying to get his drug habit kicked off, attending several rehab sessions. Begbie, serving imprisonment unknowingly receives a steady supply of gay porn from Sick Boy and harbors resentment towards Renton.As the novel progresses, the iniquitous members of Leith’s most fucked up dwellers intervene in each other lives trustfully, shagging their way to merriment whilst fabricating plots to avenge Renton’s swindle.
It is highly unfeasible to deter from comparing the two novels as it a continuum. Welsh’s struggle to fetch the magnetism of Trainspotting seems to be lost in the uncanny setting. Contrasting the former, the asymmetrical placement of each character’s existence into alternate segments of defined chapters thwarts the streaming of the offered storyline. Welsh bringing new characters viz: - Nikki Smith, Rabs, Carl Ewart; interlinking his other novel Glue (another feeble rationalization of Trainspotting) does compose the intriguing element giving an inventiveness. Alas! All fails to electrify and recapture the daunting enchantment of his sole winner- Trainspotting. At present I mull over the prospects of Skagboys- prequel to this scamming cult.
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LibraryThing member JWarren42
Did we need this novel to finish up any unfinished business? No. Still, it's magnificent. The final section, where things come together, was particularly fantastic. An important meditation on the modern practice of revitalizing rough areas...that the facade may change, but the dynamics remain...as
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well. Welsh can't let these characters go, and I'm glad--and neither can I. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sarah_Buckley
This was an interesting book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, yet it wasn't quite as great as Trainspotting. Overall, an interesting book that you should read if you are a fan of Irvine Welsh.
LibraryThing member JoelvdWeele
Great sequel.
LibraryThing member lydia1879
So I picked up this book because I'm trying to read more from my bookshelves before I have to move sometime in the next year or so.
I had already read about half of this book but had put it down after Welsh wrote something awful happening to one of the female characters, and I didn't feel like
18 months or so later, I picked it up and read all the way to the end. Whew.
Porno is shocking and sexy and awful, utterly awful, as Welsh's writing usually is. I will say that it is a departure from Trainspotting in that there's slightly less drug use and quite a bit more sex.
One thing that I didn't like about it was the sheer amount of sexual violence against women. I also felt that Trainspotting has a lot more depth to it as a novel. Porno? Not so much, this felt a little bit more like fan service, as if the characters were allowed to get away with so much more just because of who they were.
I did like the writing, I love reading some of Welsh's words and the way he weaves his story in phonetic Scots and Scots Leid and all the slang, even if it is difficult to read sometimes. I still found it really readable, but I didn't love it as much as I loved Trainspotting.
Oh, and trigger warnings for all the things. Sexual violence, assault, drug use, drug references, non-consensual sex, all the things. It's an Irvine Welsh novel.
I had already read about half of this book but had put it down after Welsh wrote something awful happening to one of the female characters, and I didn't feel like
Show More
reading it anymore. 18 months or so later, I picked it up and read all the way to the end. Whew.
Porno is shocking and sexy and awful, utterly awful, as Welsh's writing usually is. I will say that it is a departure from Trainspotting in that there's slightly less drug use and quite a bit more sex.
One thing that I didn't like about it was the sheer amount of sexual violence against women. I also felt that Trainspotting has a lot more depth to it as a novel. Porno? Not so much, this felt a little bit more like fan service, as if the characters were allowed to get away with so much more just because of who they were.
I did like the writing, I love reading some of Welsh's words and the way he weaves his story in phonetic Scots and Scots Leid and all the slang, even if it is difficult to read sometimes. I still found it really readable, but I didn't love it as much as I loved Trainspotting.
Oh, and trigger warnings for all the things. Sexual violence, assault, drug use, drug references, non-consensual sex, all the things. It's an Irvine Welsh novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KevinRubin
"Porno" is a novel that follows up from two of Welsh's previous novels, "Trainspotting" and "Glue" featuring characters from both of them and referring back to scenes from both.
The plot roughly centers on a few of the characters who meet up in Edinburgh and decide to make an adult movie
Mark Renton is back in Edinburgh after a long exile in Amsterdam, having ripped his buddies off at the end of "Trainspotting" when he took the group's drug money and ran off. In the meantime he's gotten himself cleaned up from heroin and turned into a decent businessman in Amsterdam's red light district.
He spends most of the book trying to avoid Begby, the nasty, mean, violent fellow who was one of his buddies he ripped off, and who's out of jail. Begby is so mean and nasty that when he beats up his girlfriend he's not sorry, he's so terrible, he doesn't even know it's wrong... And when he hears Rents is back, he wants revenge.
Terry is more than happy to star in the adult movie, since that's one of the few things he's ever been good at... He's the happiest of the whole group, or at least until he gets an improbable injury while filming...
Another character from "Trainspotting," Spud is wandering around, trying to get off heroin again and again, but always relapsing. He thinks writing a history of Leith will give him something to do, but once he starts he finds out he has no idea how to research or write and no one is even remotely supportive...
Spud has what must be the absolute, most utterly disgusting sex scene I've ever read anywhere, when he randomly meets a junkie girl in a park, for whom drugs have far overtaken hygiene...
The plot roughly centers on a few of the characters who meet up in Edinburgh and decide to make an adult movie
Show More
together.Mark Renton is back in Edinburgh after a long exile in Amsterdam, having ripped his buddies off at the end of "Trainspotting" when he took the group's drug money and ran off. In the meantime he's gotten himself cleaned up from heroin and turned into a decent businessman in Amsterdam's red light district.
He spends most of the book trying to avoid Begby, the nasty, mean, violent fellow who was one of his buddies he ripped off, and who's out of jail. Begby is so mean and nasty that when he beats up his girlfriend he's not sorry, he's so terrible, he doesn't even know it's wrong... And when he hears Rents is back, he wants revenge.
Terry is more than happy to star in the adult movie, since that's one of the few things he's ever been good at... He's the happiest of the whole group, or at least until he gets an improbable injury while filming...
Another character from "Trainspotting," Spud is wandering around, trying to get off heroin again and again, but always relapsing. He thinks writing a history of Leith will give him something to do, but once he starts he finds out he has no idea how to research or write and no one is even remotely supportive...
Spud has what must be the absolute, most utterly disgusting sex scene I've ever read anywhere, when he randomly meets a junkie girl in a park, for whom drugs have far overtaken hygiene...
Show Less
Awards
Scotland's National Book Awards (Shortlist — 2002)