Trainspotting

Trainspotting is Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh’s 1993 work of fiction. Set in the late 1980s, the novel follows the “Skag Boys,” who are involved in Edinburgh, Scotland’s heroin scene, particularly in the neighborhood of Leith. Most of the novel portrays a Scottish English dialect, though some portions are in British English. Separated into seven parts, the 43 chapters are from different character’s perspectives, and some are in third person, making for a disjointed narrative that reflects the wild and disorganized life of a junky. The novel acquired a cult following, and Welsh later published a sequel, Porno (2002), and a prequel, Skagboys (2012).

Much of the novel centers around Mark Renton, or “Rent,” a heroin addict who tries on multiple occasions to kick his addiction.