Glue is populated with strong characters. The four main friends the reader follows - Gally, Juice Terry, N-Sign Ewart, and Billy Birrell - stick together through thick and thin. From primary school to soccer riots (which is an hilarious scene) to teenage clubbing to middle age, the four remain friends. What's more is their mannerisms and behavior towards each other change very little over the course of the novel, which gives it a remarkably cohesive feel. In the end, the reader is made to feel most sympathetic towards Gally because he is the group's martyr and his story is the most integral to the climax of the novel. However, all four main characters receive equal page time, and because of this they are so developed that you know what one will say before it is said. The reader gets to intimately know each of the four.Also, the situations the lads experience throughout are exciting, hilarious and wildly varied. The afformentioned soccer riot is great, the European vacation is very interesting, and the reunion at the end is nearly heartbreaking.In fact, the only aspect of the book I didn't care for was the year hopping. The story begins when the boys are about 10 and progresses in 5 year increments up to middle age. It works on the level of a character study, but it makes the novel seem more pieced together than linear. Irvine Welsh is obviously an incredibly talented writer, but the jumping around seems like a crutch to prop up a story idea that never reached maturity. One page Gally is at the nightclub, the next he's just getting out of prison.All that said Glue is a great read, the more so since Filth was such a disappointment. The characters and situations are great, and with the exception of the year hopping, I found every facet of the novel to be great especially for fans of Welsh's work. If you love any of his work read Glue - it is truly intriguing.
This guy flabbergasts me, especially this one, Glue. It is an absolute wank-fest. The beer-fest holiday in Germany was so over the top I was wondering if it might have been a fantasy plagiarized from some hormone-crazed schoolboy son of a Presbyterian minister. What utter implausible garbage it was, the whole book, from cover to cover. And then the irresponsible glamorization of drug taking this moron indulges in. Speed is like sucking lollipops, real heros do skag. Mind, you might get AIDS and die, apparently that is the only risk. No schitzos, no destroyed lives, parents, siblings, families, just bullet-proof laugh-a-minute bozos like Spud or latent geniuses like Renton (or Ewart or Sickboy or Begbie, the whole poxy cast) who only need to get clean and all's rosy. Welsh is just a smutty little grub with a tendency for animal cruelty fantasy who writes cheap, one-dimensional, juvenile bum-joke rubbish made interesting only -- one trick and one only -- by the unfamiliar Scottish street lingo and slang. Written in plain-speak english all those who give it five stars would chuck it in the rubbish bin after a dozen pages. And then, to contrast this millionaire celebrity with James Kelman who writes truly intelligent, excorticating studies of the same working class lives, struggles and people Welsh fills his scribblings with, pffft! Art and fart. So be it, Hollywood is proof, true artists have their ideas stolen by the mediocre who are showered with fame and fortune as reward. "I’ll tell ye something else, bastards people think lies are true and even when they know they’re no true they’ll say fuck all because the shitey fucking arse who’s telling the lie holds the position of power." That's only a half star by the way.
What do You think about Glue (2015)?
If you don't want to read a book filled with words that are written so that when you read them you are pronouncing words in a Scottish accent then this and many of his books are not the books for you. If you don't mind that then go for it, it only takes about a chapter to become proficient in reading his work. I personally loved the story. It's sort of the prequel to Trainspotting. This book introduces you to many of those characters as young boys but the book is not about them but other young boys growing up in Scotland with their own set of issues and insecurities. Welsh is a colorful writer giving his characters very full lives making you love some characters and loathing others.
—Amber
Fazia um tempo que eu nao lia um livro que me prendesse tanto. Me sinto meio culpado por ter adiado ele por quase um ano na estante dos livros a serem lidos.Eu acredito que alguns livros vem na hora que eles tem que vir. Peguei ele por ter uma bagagem na literatura do Welsh. Se você nao leu/viu o filme do Trainspotting, nem encosta nesse porque as histórias se cruzam e você vai ter mais spoiller do que quando entra no facebook depois de final de temporada de Game o Thrones.Enfim, vamos ao livro. É sobre quatro amigos que se conhecem desde pequenos. O livro se divide em quatro partes separadas por um intervalo de 10 anos na história. A primeira parte é divertida e nostálgica pra caralho mostrando quatro adolescentes tentando transar pelas primeiras vezes, brigar por futebol e ter as primeiras experiências com drogas. O fim da primeira parte dá o ritmo pro resto do livro. A partir da segunda o Welsh começa a despejar um monte de armas de Tchekov que só vão disparar no fim do livro. O que pode ser isolado como diversos contos engraçados, começa a se ligar pelos revéses (revés tem plural?) e formar um romance conciso em que fica difícil perceber quando a história se fez tão importante à ponto de você se envolver com ela.As idas e vindas dos personagens, as reflexões sobre ausência, paternidade e responsabilidades fazem desse livro uma obra foda. Terminar ele é como perder um amigo de repente. Muita coisa pra se pensar, muita coisa que você ainda queria pela frente, mas sabe que não há nada dali pra frente.
—Carlos Da silva
Not since the early 90's when I first discovered Tom Robbins and Kurt Vonnegut have I loved an author as much as Welsh. Glue is he fifth in a row and mayhap my favorite, although I seem to say the same about them all. As soon as I've finished reading all of his works I think I will start over and read them all again. There are too many good quotes from this book to even begin to pick a favorite. However I will include Duncan Ewart's Ten Commandments and one of my favorite passages from his son Carl Ewart:1) Never hit a woman; 2) Always back up your mates; 3) never scab; 4) never cross a picket line; 5) never grass friend nor foe; 6) tell them nowt (them being polis, dole, social, journalist, council, census, etc); 7) never let a week go by without investing in new vinyl; 8) give when you can, take only when you have to; 9) if you feel high or low, mind that nothing good or bad lasts for ever and todays the start of the rest of your life; 10) give love freely, but be tighter with trust."They try to conyou that making that kind of choice day in and day out makes you feel free or alive or self-actualized. But it's shite, a lifebelt to stop us all from going fuckin mad at the lunacy of this fucke-up world we've let them shape around us."
—Aaron
