Trainspotting in 2018

Happy to have heard Irvine Welsh speak at the Singapore Writers Festival. That very first book blew me away in 1993. 'Trainspotting', both book and films (1996 and its 2017 reboot) took me to a world I didn't understand, didn't know and while not wanting to know, was absolutely fascinating. The world of 1980s punk, rock and roll and the fast life in Edinburgh. I eagerly lapped up the sequel 'Porno' (2002) and its prequel 'Skagboys' (2012).

The author now lives in Miami, and is seeking out partnerships with film studios in Los Angeles. I suppose we'll be seeing his works on television pretty soon. In an interview with The Guardian's Sean O'Hagan on 19 August 2018, he said,

You were renowned for your somewhat hedonistic lifestyle when you were younger. You’re 59 now; have you settled down? 

It’s controlled explosions these days. I’ll have the odd tickle if something interests me. It might get messy occasionally, but nothing like it used to. I’m pretty sporty these days. I go to a boxing club most days; it’s the ultimate workout. You feel alive at the end of it. We’re all getting older and heading towards death, but how much of your life do you want to spend thinking about that? I’d rather have the intensity of the boxing gym. It keeps you alert and alive.

I've just finished reading his latest 'Dead Men's Trousers' (2018). While it's kinda nice to 'see' Mark Renton, Franco Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud again, and see how they are now. But this book is kinda long-winded. I'm not very fond of stories that turn into an epic.

If people don't get out of this punk phase, continuing to party hard, drink heavy and do drugs all the way, then dying at 27 years old is the rockstar way to go. If adults don't get off heroin and whatever addiction, never mind the illegal bits and the lack of a steady job and income; their personal lives will be in shambles. Alcohol, gambling and drugs are a lethal mix that provide a one way ticket to hell.  (Reviews here, here, and here.)

I'm working out a lot, going for runs with Vicky. I'm eating well, keeping off the drink and drugs. I occasionally dae NA as a lifebelt, like before I go traveling with the DJs, and have an app tae tell ays where the meeting are in each city I visit. I'm watching my weight, for the first time: I was always a thirty-two-inch waist. Bow Billy's thirty-fours fit me just fine. My tribute tae him and Spud is tae wear them until they fall off. 

But maybe we'll all have some ice cream. Just like when Franco and I first met back at that van, outside the Fort, him carrying the Tupperware bowl. This time he won't be chasing radges, and I won't be chasing drugs. My phone rings, and I step down the beach to take it. It's Gavin Gregson, the publisher in London. The one I sent Spud's manuscript tae, with just a few corrections. Well, two words mainly, both on the title page. He will reiterate to me about how excited they are to be publishing my book next spring. I think about Sick Boy's words, that you can only be a cunt or a mug, and you really can't be a mug. A thousand things go through my mind at once. Maybe atonement is about doing the right thing. But who for? I see Vicky smiling at me, as Alex does a wee dance on the spot. What do I do? What would you do? I let it ring another couple of times, then hit the green button. — Gavin, how goes?

Irvine Welsh's lecture in Singapore was titled, 'Who Are We and Where Do We Belong?: Questions in a Divided World.' As expected, it was a politically charged discussion. I don't expect less of Irvine Welsh. He's got a forceful opinion on what's with the state of the world right now, and it was less of discussion about writing styles or even directions. The world is his inspiration and I'm not sure he wants to talk about 'Trainspotting' all that much now. He's back to DJ-ing, uhhh....techno music. I really don't care for that. LOL

"I think humanity is in a bit of an existential crisis, I think we don't know exactly what's ahead for us... Technology has pushed us towards a whole different mode of production. The growth of the internet, information technology, that was a force for globalisation. We opted for a neo-liberal form of globalisation, and that was a mistake, really." 

~ in a review by The Straits Times, 4 November 2018