The Acid House by Irvine Welsh
I am really happy I bought this on a whim. This is the first Welsh I’ve ever read, and I was stunned by his talents. Apparently this collection takes the disturbing social realism of modern Scotland he usually tackles and adds pure fantasy. Some of these stories feel like O. Henry, Phillip K. Dick, e.e. cummings, and James Joyce all submitted themes and styles of their work and sent it through a literary blender. The parts written in Scottish dialect are fascinating, this guy is a master of linguistics.
Highlights for me: The Two Philosophers; Eurotrash; The Granton Star Cause; Snuff; Across the Hall.
The novella at the end of the collection, ‘A Smart Cunt’, had some great writing too. Here’s a taste:
“ -Woman problems? my dad would laugh. -Never run for a bus or a woman, son. There’s always another one coming around the corner.
A great strategy that one. That’s why he’s never had his hole in fourteen years since my Ma fucked off. That’s why one day they’ll probably find him dead through hypothermia at a bus-stop.”
