El episodio final de la saga Trainspotting. Irvine Welsh se despide a lo grande de los icónicos Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy y Spud.

Estamos en 2015 y los destinos de Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy y Spud vuelven a cruzarse. Es decir: tenemos de nuevo reunido al cuarteto protagonista de Trainspotting en lo que el autor ha anunciado como «el Grand Finale de la saga».

Renton es ahora un exitoso representante de DJs que viaja por todo el mundo y se topa en un vuelo transatlántico con Begbie, reconvertido en artista de éxito, hombre casado y padre de familia. A los otros dos no les ha ido tan bien en la vida: Sick Boy sigue en lo del negocio de explotación del cuerpo femenino y Spud es una suerte de mendigo profesionalizado que pide dinero por las calles acompañado de su perro. Las cosas empiezan a complicarse con un turbio asunto de tráfico de órganos y riñones donados o robados, a lo que se suma un cadáver y la aparición de algún que otro secundario de lujo como el taxista priápico Terry Lawson, viejo conocido de los lectores fieles de Welsh.

Y así, a un ritmo acelerado que no da tregua, nos deslizaremos por una enloquecida montaña rusa de sexo –explícito y a veces grotesco cómico–, drogas –en todo su amplio espectro–, alcohol, sátira social, reflexión sobre el paso del tiempo y las dudosas probabilidades de madurar, y desenfreno y delirio en cantidades industriales.

En esta novela los protagonistas han alcanzado la mediana edad, pero ¿los ha hecho eso más sabios? ¿Han sentado cabeza? ¿Han aprendido algo de la vida? Esta nueva entrega y broche final de las andanzas de los ya icónicos personajes de Trainspotting no defraudará a los seguidores de Irvine Welsh, que sigue en plena forma y dispuesto a dar caña y guerra.

I just read “Dead Men’s Trousers” by Irvine Welsh, a couple of weeks after “The Blade Artist”.

“Dead Men’s Trousers” picks up with the final scene from “The Blade Artist” but from Mark Renton’s perspective, running into Francis Begbie on an airplane flight from Scotland to California. He panics and makes a dash into the airplane bathroom, having been trying to avoid Begbie for decades after ripping him off for a lot of cash at the end of “Trainspotting”.

This book follows the four buddies, Renton, Begbie, Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson, and Daniel “Spud” Murphy as middle aged men who’ve taken some different paths through life.

The formerly violent psychopathic Begbie having come out of prison much reformed is an artist living in the Los Angeles suburbs with his wife and two daughters.

Renton is worn out from the jet setting life of managing a few electronic dance music DJs, including another of Welsh’s major characters, Carl “N*SIGN” Ewart, with their gigs around the world.

Sick Boy has a successful escort agency in London, but pops up to Edinburgh regularly.

And Spud hasn’t gone anywhere, begging for small change on the streets of Edinburgh, pleased when he manages to get £12 on the first day we see him in this book…

Sick Boy visits his sister and her family for Christmas, and slips his podiatrist brother-in-law some ecstasy when they go out to the pub for some drinks.

Spud somehow gets involved in illegal human organ transplants, and isn’t smart enough to realize it’s a bad idea. He just thinks it’s easy cash. His incompetence ends up dragging Sick Boy and Sick Boy’s brother-in-law into it to appease the gangster who lost money due to Spud’s failure.

Begbie is in Edinburgh for a gallery show and auction of some of his work, wanting to make a work with all four of them. And all four of them interact and meet one another, dancing around old distrusts and animosities.

And Irvine’s most fun loving character, Terry “Juice” Lawson, makes a few short appearances, though never as a major character.

Chaos ensues.

Overall, it was a fun story. A lot of the Begbie stuff was a bit harder to suspend disbelief than the antics the other characters get up to.

The use of the working class Edinburgh dialect is heavy in the book, but varies based on which character each chapter focuses on. Spud, not having left Edinburgh has it the heaviest, the others, who’ve had successes outside have it quite a bit less. There’s a lot of rhyming slang from Sick Boy, who’s been living in London for some years.

This is definitely not a book for a reader new to Welsh, since it relies so much on characters and situations and resolutions from prior books. For those new to Welsh, best start with both “Trainspotting” and “Glue”, and read the books in the order they were written… ( )

It's hard to review an Irvine Welsh novel without giving too much away about the plot, but I'll do my best. "Dead Men's Trousers" is the third novel in the "Trainspotting" trilogy. Our charming companions are now in their fifties. Spud is struggling to remain drug-free and occupies his time by begging on the streets of Leith with his loyal companion, Toto (dogSickicj Boy is managing a "high class" London escort agency, while still making time to terrorise others for his own amusement. Renton is an international jet setter, managing a stable fo dance club DJs. And Franic Bebie? He has achieved unexpected success. Since leaving prison he has established himself as an outsider artist, married a beautiful woman and settled down with his family in LA. Naturally, when their paths cross again everythign goes to sh*t. "Dead Men's Trousers" is funny in parts, deeply depressing in others, and cringe-worthy the whole way through. As with "Trainspotting" and "Porno" most sections are written in colloquial Scottish, so it takes a few chapters to get into the swing of things. I find that with Welsh's liberal use of profanities that I need to monitor my own language to ensure that I don't casually refer to my friends and family as a 'wee pack of feckin' c*nts'. I'm glad I read it, but it's one for the fans. ( )

I read, and enjoyed, Trainspotting and Porno but not The Blade Artist, the immediate predecessor to this new book. As such one of my first reactions to this latest offering is, "Welsh has gone soft!" No dogs, for instance, are harmed in this story (a classic Welsh trope), in fact one of them gets a happier ending than his human companion! There is a wee bit of grossness, some drugs (almost mentioned in passing, except for Welsh's new love DMT), lots of funny sex scenes, Begbie emerging as a hero of sorts, and as usual Sick Boy having all the best lines. The general tone, however, is one of remove, and there are no truly heartrending or disturbing stories as in Trainspotting. Recommended only for long time Welsh fans who have read at least a few of the older books.

Favorite lines (besides Sick Boy's bon mots):
"I thought getting older would make things easier. Does it fuck."

"Ah fuckin hate the way some American cunts call lassies cunts. Fucking offensive, that shite."

Oh the irony! ( )