@BC.com: http://auro.bookcrossing.com/journal/377975
(rilasciato)

Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy is a collection of three thematically-tied novellas from the author of Trainspotting, all three subtitled "romances" that feature fetishistic (often taboo) sex acts, revenge, phonetically-written British accents (I watch enough BBC programming to get my hear around them, though the third story did try my patience), and of course, the drug Ecstasy. I kind of wish the first story had been a novel. A writer of historical romance jilted by her husband starts writing pornographic passages into her next book (Welsh does a passably dirty Jane Austen) with a necrophilia scandal brewing at a nearby hospital thrown in for good measure. The characters and structure could have entertained me for more than 75 pages. It's a case of diminishing returns after that. I did like the second tale, about a bank robber who falls for an armless young woman who in turn wants revenge on the manufacturers of the drug that made her be born with this deformity, but the third and longest story has far less motive power. We switch between the points of view of two characters destined to meet, and while I like Heather's rapid-fire stream of consciousness, party-boy Lloyd's sometimes impenetrable accent has nothing to say I want to hear. I could (should?) have stopped after the first story and been quite happy with the book.

In many ways a compelling read. Stylistically though, very irritating. Started skipping pages half way through as I was getting heartily tired of translating the phonetic dialogue. Page after page. I can see why new writers are advised to avoid it. Found all three stories a bit unconvincing, inconclusive and a bit uncomfortable. An experience though (maybe 2 1/2). Feel like I need to go and have a shower now.

Think I found a new favorite Irvine Welsh book.

talk about a weird book....

3.5 a little less brilliance is shown through these shorts than some of welsh's other stories but still enjoyable with known characters briefly mentioned here and there.

there are three stories in this book. the first was brilliant. the second one got a bit harder to read. and i could not for the life of me understand the third story. thankful i didn't pick up trainspotting because apparently reading in scottish slang isn't my forte.

The most fucked up book I’ve ever read. Had to stop at the last short story because the accents were just too hard to constantly read.

This is my second Welsh book and I'm sure I'll read another in time. I enjoyed the first two stories but the third just dragged on and on and on. From the beginning it was totally obvious what was going to happen and it took forever to get to an incredibly predictable conclusion. I stumbled a little more of the dilactic language in the last story as well, probably because the plot was so trite that I wasn't really paying that much attention. Definitely would have enjoyed the book more if the third story had been left out, or at least shorter.

This book contains three stories that revolve around romance and Ecstasy among other things.

Lorraine Goes to Livingston is the first story. It was titled a "Rave and Regency" romance. Famed regency romance novel writer Rebecca Navarro (who writes stories such as Lucy Goes to Liverpool and Yasmin Goes to Yeovil) has a stroke, which jolts her out of her dreamworld. When she actually takes a look at reality, she realizes that her husband is a prick who's using her for her money, and he uses her money for all forms of debauchery. She, along with the help of a nurse -- Lorraine, plan revenge on her dear husband.

This was my favorite story in the whole book. The next two stories are powerful, especially the one following this one, but this one held the most value to me. When you first meet Rebecca, you don't really like her much, but you feel empathy for her. And Lorraine is one of those characters that you can relate to. She's a single woman who has questions about her sexuality and wishes that everyone would stop trying to force love down her throat. Then, of course with this being your typical Irvine story, you have drug abuse, raves, and some bizarre sex practices (bestiality and necrophilia for this particular story).


Fortune's Always Hiding is the second story and is subtitled "A Corporate Drug Romance". The story revolves around a woman, who was the unfortunate victim of a drug marketed in the 60's, and a man, who's obsessed with soccer (or fitba, as they commonly say ;Þ). The woman is hell-bent on revenge and the man is in love and would do anything for her.

Another powerful story revolving around revenge, but this time it's against a big corporation who refuses to take responsibility for destroying people's lives. They've given money, but they aren't truly remorseful about their actions. I loved how Welsh jumped back and forth giving us tiny portions of what happened to the woman, Samantha. This one is my second favorite story in the book as well.

The Undefeated, an Acid House Romance, is about a jobless, drug dealer-slash-raver named Lloyd, and a unhappy, sexually frustrated housewife named Heather.

There's not a lot that I can say for this story. Most of the story is spent following their everyday struggles and few pages are actually dedicated to their meeting up. Lloyd's side of things didn't interest me all that much. It was interesting at times, but most times, I found his commentary lacking. Heather's side of things was quite fascinating though. It was just something about reading about her going from "good" Heather to "bad" Heather that really kept me reading her chapters.

It seems like I liked the stories in the order they were written. I loved the first and was only partially impressed by the last, even though, I did really love the hopeful ending we get at the end of the last story. Yeah, I'll admit the characters aren't all that drawn out, but this is only a 275 page book. What do you expect? Shrek's analysis? A wonderful addition for people who collect Welsh's off-beat works.