Nearly 10 years after Trainspotting we meet up with the lads once more, all in varying states of desperation. Sick Boy, having failed as a pimp and living in a 'crummy bedsit' in Hackney gets the chance to go back to his native Leith and make his fortune, whilst Francis Begbie, the psycho of the original novel is serving time for manslaughter. Renton is keeping his head down in Amsterdam, finally having kicked the heroin, and we find Spud in the same place as we left him - desperate and drug-addled, but now with a wife and child to support. In addition, we meet a few new characters, such as Nikki Fuller-Smith, the star of Sick Boy's porn film - film student by day, sauna-worker by night.

Through an unlikely, yet predictable chain of events, Sick Boy tracks Renton down in order to retrieve the money stolen at the end of Trainspotting, and Renton spends the remainder of the novel trying to avoid Begbie, now out of jail and hell-bent on revenge. Unlike its predecessor, the lead character in Porno is Sick Boy, or as he prefers to be known these days, Simon, and we discover him to be an extraordinary manipulator. Each chapter involving him is entitled 'Scam # 18xxx, giving an indication as to how little he has moved on since we left him - he lies, cheats, steals, betrays... although he may deserve his come-uppance, it's strangely upsetting when it finally happens.

Although we see the downfall of more than one of the characters, Spud is the tragedy. A good-hearted man who lacks the opportunity to make something of himself, he is witness to the abuse a convicted sex-offender inflicts on a destitute woman, and he muses "Like maist people in this world, ma nastiness is like a kind ay passive nastiness, a sortay nastiness by omission, by no daein anything cause ah dinnae really care aboot anyone strongly enough tae sortay intervene, except the people ah really ken". In contrast, we have Simon, whose morality is only evident to the level that "you've got two categories. Category one: me. Category two: the rest of the world. You can divide the others up into two sub-groups: those who do as I say, and the superfluous". Nevertheless, as the novel continues you see Simon for what he really is - a cocaine-addled failure, a dreamer who will never make it to the top but is only just starting to realise.

Essentially, the novel is about the fading of dreams and the way in which you realise that you'll never quite make it to where you want to be. Spud, in an effort to sort himself out for the sake of his estranged family, writes a history of Leith, only for his hopes to be dashed by the publishers who dismiss it as 'childish'. Towards the end of the novel, he decides that his best bet it to rile the homicidal Begbie to such an extent that he kills him so that Alison can claim on his life insurance, the account of which is heart-breaking. Alison writes in her diary that she wishes she could hate Spud for what he has done to her and their son, but she can't - it would be easier if he was a bad person, but, in truth, she and Andy could never wish for a nicer, more decent husband and father. Mark Renton puts it best, describing Spud as a "strangely vulnerable, but good-hearted man; but he's been so fucked up for so long it's like the essence of him is harder to find now, outside of the drugs ... you do have to care about him, and he'll just fuck up and fuck you up again. He's probably caused, in his own way, more hurt than Begbie, Sick Boy, Second Prize and me all put together ever could."

All in all, in a different vein to Trainspotting, but still a good read. It's nice to catch up with the characters and see where they are, and the final chapter is happliy ambiguous, leaving some possibility for a second sequel. It's strangely uplifting, for even as you can see through the humour and understand how damaged each of the characters are, you retain a sense of hope for them especially Simon - although he is not the decent guy that Spud is, the cynicism is a front and you feel that he could be happy and make others happy, if only he could allow himself to do so. Whilst his counterparts know what they are and what they wish to become, he has no idea.

I've tried not to include too many spoilers, suffice it to say that there are some unexpected outcomes and some happy endings. It's an excellent novel in that it allows you to try and understand, and perhaps empathise with, even the nastiest characters. After a couple of slightly below-par outings, it appears that Welsh is back on form. Roll on the film.

Good review Agent Pickle, what did you think we're his "couple of slightly below-par outings" btw? The last stuff I read was this and Filth both of which I thought we're excellent. There was a great short story of his in the Barcelona Review called A fault on the Line (I think) I'll see if I can find a link. Here we go... A Fault on the Line

Anyway good review.

Thanks Lee. I thought that Ecstasy wasn't great - although I liked the Thalidomide story and the one involving the writer, I wasn't keen on the third. I've got Marabou Stork Nightmares, and I like the way it functions on three levels, but, and the same goes for Filth, I don't like the way the truth comes out very quickly towards the end. I thought they were fine in terms of story, but the imbalance bothered me. If you read them more than once you can glean aspects of the truth from certain references made, but the concrete aspects come too thick and fast.

I suppose though, like most people I judge all his work (at least partially) against Trainspotting, something I tried to avoid doing in the above review. Whilst his later work obviously isn't as raw, it's not bad in itself. The trouble is, you expect Irvine Welsh to deliver every time. When he doesn't the disappointment is magnified. Bt when he does, as he has with Porno, it's fantastic.

Had a look at the short story - I thought it was very good. Very few people can do humour that dark and vicious quite that well.