i saw the film first, right. absolutely loved it… that was to be expected, it’s a modern classic, i’d heard great things about it and it lived up to expectations.
i decided i’d read the book. having heard considerably less, i wasn’t expecting that much of it. i figured it had to be all right to have made such a good movie, but i wasn’t expecting it to be this good.
there is no comparism! the book leaves the movie straggling behind - it’s a masterful literary work and i was amazed at it’s strength and depth. sure, the scottish was a bit hard to pick up at first, but like a clockwork orange i got used to it fairly quickly.
so tell me, who out there has seen the book and read the movie? what did you think? what’s better? the movie is so renowned, why hasn’t the book recieved just as much kudos? and how much did they leave out… it’s a completely different story. so, yeah, woo trainspotting, book and moive!
I went the same route as you, movie first. I agree with your assesment too, the book was much better. I think what I liked better in the book was that it wasn’t all from Renton’s perspective. I especially enjoyed Sick Boy’s inner dialog with Sean Connerry(sp?). I’ve read most of Welsh’s other stuff and have to say that I love his books. All that said, I really, really liked the movie.
Same route also, movie first. But the book left the great movie in the dust. Here in America, I can understand why the book isn’t as well known. The dialect is very thick, lots of people I know who loved the movie said they wouldn’t go near the book when I recommended it just because they didn’t want to deal with reading those accents.
As for what got left out, most were, after all, small vignettes involving characters barely connected to Renton. He was the most logical character to build a film around, so parts of the book not involving him would be more likely to get cut.
Haven’t read the book yet, but I have looked at it at the bookstore. Looks very good, and the movie is one of my all time favorites (I once watched it four times in a week) Definately on my list of things to buy.
Incidentally, author Irvine Welsh plays Mickey Forrester in the movie. I’ve heard good things about his most recent book as well. I think he does the Kevin Smith sort of thing of using the same characters, but not really interconnecting the stories.