Filth
- Author: Irvine Welsh
- Publisher: Vintage
- Classification: Black Comedy, Modern Fiction
Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is evil, scheming, haemorrhoid ridden and a most despicable example of the human race. He’s going for promotion and he’s fuelled by drugs and booze and his various plots against fellow colleagues all appear to be going to plan. Everything, at least on the surface, is going OK for Mr Robertson.
Unfortunately, for him, the haemorrhoids are getting worse, his wife has left him taking their child with her. Oh, and he’s got a tapeworm living in his gut. Quite frankly, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
Upon turning the first page to Irvine Welsh’s Filth, for the first time, I must admit I was greatly anticipating what was to come. And I was sadly disappointed. Throughout the book Welsh has introduced a symbiotic relationship between Bruce and the worm. Although I like this as a concept it irritated me for a large part of the book. Though this relationship gives you key insights into the Bruce character, these come later on (and are, for the most part, crammed in at the end), by which point the worm had already royally got on me nerves.
Aside from that, the book is well written, in as much as depth of character, narrative, dialogue and insightfulness into a darker side of human nature are concerned. And you have to admire Welsh’s full-on approach when creating this most disgusting of characters. However, Filth just felt monotonous and un-inspiring as a book. It might just be that it was the wrong media for the views he was trying to express and the way he was trying to do it, but either way it just didn’t work for me.
Rate it
(1 votes)
Loading ...
Your comment…
Fields with a * are required.