A little while back I re-read Irvine Welsh’s era defining novel Trainspotting, largely to remind myself of its characters before embarking on its sequel, the far less subtly titled, Porno.
As is likely well-known to any who really cares, Porno picks up the lives of the earlier story’s characters ten years on with Sick Boy (aka Simon Williamson) as de facto lead, rather than the original’s Mark Renton, returning to Leith after a seemingly less than successful time in London and planning to take over a local pub as part of his latest ‘scam’.
It’s not long before we are re-introduced to a selection of the ‘old friends’ from Renton, now living in Amsterdam and running a successful nightclub, to Spud still struggling with drug issues (amongst other things) and Begbie on the verge of release from prison where he’s been serving time for manslaughter and has apparently become even more unhinged than he was previously (no mean feat).
While the story once again focuses on life in Leith, a town here shown to be on the fringes of Edinburgh in the way its characters are on the fringes of society, rather than drugs, and specifically heroin, the main focus here is on the seemingly slightly more fictional feeling world of pornography, from low-budget stag films to, eventually, more elaborate productions.
In all of this the story is far more conventionally structured than Trainspotting.
While this may be more satisfying on one level, it unfortunately loses something of the freewheeling, modern ‘Beat’ style, of the original and at points even drags somewhat, particularly towards the middle of the book.
What it does allow however is what might be Porno’s most effective aspect, the creation of Begbie as a genuinely terrifying and truly unpredictable presence.
The tension surrounding ‘Franco’ as his friends call him, and his relationships with not just our main characters but the many side characters, at points reminded me of parts of Let The Right One In which remains the most pervasively threatening and scary book I’ve ever read.
Also added to the mix is a lead female character, Nikki.
As well as being female she’s also English and, initially at least, acts as something of a view into Welsh’s version of Leith.
Soon though she is absorbed into this slightly other world and, while she still gives a different view of proceedings, is maybe not quite as different as to really stand out – though maybe this is the point.
Once again Welsh uses different dialects in written form to differentiate his characters and, while at points this gets a bit of a challenge to read, particularly in Spud and Begbie’s more ‘earthy’ sections, it remains a brilliantly vibrant way for expressing not just the characters but the setting and atmosphere as well.
Porno then may not be the era and genre defining success that its predecessor was and may drag a little in parts while not seeming as real as Trainspotting, but it none the less is a worthy continuation of the story started a decade before and once again leaves things on a nicely ambiguous note while continuing to grow the world of Welsh’s work that is further expanded upon elsewhere.
Tommy Girard 