My Mind Is Not Dead

So I started reading what seems so far to be a right gem of a book earlier this week whilst I was in Edinburgh for a few days. On holidays I like to try and read books that are set in the place I’m visiting, or by authors who are from the place I’m visiting. I brought Filth by Irvine Welsh with me. 
I’ve always felt rather wary of books that are written in the accents that the characters are speaking, they make very slow reading for me. However, I have found with Filth that after perhaps 20 or so pages, its very easy and you get used to it. So, I embark on my first Irvine Welsh novel…

Filth is pretty much what it is, but it is brilliant. I am just over half way  and despite the grim fucking content and storyline (which doesn’t seem to be going well), I am thoroughly enjoying it. The protagonist, Bruce Robertson is someone I won’t be forgetting any time soon. Welsh’s writing is pretty spectacular, the book encapsulates the every day gore of the human to a perfect pitch. The thought of a curry is usually so alluring and I can smell it and taste it and crave it. But NOT ANYMORE! When it comes down to it, the curry is a key ingredient to Bruce Robertson’s spunk and shite. There are passages of what is pure filth, regarding food even, that are really laugh-out-loud funny.

Thus far, I can definitely recommend it. I am very curious to know what will become of our Bruce, the ultimate anti-hero if there ever was one.
I’m very glad I’m getting around to read it finally. I bought it from a bookshop in Vienna in August last year, and it’s been sitting amongst my other unread books ever since.



Edinburgh itself was not disgusting, although I can imagine that the place on a weekend could be an absolute no-go area, as I saw packs of lads out for stag-do’s arriving on the train on Saturday as I left.
It is a gorgeous place. A place to behold, because of how hilly it is and yet streets have been paved, buildings built, a city of beautiful, freaky, labyrinthine form. I found a Fopp and bought two books (Galápagos by my man Kurt Vonnegut and Across the River and Into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway - I’m onto my American Literature in a big way) and two CD’s (Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk and Fire Like This by Blood Red Shoes).
I walked around a lot, through parks and down random streets, ate fudge and took in the fresh air and the views, and washed myself in SOFT WATER, or at least I think I did because my skin and hair felt more amazing than normal. I could totally live there. 

IN OTHER NEWS!
I had a pile of post on my bed when I returned from Edinburgh, some of it being completely boring and some that included a couple of DVD’s that I ordered and another book. In one of the more boring envelopes however was a letter accepting me into the Access course I applied for! I had an assessment and an interview which I thought I had piddled my way through, but Yay! Very excited. I’m going to try and rearrange my tiny bedroom so that I can fit a desk in somewhere… I need a work space for all this work I’ve signed myself up for. Can’t wait to get cracking (famous last words…)!