Glue (novel)
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| Glue | |
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| Author | Irvine Welsh |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English, Scots |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | W W Norton |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 469 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-393-32215-7 (paperback edition) |
Glue is a novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. Glue tells the stories of four Scottish boys over four decades, through the use of different perspectives and different voices. Glue addresses sex, drugs, violence, and other social issues in Scotland through the lives of four boys. The title refers not to the abuse of adhesives, but the metaphorical glue holding the four together through changing times.
The four main characters of Glue are Terry Lawson (Juice Terry), Billy Birrell (Business Birrell), Andrew Galloway (Gally), Carl Ewart (DJ N-Sign). We first meet them as small children in 1970, then as teenagers around 1980, as young men around 1990, and as men in their late thirties around 2000. The novel is split into five different sections.
[edit] Main characters
- Carl "The Milky Bar Kid" Ewart: Carl is, along with Billy, one of the four boys to have a stable family environement. This makes him one of the group's most normal and well-adjusted members. His father, Duncan, instilled both a love of music and strong code of ethics in his son from a very young age. Carl is very philosophical and open minded, despite sometimes being self-centered and arrogant. He is close to his mates, especially Gally. He is called "The Milky Bar Kid" because of his white-blond hair. He eventually strikes it big as a DJ and his nickname becomes N-SIGN Ewart.
- Terence Henry "Juice Terry" Lawson: Terry is a self-centered waster whose main interests are sex and drinking. His father Henry deserted the family when he was a young child, fueling a life long hatred for the man. He also hates Walter Ulrich, the German man his mother married after his father left. He is very disrespectful to his mother and is very sexist. In the later parts of his life, he supports himself through theft and being a dole-mole. Terry is very arrogant and insults everyone, even his close friends. Despite his faults, he is a caring and faithful friend. His nickname Juice Terry is derived from the job he had as a teenager selling juice in the scheme.
- Andrew "Gally" Galloway: Gally is the heart and soul of the group, yet possesses an intense self-hatred. His father was a crook who was never around because he was incarcerated. Because of this, Gally became the man of the house, looking out for his mother and sister. He is a gentle and caring person, but is sometimes prone to fits of anger. He serves two terms in jail during the novel, both of them rather unfair, and becomes HIV positive through using heroin to combat his depression. His depression is fueled by his relationship with Gail, a woman he lost his virginity to after being released from juvenile hall at eighteen and subsequently impregnated. He married Gail, but their relationship suffered greatly due to her propensity for cheating. She takes his daughter from him after she is injured during one of their fights. All of these elements led to Gally committing suicide at a young age, which splits the group apart.
- Billy "Business" Birrell: Billy is the most driven member of the group. He is very honorable and believes in fairness. As a youth he gets involved in amateur boxing and eventually goes pro, becoming very successful, in part because of his involvement with some shady gangsters. Billy becomes the most successful member of the group, eventually running a bar after retiring from boxing. This, however, makes him become estranged from his old friends.
[edit] Trivia
The famous anorexic singer Juice Terry meets is called Kathryn Joyner, a reference to Karen Carpenter. Carl Ewart's nickname is derived from a well-known Edinburgh pub called the Ensign Ewart.
Some of the characters end up in the novel Porno, making it a sequel to both this and Trainspotting.
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