Glue (novel)

Glue is a 2001 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. It addresses sex, drugs, violence, and other social issues in Scotland, mapping “the furious energies of working-class masculinity in the late 20th century, using a compulsive mixture of Lothians dialect, libertarian socialist theory, and an irresistible black humour.”^[1] The title refers not to the abuse of adhesives, but the metaphorical glue holding the four together through changing times.

The four main characters 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.

Main characters

• Carl “The Milky Bar Kid” Ewart: Carl is, along with Billy, one of the four boys to have a stable family environment. 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 suffers from an intense self-hatred. His father was a criminal who was incarcerated throughout Gally's childhood. 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, 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 18 and subsequently impregnated. He married Gail, but their relationship suffered due to her infidelity. She takes his daughter from him after she is injured during one of their fights. All this leads to drastic actions by Gally which split 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, estranges him from his old friends.

References