En estas páginas puedes disfrutar de una cena de Navidad con el temible Begbie de Trainspotting y ver cómo reacciona ante el novio de su hermana y el anuncio de su compromiso. También descubrirás que alienígenas adictos a los cigarrillos Embassy Regal tienen el plan de colocar a algunos de sus jóvenes como los nuevos gobernantes de la Tierra. Y no te sorprenderá que dos tíos que pelean por una chica guapa descubran que la amistad entre ellos es más importante. Y te divertirá reencontrarte con «Juice» Terry Lawson, y presenciar lo que sucede cuando tropieza con su antiguo enemigo, Albert Black, en un club nocturno de Miami Beach…

Sono un onnivoro; come mangio tutto, così leggo tutto. Ma con l’età ho capito che non posso più mangiare tutto, il fisico non me lo consente: e che non posso più leggere tutto, il tempo non me lo consente. Di Welsh ho letto recentemente “Crime” e non mi era dispiaciuto; questo è un libro di racconti, lo inizio con un po' di diffidenza, ma subito capisco che proprio non ne vale la pena. La lingua è uno strumento potente, le parole hanno un significato, e così l’utilizzo del vernacolo. Io adoro i giochi di parole di Peppe Lanzetta, e poi Celine. Ma in questo caso non c’è minimamente struttura la somma non fa un totale, ma diventa una semplice declamazione di ingiurie. A cinquanta anni non sono diventato un moralista, per carità, ma così come non mi piace il cabaret che si base sulla volgarità, sulla scrittura serve attenzione. Insomma, dopo dieci pagine, sovvertendo tutte le mie regole di lettura, ho abbandonato il libro. Soffro, ma non aveva senso continuare. Giudizio evidentemente pessimo. ( )

“Reheated Cabbage” had some good stories and some lesser ones and one I just couldn’t get into enough to read the whole thing.

My favorite one was “I Am Miami,” bringing back some of my favorite Welsh characters, Carl “N-Sign” Ewart and Terry “Juice” Lawson. It’s told from the perspective of one of their old school teachers, who’s sort of unhappily living in Miami, long after his retirement and his wife’s passing. He just happens to bump into Carl and Terry, who are in Miami for a party…

Of course, any story or chapter of a story with Terry Lawson is going to be fun, he’s simply a hardcore, fun-loving guy.

“I Am Miami” was worth the price of the book alone.

The story, “State of the Party” was pretty good, too, with a couple of characters, Crooky and Calum, taking drugs in a bar and going to a party with some serious mishaps that get them kicked out of the party onto the street.

I also enjoyed “Victor Spoils” and “Elspeth’s Boyfriend” the latter of which starred Frank Begbie ruining his family’s Christmas dinner because he doesn’t like his sister, Elspeth’s new boyfriend.

“A Fault on the Line” was a completely shocking story about a man who doesn’t care about much of anything except drinking and football.

The remaining stories I didn’t enjoy all that much.

There was definitely some spice in the, uh, reheated cabbage to keep it from being bland and boring. I probably wouldn't recommend this to someone else as their first Welsh book (start with "Trainspotting" or "Glue"), but an absolute must read for Welsh fans. ( )

Reheated Cabbage (Tales of chemical degeneration).

Within this book, all bar one of the stories have appeared before. The majority having been published in an assortment of magazines and compilations, described by the author, "as toe-curling Scotsploitation & drugsploitation anthologies that were prevalent in the 90's".

This collection of eight stories, starts with A fault on the line, in which the main character's desire to watch the football at all costs, results in his wife's legs being ripped off by a speeding train & whilst on the ambulance journey to the hospital, he is working out how he can watch the footie. In the second tale (Catholic guilt), we meet Joe, probably the most homophobic, gay-bashing individual ever to darken the pages of a book, who dies whilst having sex with his mate's sister. The story ends with him condemned to spend eternity buggering men he has known, as penance for his ways. Then we get to the third tale (Elspeth's boyfriend) in which Welsh reintroduces us to Begbie. Francis Begbie is the most psychotically toxic & malevolent character that Irvine Welsh ever created. He first came to my notice in "Trainspotting" where he would lob full pint glasses over a balcony onto the people below, as a prelude to starting a fight. In this tale, it's xmas at his mums house & Begbie ends up nutting his sisters fiancé, for the crime of ------- saving him from choking to death (he slaps him on the back).

"Ah smacks the nut ontae the cunt, n eh faws back, hudin ehs face. Thaire's screams fae the women n the bairns n Joe's ower n ehs goat a grip ay ma airm . --- what ur fuckin daein, Franco? The boy helped ye! Eh saved yir fuckin life!

Eh battered ays oan the back in muh ma's hoose! Nae cunt lays thair hands oan me! In muh ma's hoose, oan Christmas day!

And so on, in the 4th tale, we meet a misogynist, in the 5th, Aliens addicted to embassy cigarettes & speaking with Scottish accents (Midlothian), who want to replace the world's leaders with Scottish thugs. The 6'th, we have two mates carrying around the corpse of an old friend. In the 7'th two guys fight over a girl, then after a pint & a few pills realise their friendship matters more.

Which leads us to the final tale & the only new tale in this collection, "I am Miami". In this story Albert Black, a once puritanical schoolteacher, although now retired & living with his son in Miami, spends his time reading the bible & denouncing all the hedonism & sinfulness around him, alienating himself from his family & pretty much everyone he comes into contact with. This is until one day he bumps into an old pupil, now a successful DJ & through a combination of events (& drugs), he realises how hard he has been on everybody, himself included & that because of his strictness as a teacher, the pupils understood he never gave up on them. So this story ends on a note of redemption, even if it's only because the ex pupils had taken Ecstasy & not their usual Cocaine, which as one of them says, would probably have ended with them kicking the shit out of their old teacher.

I was going to be facetious & state that this book should be translated into English, but that would be doing it & myself a disservice, although a lot is written in the patois of Welsh's Edinburgh roots, the rhythm of it soon becomes natural & easy to follow & in the process shades in the characters, adding another dimension to them. This is necessary, as to find any redeeming features in this cast of misanthropic, misogynistic drug & drink addled individuals is going to take every trick in the writer's repertoire. Thankfully Irvine Welsh's tricks bag is full, this book is overflowing with humour, some of it sly, sneaking up on you when you least expect it (Catholic guilt) & some of it coming right up and smashing you in the guts with a baseball bat (The Rosewell incident), but all of it full of zest, full of an energy that screams life. I will add one proviso, if you are the slightest bit shocked or offended by tales of extreme sex, drugs & mindless violence, or of a language that's so caustic it could strip flesh! Do not touch this, for everyone else, this collection of short stories is very dark, very bitter & very, very funny & also when you least expect it, very moving.

http://parrishlantern.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/irvine-welsh.html ( )

Aw these gadgies whinging aboot the lingo, can get tae f*ck, ken? Kelman didnae hiv tae put wi aw this shite frae fannies like yooz.. Mibees you'd prefer Burns if the c*nt wrote in English? Mibees you'd be happier if language wis jist wan dreary middle class middle English monotone? Mibees wideos like yooz prefer your stories aboot the workin classes tae be aboot things yi can get behind? Life isnae aywis a f*cking Mike Leah movie, and the workin classes arenae there to appeal to your middle class prejudices either. So git yir heed's oot yir arses and gie yirsefl a shake. And more to the point, give Welsh another go and please don't dismiss great literature because you're finding it a challenge. Didn't stop you reading A Clockwork Orange did it? ( )