En la medida de lo posible, la literatura de Irvine Welsh debe leerse en inglés, de lo contrario, podría perderse mucho de la vastedad coloquial del slang escocés que compromete a la prosa del escritor con el humor negro y las vivencias de una juventud al límite, como la que vivió el autor. Después del éxito avasallador de Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh publicó en 1994 Acid House, una recopilación de 22 relatos y una novela corta que adelantaban el futuro universo expandido del escritor: prostitutas, yonkis, exyonkis, borrachos, desempleados y enfermos mentales se alejan de la condición de víctimas para transfigurar la autodestrucción como forma de vida. Son crónicas de los estragos dejados por Margaret Thatcher en los 80 y la ebullición de la cultura del club nocturno, las drogas duras y el conformismo de una clase media traicionada, donde las adicciones se convierten en la nueva hambruna. Welsh conoció los infiernos de la adicción a la heroína y en sus letras se agradece la capacidad de encontrar el humor en la desgracia que provoca la naturaleza humana, con seres que viven sólo para la siguiente dosis, sin saber dónde amanecerán mañana. La variedad en forma y estilo de los 22 relatos que comprenden Acid House va de la descripción introspectiva en primera persona, hasta la narración detallada de eventos desde la lejanía de un narrador que no pierde oportunidad para provocar e incomodar al lector, quien se pasea entre partidos de futbol, homosexuales reprimidos, pubs de mala muerte, infidelidades y vandalismo en una Europa pesadillesca, carente de autoridad y razón, pero innegablemente placentera. Es probable que Irvine Welsh jamás pueda superar el éxito de Trainspotting y su estela cinematográfica, pero en Acid House está sin duda mucho de lo mejor que el autor ha escrito, un itinerario que corre por varios de los momentos más ríspidos y nauseabundos del pecado y la salvación de sus personajes. La edición en español del libro, con la puntual traducción de Federico Corriente, traslada a nuestro idioma el dialecto escocés de Edimburgo con una soltura que impacta, pero lejana aun de la crudeza original de la narrativa Welsh. Aquí, más Welsh que nunca. ( )

My introduction to Irvine Welsh (unless you count watching Trainspotting once), this book made me an instant fan of the author. Normally I don't read short stories, but I'm glad I made an exception here.
Welsh brings life to a wide variety of characters and situations, and most all of them are very enjoyable to read about. Of course, in my opinion his "drug addled young heroes" make for the highlights of the book; A Smart Cunt is the perfect way to close out the book and would have cheered up a non-short-story-reader like myself even if the quality of the book hadn't already changed my opinion on short stories by that point. ( )

The common theme in the reviews quoted inside my edition of 'The Acid House' is 'exhilirating'. They're definitely startling stories, full of weird twists. Irvine Welsh does his best to avoid any sort of literary convention of language, structure, subject matter or taste. It has a feel of being punk literature, short little stories that are out to shock and reinvent, that value originality over refinement.

Like a lot of punk music as well, it was a more shocking at the time. A bit of that abrasiveness has worn off over the twenty years since 'The Acid House' was published, but thankfully Welsh's writing is strong enough and unique enough that this doesn't really matter.

It's still weird enough that it won't be to everyone's taste. The Scots language will alienate some of its audience and draw others in, as the other reviews on LibraryThing testify. But if you want a bit of slash and burn literature, a palate cleanser, then this might be what you're looking for. ( )

I admit I had very little idea what to expect when I picked up THE ACID HOUSE, but TRAINSPOTTING worked for me so I thought why not.

Welsh does bizarre, in your face scenarios; flawed, mad, bad, unlucky or just flat out odd characters; and he does a great line in Scottish venacular. What he doesn't do is pull any punches.

As with many short story collections from a single author, there are some that will work better than others for all readers. But to be a reader of this book you're going to have to have a high tolerance for "language", in your face drug taking, and being dragged backwards through the wild side.

The only proviso I'd make is if you've not read other collections or books, this may not be the best place to start. ( )

I never really got into the book.
First it was difficult to read because of the bits written in scots. It felt like hours just to read a single page. Besides I didn't care much for most of the stories. A lot of them seemed random and pointless, especially the ones with supernatural storylines thrown in. They were either too carefully crafted and artificial or too random. I don't normally mind the bizarre, but in these stories I found it to be neither original nor funny.
I had my occasional laughs and I liked Eurotrash and most of the Smart Cunt, so I'll give it 6 points.