The Long Knives (The CRIME series, 2)

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Premessa: con questo libro io e Irvine Welsh abbiamo festeggiato 30 anni di grande e smisurata amicizia. Correva infatti l'anno '93 quando ci conoscemmo grazie a Trainspotting. Questo solo per dire che ogni mio giudizio può essere influenzato da fattori quali l'affetto verso quel mondo e la conoscenza dei suoi personaggi e delle sue storie. Ma, a prescindere da ogni considerazione, I lunghi coltelli è un romanzo che mette in discussione ogni valore morale e che punta a squarciarti la pancia (e non solo...) a causa dei tuoi errori e delle tue debolezze. Irvine Welsh travalica i confini del bene e del male per raccontare - a modo suo - una storia fatta di dolore, rabbia e ingiustizia, dove i buoni diventano cattivi perché tutti sono andati troppo oltre e non si torna più indietro. Lennox non si è mai davvero ripreso da un’aggressione che ne ha marchiato l’infanzia e i suoi incubi sono destinati a peggiorare, dovendo indagare sull’omicidio del deputato Ritchie Gulliver, brutalmente mutilato. Era un politico corrotto, razzista e pieno di nemici ma, rapidamente, i cadaveri si moltiplicano e il modus operandi non cambia, lasciando intendere la mente perversa di un serial killer. Finché, con la scomparsa di Fraser, il nipote dell’ispettore, tutto diventa dannatamente personale e i buoni propositi di Lennox per restare sulla retta via, vacillano pericolosamente.

The first book was turned into a six-part TV series starring Dougray Scott – inspiring Welsh to write a follow-up, and filming on its TV adaptation is due to begin next week. Trainspotting author Welsh said: “Real life is so grotesque and gruesome anyway. Politicians and leaders are all so grotesque and horrendous that I think, to get any attention, art has to be even more horrendous than them.” I really got into the actors and how they’re performing, so I thought ‘I’ll just sandwich another book in’ and that’s become the season.Welsh shows us a lot of human affliction here; a classic offering from him. We visit transphobia, substance abuse, sexual assault, and see a range of political commentary. We’re shown the climate by anti-establishment folks trapped in a system which won’t allow them to behave how they like, and we’re treated to effective demonstrations of how those on the higher rungs are protected. After the life Gulliver has led, the suspects are many: corporate rivals, political opponents, the countless groups he's offended. And the vulnerable and marginalised, who bore the brunt of his cruelty - those without a voice, without a choice, without a chance. No, I’ve learned how to do that down the years. I didn’t know how to write a novel when I wrote Trainspotting. I had these loose stories that seemed to be heading somewhere; the start was going on too much about how they became junkies, so I cut it and went straight into their world and ended it with a heist ending I thought would be dramatic. Then I went on to The Acid House – more stories. Marabou Stork Nightmares was my first attempt at a conventional novel but it turned out quite experimental. I was just messing around in those first few books. They were probably the best ones, because then you learn how to write and you end up writing like everybody else [laughs]. Crime isn’t one of my favourites, and I blame the Miami sun for that. I prefer Welsh’s characters to be floating in the grey setting of Edinburgh, leaning into the darkness of the culture, and operating on familiar territory. So this sequel taking place on its rightful soil was a huge draw. Not that I’d have given it a miss otherwise, ken. He told STV current affairs show Scotland Tonight at the Edinburgh International Book Festival: “We shot the first season based in part on the original book.

The Long Knives’ is the second novel in which DI Ray Lennox is the main protagonist, the first being the novel ‘Crime’ and he also featured in the novel ‘Filth’ too. I had read Filth but hadn’t read ‘Crime’ prior to reading this novel, as it can be read as as a stand alone but I actually went and watched the television series, ‘Crime’ which was based on that novel and it gave me a bit of a flavour of what had went on prior to the events in this outing. Irvine Welsh has described politicians as “grotesque” as he revealed his latest novel is already on its way to screens.If I’m just sitting there typing away thinking ‘this is nice, this is nice’ and nothing’s happening, then nothing’s going to happen for the reader either,” he said. Addomesticati, rassicurati dai toni mansueti del giallo all’italiana, per il lettore italiano l’impatto con un vero noir è come uno schiaffo in faccia. Un effetto doccia fredda che si verifica puntualmente con le storie ideate da Irvine Welsh, il 64enne scozzese dagli occhi di ghiaccio, il creatore di Trainspotting, con il suo nuovo libro, I lunghi coltelli (Guanda, pp.384 €19,80) A critical consensus has built up over the years that there is Good Irvine Welsh and there is Bad Irvine Welsh. Good Irvine encompasses such generation-defining works as Trainspotting, The Acid House and Filth, while Bad Irvine covers such sloppy, repetitive, self-parodic novels as A Decent Ride and the many sequels and prequels to Trainspotting. His 2008 novel Crime, which follows the exploits of Edinburgh detective Ray Lennox as he hunts down paedophiles in Florida, was definitely Good Irvine, with its contorted moral dilemmas, fast-paced action and rich characterisation. Recently adapted into a television drama, Crime was the first part of a proposed trilogy centred on Lennox. The Long Knives is the second instalment. It’s definitely Good Irvine.