History Literature / Glue

[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/irvinewelshglue_6263.jpg]]

* NervousTics: Andrew "Gally" Galloway plays with his earring whenever something bothersome is on his mind. The habit is implied to be so prevalent that, over a decade after receiving the piercing, his ear still hasn't fullyhealed.

%% * ShotGunWedding: Gally's marriage to Gail is referred to as this.

* UranusIsShowing: When Terry reads Spud a made up horoscope, he starts with "As Uranus is active...".

* WritersCannotDoMath: The epilogue "Reprise 2002: The Golden Era" causes a bit of a ContinuitySnarl. ''Literature/{{Skagboys}}'' takes place from 1984-5, and one can more or less infer that ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'' runs from '87-89 (Renton is 25 early in Trainspotting, 3 years older than he was in Skagboys). As ''Literature/{{Porno}}'' is set a decade later, one can presume it's something like 1999-2000, which makes sense with the presence of DVD players, period mobile phones and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' (possibly the sequel?) playing at cinemas. Indeed, ''Dead Men's Trousers'' explicitly confirms that ''Porno'' happened in 1998. But ''{{Glue}}'s'' epilogue is set in 2002, and seems to set up the Amsterdam stag do for Rab in ''Porno''. Either [[OccamsRazor you take it that Welsh didn't work it out and misnumbered the year]] or... [[{{Asspull}} you have to stretch it to the possibility that Rab left his fiance, found a new one and also wanted a four day stag do in 2002 in the 'Dam after]] ''Porno''. This also draws into question the dating of the preceding section set "roughly" in the year 2000.

* ShotGunWedding: Gally's marriage to Gail is referred to as this.

** Heroin is an exception, of course: while largely peripheral to the story compared to some of Welsh's [[{{Trainspotting}} other]] [[{{Skagboys}} novels]], it is as nigh-inherently destructive to life and happiness as ever.
* HonorBeforeReason: Gally goes to jail for stabbing a man rather than grass on Polmont who actually did it.

* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: The positive potential of drugs such as ecstasy is a major component of the novel. Kathryn Joyner turns her life around following a bender with Terry and Co. involving ecstasy, weed, and cocaine (smoking a joint in particular allows her to overcome a debilitating eating disorder and enjoy a full meal for the first time in God knows how long); Rab gets over his recent devastating breakup and meets his possible soulmate [[spoiler: and eventual wife]] thanks to the emotional intimacy ecstasy provides; and Carl's successful career is largely due to the prominence of the same. The dangers of unsafe consumption and overindulgence are also necessarily on display, however.
** Heroin is an exception, of course: While largely peripheral to the story compared to [[{{Trainspotting}} other of]] Welsh's novels, it is as nigh-inherently destructive to life and happiness as ever.

* TheDragon: Martin Gentleman, a hulking monstrosity of a man who serves as Dozo's right hand.

* InUniverseNickname: An essential part of life as a schemie is nicknames. Almost every character has at least one, and many have several. To name a few, "Polmont" is actually [=McMurray=] but is known exclusively as the former for a stint in the approved school (he becomes "The Dalek" following the fitting of an artificial voice box); Johnny Watson shifted from Johnny "Guitar" (for his musical skills) to [[EmbarrassingNickname "Catarrh"]] (for his nasal issues) for years without realizing; Dozo Doyle's father "Duke", and his huge partner-in-crime Martin [[IronicNickname "Gentleman"]]. As for the main four:

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Billy's professional boxing career comes to an abrupt end during a fight he should have won easily. Officially, it's blamed on a thyroid problem that has his boxing license revoked. [[spoiler: In actuality, his opponent resembled Gally a little too much and Billy couldn't bring himself to beat down someone who reminded him that much of his recently deceased friend.]]

* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: The positive potential of drugs such as ecstasy is a major component of the novel. Kathryn Joyner turns her life around following a bender with Terry and Co. involving ecstasy, weed, and cocaine (smoking a joint in particular cuts through her eating disorder and allows her to enjoy her first full meal in God knows how long); Rab gets over his recent devastating breakup and meets his possible soulmate [[spoiler: and eventual wife]] thanks to the emotional intimacy ecstasy provides; and Carl's successful career is largely due to the prominence of the same.
** Heroin is an exception, of course: While largely peripheral to the story compared to [[Literature/Trainspotting other of]] [[Literature/Skagboys Welsh's novels]], it is as destructive to life and happiness as he ever portrays it. And while other drugs are portrayed much more positively, the dangers of unsafe- and over-indulgence are also on display.

* InUniverseNickname: An essential part of life as a schemie. Almost every character seems to have at least one, and many have several. To name a few, "Polmont" is actually [=McMurray] but is known exclusively as the former for a stint in the approved school (he becomes "The Dalek" following the fitting of an artificial voice box); Johnny Watson shifted from Johnny "Guitar" (for his musical skills) to [[EmbarrassingNickname "Catarrh"]] (for his nasal issues) for years without realizing; Dozo Doyle's father "Duke", and his huge partner-in-crime Martin [[IronicNickname "Gentleman"]]. As for the main four:

* InUniverseNickname: Each of the four protagonists has one. Terry becomes known as "Juice" Terry, due to his work selling aerated waters. Carl is known as N-Sign and Billy as "Business" Birrell as their respective {{Red Baron}}s as a DJ and boxer respectively. Andrew is simply known as Gally. Polmont is actually named [=McMurry=] and is referred to as Polmont only because that's where he's from, though he also picks up the nickname of "The Dalek" after having an artificial voice box fitted.

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Billy's professional boxing career comes to an abrupt end during a fight he should have won easily. Officially, it's blamed on a thyroid problem that has his boxing licence revoked. [[spoiler: In actuality, his opponent resembled Gally a little too much and Billy couldn't bring himself to beat down someone who reminded him that much of his recently deceased friend.]]

* InUniverseNickname: Each of the four protagonists has one. Terry becomes known as "Juice" Terry, due to his work selling aerated waters. Carl is known as N-Sign and Billy as "Business" Birrell as their respective {{Red Baron}}s as a DJ and boxer respectively. Andrew is simply known as Gally.

* ChekhovsGun: Gally's crossbow is as literal an example as possible possible in a setting without firearms. It ends up being the weapon used to shoot out Polmont's throat, [[spoiler: though it's Juice Terry who fired the bolt, not Gally]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Deep down, "Juice" Terry is this - at least to his friends.

** [[spoiler: Contracts HIV]], despite claiming to have used heroine maybe two or three times.

* MissingMom: Terry's mother dies a runner because she's sick of his BasementDweller ways.

* WritersCannotDoMath: The epilogue "Reprise 2002: The Golden Era" causes a bit of a ContinuitySnarl. ''Literature/{{Skagboys}}'' takes place from 1984-5, and one can more or less infer that ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'' runs from '87-89 (Renton is 25 early in Trainspotting, 3 years older thank he was in Skagboys). As ''Literature/{{Porno}}'' is set a decade later, one can presume it's something like 1999-2000, which makes sense with the presence of DVD players, period mobile phones and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' (possibly the sequel?) playing at cinemas. Indeed, ''Dead Men's Trousers'' explicitly confirms that ''Porno'' happened in 1998. But ''{{Glue}}'s'' epilogue is set in 2002, and seems to set up the Amsterdam stag do for Rab in ''Porno''. Either [[OccamsRazor you take it that Welsh didn't work it out and misnumbered the year]] or... [[{{Asspull}} you have to stretch it to the possibility that Rab left his fiance, found a new one and also wanted a four day stag do in 2002 in the 'Dam after]] ''Porno''. This also draws into question the dating of the preceding section set "roughly" in the year 2000.

--> --'''Terry'''

* DomesticAbuser: Charlene's father beat her and her mother.

** Gally, sort of. Hitting his daughter was accidental and YourMileageMayVary on whether Gail deserved to be hit.