Filth by Irvine Welsh

With the festive season almost upon him, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is winding down at work and gearing up socially - kicking off Christmas with a week of sex and drugs in Amsterdam. There are irritating flies in the ointment, though, including a missing wife, a nagging cocaine habit, a dramatic deterioration in his genital health, a string of increasingly demanding extra-marital affairs. The last thing he needs is a messy murder to solve. Still it will mean plenty of overtime, a chance to stitch up some colleagues and finally clinch the promotion he craves. But as Bruce spirals through the lower reaches of degradation and evil, he encounters opposition - in the form of truth and ethical conscience - from the most unexpected quarter of all: his anus. In Bruce Robertson, Welsh has created one of the most corrupt, misanthropic characters in contemporary fiction , and has written a dark, disturbing and very funny novel about sleaze, power, and the abuse of everything. At last, a novel that lives up to its name.

Filth was a tough read, not because it was long or difficult in wording, but because it's a story of a character, Scottish police officer Bruce Robertson, doing horrible things to himself and others for about 300+ pages. Bruce drinks excessively, does drugs from the evidence room, abuses his authority as a cop to every extreme, has sex with anyone who will have him (including his sister-in-law and wife of his friend), manipulates and antagonizes co-workers, and is generally racist, sexist, chauvinist, and so on. It's not for the faint of heart. Oh, and in the midst of all this, he's supposed to be solving a high profile murder that has racial overtones, though he spends very little time actually doing this.

Yet somehow, while he's not sympathetic, he's certainly compelling. He's hiding his prolonged mental breakdown because he can't be less than tough in front of anyone for a single moment. As the story continues, it gets weirder, more surreal, even funny and touching at times. The more we learn about Robertson's past, the more interesting it gets and Welsh doles out the information at just the right pace.

Welsh gives Robertson a traumatic backstory, right from his conception in fact. His present life is no better; his wife has left him, taking their child. I never got the idea I was supposed to “excuse” his actions based on his troubled past and present however. There's also a suggestion that some of his troubles could be from a genetic mental illness, but this isn't overplayed as commentary. (His reasons for spending very little time searching for murder suspects become clear the more we learn about his past.)

The complexity of Robertson comes from the moments when his cynicism is lifted; he seems to care deeply for other people, tries to save a man who's having a heart attack, and helps a crippled woman. He wants to be a good policeman, and believes in it, despite his conflicting actions. He's also struggling to deal with the changes in what it means to be a policeman, as the department puts pressure on the cops to be more sensitive to diversity, to be aware of the sexism, racism, classism and how it affects their jobs. This is beyond Robertson's abilities to deal with or even consider. His past certainly plays into this. Despite being supposedly “on top'' as a straight white male and authority figure no less, nothing in his life's story indicates that he was ever treated with kindness, compassion or fairness because of it. His mantra of “same rules apply” goes for everyone, including himself.

Disgusting, gut-wrenching, painful and at the same time hilarious and thoughtful. This is a whole new experience per se, never felt so many contrasting things from a book. The way Welsh writes takes you right into the middle of it all and shakes you to the core. I am still shocked by the ending. Really shocked. Extremely recommended, though be careful: not for the faint hearted, REALLY. It's vicious and disgusting and painful. As the book itself says: suitable only for persons of strong constitution. Really, follow that advice. It's not an exaggeration.