Book reviews

Filth
Irvine Welsh Book Review

Read a book review online (click here to search reviews)
Books Movies  
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Literature Romance Biography Video
Irvine Welsh Books
New book search
Irvine Welsh Message Board
Get more information about this book
Plot Summary of Filth
" Sodomy.Rape.Murder.Theft.Arrogance.Bigotry. All narrated with hysterical, repetitive cruelty by Detective Sargent Bruce Robertson. Quite possibly the most corupt character is modern literature. An alternative running commentary is splattered over the page(literally) by a worm in the protagonist's intestine. Its comentary growing as the book progresses, it is his memory, his conscience and his constant source of physical pain. Gradually the laughter fades, the adrenaline rises and Filth reveals itself to be a tragedy without ever resorting to pop-psychology. It is written entirely in the first person.
Arresting, preverse, provacative and brilliant. "

Mostafa Hefny, Resident Scholar

"Corrupt policeman Bruce Robertson is in line for promotion and plays off all his friends and colleagues against each other to help achive his aim. Unfortunately, his past catches up with him. The murder he is supposed to be solving leads to his downfall."
Alex Wolstenholme, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Filth
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 40%




Tone of story - Dry-cynical - depressing/sad
How difficult to spot villain? - Story partially from villain's perspective
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 20% - 30%
Special suspect? - investigator him/herself
Murder of certain profession? - diplomats
Kind of investigator - police procedural, British
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little - a tremendous amount
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
City? Yes
City: - Dirty, dangerous (like New York)

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths? - 1 - 2
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - touching of anatomy - licking - use of artificial tools - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas
Unusual forms of death - crushed
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Filth
Fruitcake by R.J. Kaiser
Good Morning Midnight by Reginald Hill
Walking on Water by Gemma O'Connor
A Death To Record by Rebecca Tope
Evan Only Knows by Rhys Bowen


Click here for more information about this book


Irvine Welsh Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Alex Wolstenholme  

SCHOLARS:


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Three ways to search for Thriller/Action books!

1) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot or subplot below!

Big vehicle disaster?

Crime Thriller

Disaster, natural or nuclear

Exploring into the wild

Horror Story?

Legal Thriller

Medical Thriller

Religious overtones?

Spying/Terrorism Thriller

War Thriller

Water adventure

Western



or 2) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
3) Even more search options available with a Detailed Booksearch (click here)

Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Funny Videos
Feedback


Most recent discussions:

General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
George W. Bush 11:01:51 AM
Deric Longden 9:20:02 AM
Robert Segarra 3:45:04 PM
Suzanne Weyn 6:24:19 PM
Colin Forbes 12:23:54 PM
John Christopher 5:12:45 AM
Anonymous 4:47:09 AM
Tom Clancy 2:19:45 AM
Margaret Peterson Haddix 5:36:55 PM
Nikolai Tolstoy 7:46:16 AM
J.K. Rowling 11:40:22 PM
Jack Higgins 4:54:08 PM
Eloise Jarvis McGraw 12:51:17 PM
Jane Rubino 1:21:00 PM
Lori Wick 2:11:45 AM
Betty Mahmoody 5:57:33 PM
Patricia Cornwell 2:48:17 PM
Andrew Clements 9:13:44 PM
General Discussion (All Topics) 2:00:07 PM
Mary Downing Hahn 1:51:06 AM

Silicon Valley
More message boards