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The Lord of the Rings by Irvine Welsh (author of Trainspotting)
- Longbottom Leaf. What does that stuff dae fir ye Bilbo? Gandalf’s voice is genuinely enquiring. And he’s persistent:
- Ah want tae ken.
Ah launch intae a spiel. Ah feel surprisingly good, calm and clear, talkin aboot it.
- Ah don't really know, Gandy, ah jist dinnae. It kinday makes things seem mair real tae me. Life's boring and futile. We Hobbits start oaf wi high hopes, then we bottle it. We realise that we're aw gaunnae die, withoot really findin oot the big answers. Basically, we live a long, disappointing life, and then we die. We fill up oor lives wi rubbish things like genealogy and parties tae delude oorsels that it isnae aw totally pointless. Longbottom Leaf’s an honest weed, because it strips away these delusions. It doesnae alter yir consciousness. It just gies ye a hit and a sense ay well-being. Eftir that, ye see the misery ay the Shire as it is, and ye cannae anaesthetise yirsel against it.
Gandalf seems happy with my answer. He’s hooked.
- Where do ye get this stuff, Bilbo?
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"It was only a glimpse then, but you might have caught the glimpse, if you had ever thought it worthwhile to try."
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