Blind Faith

The world is going to hell in a handbasket, of course - Our government gets more totalitarian and manipulative by the day, the ecology destroyed way past saving - and instead of worrying about this, we write trivial nonsense about ourselves on our blogs, obsess over inconsequential reality shows, continue to consume vast amounts of electronic crap. Elton nails our social ills accurately - the pointless government jobs so many of us do, focus-group government, the obsession with public demonstrations of grief, the decline in public manners. However, he really comes unstuck when trying to shoehorn all these issues into the good old post-apocalyptic dystopia. His post-global warming London has absolutely nothing new to offer, lifting themes and plots wholesale from a raft of science fiction classics - The plot is a mixture of '1984' and 'Farenheit 411', The descriptions of London living lifted from 'Make Room, Make Room' and 'The Machine Stops', etc. etc.

I'm presuming Elton thinks you haven't read any of these, which brings up my main criticsm of him as an author - his books constantly rail against the dumbing down of the culture: however, with books like this, he isn't really aiming too high himself. There are no original ideas whatsoever here.

Thought provoking (2/2 people found this helpful)

Ben Elton is a writer who seems to swing from writing absolute rubbish Chart Throb) and some really well thought out stuff (First Casualty) and this is certainly one of his better efforts.
The post flood world that he has created for his hero Trafford to inhabit is both far fetched but yet unnervingly familiar. Privacy is illegal, everyone shares everything, people are constantly watched big brother style in their own homes and group hugs are compulsory. Reality is everything and fiction is banned as heretical. All these laws are made by a kind of post apocalyptic multi faith church who just wants to control the people. In this world children die in their thousand, half don't make it to the age of five.
Trafford feels alone in this world craving privacy and wishing his life wasn't constantly on show, then when is child Caitlin Happymeal is born he is approached by a vaccinator. Here his questioning of the world around him starts and an amazing chain of events is started.

The style of the writing is simple and quick to read and while it will never go down as a great piece of literature the book does get its message across and it is thought provoking. I would urge anyone to give it a go!

Laughable irony... (1/1 people found this helpful)

The whole book bangs on about 'dumbing down' - yet all Elton has produced is '1984 Lite' for people with Attention Defecit Disorder.

Read the real thing.

Why no laughs? (1/1 people found this helpful)

In Ben Elton's best work, there are plenty of laughs, with "the message" happy to co-exist alongside a narrative that has its own life. In "Blind Faith" we are dragged into a world of unremitting grimness, without anything to laugh about at all (despite what one or two other reviewers claim). And, without humour, Ben Elton is a shadow of himself.If we want pontification, we can plug into Gordon Brown. In the absence of a single character about whom we care, the defining events of the book, including the grisly ending, move us not at all, and the "sledgehammer to crack a nut" mentioned in an earlier review is an apt description. There is little here that the average thinking person will not already have considered themselves, if distorted to a grotesque level. From the first few pages, I had the sinking feeling that this was likeley to become a moralising bore, and nothing changed my view as the book progressed. Come on, Ben, get the funny lines out and do what you do best again.

I was surprised that i liked it (0/0 people found this helpful)

If i hadn't been bought this to read while in hospital, i would never have bought it myself. Nothing personal, i just don't like Ben Elton.
However, i would have missed out on a truly far fetched,silly,brilliant book.
I was gripped from the start,definately the sort of book not to lend your granny, but also not the sort of book you start and then put down and forget, i read it in a day.
The end would be far better as a visual than is put in words( not sure if anyone understands what i mean).
Very clever writing Mr Elton, so much so that i went to see "We will rock you", and that was also very good.

Ben Elton

Reader Reviews:

Good points, but far too derivative . (0/0 people found this helpful)

Thought provoking (2/2 people found this helpful)

Laughable irony... (1/1 people found this helpful)

Why no laughs? (1/1 people found this helpful)

I was surprised that i liked it (0/0 people found this helpful)

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