Gridlock

This is a book which shows its age as a product of the 80s. OK it would be foolish to expect anything more from Ben Elton but even way back when this first appeared it would have been a heavy handed unsubtle satire. Two decades on it's just a facile heavy handed unsubtle satire.

Warning - author in training (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having read a handful of Ben Elton's other offerings, I looked forward to another extrapolation of human behaviour full of believable characters and peppered with humour. Boy was I disappointed.

In Gridlock, Mr Elton is very clearly still learning his craft and has yet to distinguish the less than subtle differences between scripting his stand up show and writing a novel. There is the germ of a good idea, but it is ruined by his constant sidetracking in to either a moralist lecture or a semi-humorist aside in the `ranty' style for which his 80's stage act was well known. His characters are stereo types with perhaps one notable expectation, unfortunately rather than allow this single well rounded character to teach us the lessons the author has acutely observed the public could do with learning, he cannot resist lecturing us on the prejudice of society and by implication our own short sightedness and therefore I suspect alienates those he thought he would reach. The overuse of shock tactics, in the language, the descriptions of the action, the storyline and in the statistics quoted during the lecture sections assume a total lack of intelligence and in the end numb the reader to the point of ceasing to care about the book and the cause.

Ben Elton is a surprisingly good author, but from this offering, you would not guess it. Unless you are a particularly blinkered, sub intelligent, car hoarder - you will likely find this book irritatingly patronising. Put it down and read Inconceivable or Dead Famous instead.

The best Ben Elton book by far (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having re-read Gridlock for the fifth time since buying the book when it first came out, I would recommend it to anyone new to Ben Elton. This book offers the originality that is sometimes lacking with his later books, but still tackles the subject of pollution and cars with lots of humour. This book has ensured I have read all of Ben's books. It's just a pity he set such a high standard!

Yawn! (0/0 people found this helpful)

I expected much more from Ben Elton than this. I couldn't even get past the first few pages. Actually, after Gridlock it all went down hill and I have read most of his books. His previous books like Stark was hysterical, Eden was amusing, Gridlock..zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Enjoyable if not entirely memorable. (0/0 people found this helpful)

I actually retrieved this book from my bookshelf thinking that it was one of those many books I have purchased over the years but never had time to read. Rather ironically, considering the subject matter of the book, I now find myself commuting to work by train, and have time to catch up on my reading. It was not until about a dozen or so pages into it that I found myself thinking that there something was familiar, and realized that I had read the book before but could not really remember much about it. Not a good start I thought to myself - must be a great read if I cant remember it! But I needn't have worried, Ben Elton is at his witty best with this book.

First let me say, I am an Ben Elton fan. I absolutely love Elton's obtuse and over the top descriptions. To my mind they are some of the funniest aspects of his writing, and this book abounds in them. Along with witty one liners and some very descriptive physical humour for good measure, this book excels. I actually found myself apologising to people for laughing out loud on the train or in the lunch room at work. Fortunately, I was reading at home at one point in the book which caught me so violently by surprise that I actually swore out loud too.

The hero's of the story are fleshed out enough that you feel an empathy toward them, especially when you realise that they were not what you expected, with their differences introduced almost as an aside, which makes them all the more attention grabbing.

My only criticism, and it is a very personal one, is that I was reading this book as someone who moved from Suffolk to the Australian "bush", and grew up with the nearest town of any size being almost 200km away, with non existant public transport. I have always seen the car as the very symbol of freedom that Elton was trying to dissuade us from. I couldn't help thinking that some of the critisism was unfounded, or at least quite subjective.

All in all though, I loved reading this book (again), and would happily recommend it.

Ben Elton

Reader Reviews:

Disappointing in the extreme (0/0 people found this helpful)

Warning - author in training (0/0 people found this helpful)

The best Ben Elton book by far (0/0 people found this helpful)

Yawn! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Enjoyable if not entirely memorable. (0/0 people found this helpful)

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