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| Blind Faith | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Elton
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £5.99
Buy New: £1.36
You Save: £4.63 (77%)
New (13) from £1.36
Avg. Customer Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 788997
Media: Paperback
Edition: Export edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0552773913
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780552773911
ASIN: 0552773913
Publication Date: May 19, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: UK SELLER__IN STOCK__Immediate Dispatch (Mon to Fri)_Protective Packaging__Trusted Bucks Retailer__FAST DELIVERY__book cover may vary
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| Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...
 Gripping and thought provoking November 9, 2008
I had started to go off Ben Elton's books. One of his recent novels centres around a Big Brother style show and another does the same for Pop Idol/X Factor - both subjects I know nothing about and care less. I found Blind Faith to be a gripping story and one that raises a lot of issues. The novel is set in a dystopian future in which floods have ravaged the Earth. Poverty and disease are rife. Britain is ruled by religious fanatics who have banned fiction and scientific theory. People are are kept faithful to a warped version of Christianity by a mixture of dumbed down culture, permissive sex and fear of a modern-day Inquisition.
Comparisons with 1984 are perhaps inevitable but ultimately unfair. Ben Elton, a modest man, would be the first to agree that he has no pretensions to rival George Orwell as a literary writer. That said, his writing has come along a long way; unlike earlier novels, this one doesn't contain political rants or read like the script for one of his stand-up shows. The main character, Trafford, is fleshed out enough that you care for him in his fight against this oppressive system.
There are some parallels with Orwell's work but this is not a rip-off of 1984 as some have suggested. Orwell wrote 1984 over five decades ago and in many ways his vision has been proved right. We have Big Brother in the form of CCTV cameras everywhere and Newspeak (some would say the thought police too) in the more absurd manifestations of political correctness. Elton's book is for a different age and some of the things he predicts are already starting to happen.
In the Britain of Blind Faith anyone who seeks privacy is regarded as a weirdo. People are bombarded wherever they go with non-stop commercials and vacuous celebrity pap. TV screens are everywhere. People eschew meaningful conversation and friendships in favour of the net - not far from the truth in an age when some people seem more interested in instant messaging and collecting "friends" on Facebook than having meaningful human contact. Your every movement is logged on a national database. The only available reading matter is celebrity rubbish and useless self-help books. Group hugs have replaced any sort of motivational leadership at work.
The one thing that doesn't quite ring true is the idea of the Christian religion - even the sick, warped version he portrays here - taking over as a dominant and tyrannical force in Britain. The PC powers that be constantly downplay Christianity - the banning in some schools of nativity plays and a BA stewardess having to fight to defend the right to wear a cross, for example - usually to the acute embarrassment of leaders of other religions. This is not a veiled attack on Taliban-style tyranny either, since most of the behaviour encouraged by the religious leaders in this book would never be tolerated by any of the leading world faiths, moderate or extreme.
Even though religion is an essential part of the book, the above doesn't detract from it being a very good read. It's not split-your-sides stuff though there are some very amusing moments, but it kept me up until silly o'clock and is evidence that Ben Elton has matured considerably as a writer. Recommended.
 Masterful analysis of chav culture November 7, 2008
There is no doubt about it, Ben Elton has a gift of being able to describe what we all already know, but have failed to notice.
This book is a masterpiece and a wake up call, alerting us to what society is rapidly sinking into.
Very readable but a bit too in your face October 20, 2008
I would advise all the reviewers who thought this was a rewrite of 1984 to read Farenheiit 451 - it's a much closer parallel.
This book followed Ben Elton's usual model of taking an idea, and seeing it through to a slightly more extreme conclusion than usual. This time however he took it all the way, and then some more.
It highlights a lot of the current obsessions with celebrity, reality TV, short concentration spans, validity of fellings over fact, desire for fame/success over hard work and generally takes the mickey out of anyone who likes that kind of thing.
It's all done a bit too much, although that could in itself be a parody - he is writing in a way he implicitly criticises in the book.
It is an easy read though, and entertaining and even a bit thought provoking (but less so than his other writing).
Worth a read.
 Not good. October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ben Elton is not the writer George Orwell is. Unfortunately, he is not even a good writer. He's just a popular one. Ironically, his populist works will be read by all the people he hates in this novel.
This book is simplistic - there are no literary merits, and no hidden meanings. It won't get read for a second time by anyone hoping to find a new theme. They aren't there. As others have said, there is nothing subtle or discreet here.
For instance, Elton could make all kinds of comments on the nature of people who go around half naked all day long, but (apparently) the author is only disgusted by the fat ones. NOT the character, but the author. In fact, if he wants to make any individual utterly without redeeming features, he makes them fat. A bit like the way a schoolboy might point and giggle.
This kind of mealy-mouthed nastiness is exactly what Elton is having a (loud) pop at. Such a shame he doesn't recognise his own failings.
We all have our little sacred cows and our whipping boys. It's a shame that Mr Elton's are so obvious.
 An absolutely terrible book September 23, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the worst book I've ever read. Stupid, ridiculous, anything but thoughtful. Save your money!
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