Stark

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely hilarious and un-put-downable!
Review: As a long-time fan of Ben Elton, I'd never realised he'd written any books until my mother presented me with a ragged old copy of "Stark" which she'd bought at a jumble sale in Hong Kong of all places. Anyway, I set about reading it and I truly could not put it down! A fabulously well thought out plot combined with Ben Elton's dry humour, it incorporates every kind of character imaginable, from arrogant billionares to castrated war heroes, to stoned hippies! A brilliant attempt at making the end of the world seem less imminent.

Rating:
Summary: Praise for Ben Elton
Review: Being born and raised in England I have been brought up on, and grown to love Ben Elton's hilarity's. I have seen him live and laughed throughout his many TV shows. I have also seen his humor carry through successfully into his recent books. I read Stark many years ago and it is definitely worth reading, but on a recent trip back to England I bought 'Inconceivable'. It really is a great read, full of Ben's dry and witty humor. Like all of his work, laughs are plentiful.

Rating:
Summary: Laugh out Loud funny
Review: Ben Elton is probably England's most talented comedian. Not only does he do stand up comedy he has written scripts for Black Adder and the Young ones. This was his first novel.

The finding out the plot is part of the enjoyment and point of the novel so that it would be unfair to reveal it. However there are two tiers of characters. At one end is a financially succussesful businessman who seems to be slightly based on Rupert Murdock. He is gradually drawn into a conspiracy which is the basis of the book. At the other end are a number of classic comedy figures who discover the conspiracy and try to prevent it.

The book is a passionate defence of the enviroment movement and raises a number of issues which have since been more widely accepted. However it is more than a political tract. It is simply laugh out loud funny. Elton writes the book as a series of gags which are totally effective. It was a comedy classic in its time.

Rating:
Summary: Has its moments but is ultimately a tedious read
Review: I am sure Ben Elton is a funny guy. But Stark is simply too long, too poorly written, and too poorly edited to really have the impact; at over 450 pages it takes forever to get going, and when it finally does get going, the storyline has been so jumbled as to remove any "voice" Mr Elton may have in his later works. Like I said, I am sure he's a funny guy -- Blackadder as a good example. But this is a great example of why first novels are so tough to write -- it's obvious that Mr Elton has 1000 ideas for funny lines; it's just that not all of them should be in this book.

Also, the character development is pretty flat -- only a few of them show any growth throughout the book. Ben would have done much better to reduce the number of characters and show them going through some real growth as opposed to remaining cartoonish. What, for example, does CD learn throughout those 450+ pages? Nothing. If he does, Mr Elton's not telling.

Whoever edited this book should also take a look at basic principles of being an Editor prior to publishing such a long-winded novel. It also appears that punctuation has taken a holiday at the publisher's editing desk, and it's inexcusable for errors such as using "abstracted" when "distracted" is really meant.

There are, of course, some truly funny passages in the book but unfortunately they are far and few between. At 200-250 well-edited pages, it could have been a real scream of a book. At 450 pages, too many characters, and a plot line that looks like 3x5 cards thrown on the ground make for a tough read.

Let's hope his later books have better editors on staff to help Mr Elton along. He's got some talent, but it doesn't show here.

Rating:
Summary: Laughed All the Way Across the Atlantic
Review: I first read Stark 10 years ago. I picked it up at the airport just before getting on a plane back to the US. I laughed all the way across the Atlantic. The scene at the restaurant where Sly Moorcock orders Swan is one of the most perversely funny I've ever read. Since Stark was not available in the US I ordered a dozen or so copies from a UK bookstore to give to friends who all enjoyed it. If you come to Stark thinking Vonnegut, you will be disappointed. If you come to it thinking BlackAdder (for which Elton wrote for two or three seasons) you most likely will find Stark a hoot and develop an insatiable desire to read everything else Elton has written.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT STORY BUT THE WORST ENDING EVER!!
Review: I Remember reading this in the summer of 1990 and loved it and the character in it... Until the end. Without a doubt one of the most horrible, worst written endings in the history of literature. Elton possitively RUINS this book with the most pandering self-righteous preachy ending in modern time. Talk about giving your reader/audience ZERO credit for understanding underlying sub-text. Elton takes his fans for morons with this one at the expense of an otherwise well written novel.
Take my advice and stick to His Black Adder & Red Dwarf work, because this book will make you want to go out and beat some small british man with glasses to a pulp for insulting your intelligence.

Rating:
Summary: Not Elton's best, by far
Review: It is apparent from Elton's first novel, Stark, that he has tremendous ability as a word crafter and imagineer (I made that word up - it means "one who can conjure an interesting story.") Unfortunately, as his first novel was released, he had not firmly established his skills as a novelist.

The plot -
An eclectic group of environmentalist is looking into just exactly what the Stark Consortium, a collection of the richest and most powerful men in the world, is up to. What the consortium is up to is the most devastating conspiracy in all of human history. Since the entire novel rests on the slow revelation of that conspiracy, any further plot discussion would be a spoil, so that's that.

The characters -
I love Elton's characters in this book. They are not particularly "full of life" as I usually prefer. Instead they are caricatures, and in this zany story it really works. Every one of them has unique viewpoints, personality quirks (to put it mildly) and speech patterns. Zimmerman, the bollockless Aussie Vietnam vet, is a scream.

The problems -
In the first half of the book, Elton has real problems establishing the point of view (POV) for the reader. An example of a POV problem would be characters A and B walking through a garden, while the author tells us about a conversation between characters C and D. If not handled properly, this can lead the poor reader into thinking C and D are in the garden, and generally just confuse the heck out of him or her. This is a very common mistake for new novelist, and something that a good editor will point out and get fixed.

The other problem is purely subjective and not likely to bother many other folks. It's just too preachy. Throughout the book the reader is assaulted with tales of gloom and doom from the extreme camp of the environmentalist collective. Obviously for storyline development a good deal of this was necessary, but there are times when instead of visualizing the characters or the scene you just see Elton standing there wagging his finger at you. Not pleasant in those parts. Yes, there are things being done to the environment that need to be changed. No, the world is not about to end. 'nuff said.

The good stuff -
As stated before, Elton is a master word crafter. He does an outstanding job of bouncing the story between two or three settings, and brings all his plot elements together before the end. There are two or three paragraphs near the end describing the emotion of jealously that are absolutely amazing.

The rating -
Three stars. It was almost a really good read, but the technical flaws and the preachiness forced it down to "better than a poke in the eye with a stick." Anyone who is a member of Greenpeace would probably give it a four.

Rating:
Summary: Quite humourous.
Review: Occasionally, the thrill of expressive poetic literature gets old, and I simply long to pick up the most illogical book, just because.

And so, I was recommended this piece by the King of Illogical book fans, and so embarked on my first journey into the world of Ben Elton, which shall more than likely be followed by many more such journeys.

I am grateful for my friend, however if there is one book which has a statement, it is this seemingly funny novel. It's message; money doesn't buy everything, particularly the world, and the environment is distingrating at an alarming rate. Also, that using camels to save the world is no simple task.

It is not perfect, spans on way along the same line and ends in a bad way, yet it is well worth reading because it balances the important and the absurd, the riduculously humourous.

Rating:
Summary: Eco Ation meets humour with devastating results
Review: the book Stark is a great book and one of my Ben Elton faviortes it has all the elements of a great script and it focases on a certain element it has two charctors who couldn't be more a like and two nutters who make it a almost impossible to put the book down however it takles an imporant aspet and the guiltless people who take advanted ofg are need for cosmic goods it is a great book and it should be a film my favorote charctor in the movie is CD who has no desire about what happens expect to get in with Rachel and maybe not get blown to pieces by a rocket on the way.