High Society

Rating:
Summary: Below Elton's usual standard
Review: High Society falls into the same trap that Elton often creates for himself: everything becomes too complicated. There's a lot of plot strands, monologues and twists, but the theme gets lost in the madness.

It's a strong theme too - drug legalisation. Events transpire in the novel that stop that avenue from being fully explored. It is fleshed out by the characters in discussion, and the reader is given an opportunity to consider the repercussions of legalisation, but ultimately Elton focuses less on this compelling issue and more on the grot, the filth and the seedy underbelly of the drug world. Given that, yes, this underworld is CREATED by virtue of drugs being illegal, it is still unfairly weighted.

The characters are not very well drawn and, in typical Ben Elton style, are way over the top. His dialogue is more universal to all the characters rather than coming from an individual voice, and some of the things that they say are so out of place (like, for example, a one liner), that it jars the reader out of the reality of the book.

I really like Ben Elton's books, but this one wasn't up to his usual standard. Try Popcorn or Dead Famous instead.

Rating:
Summary: BRING BEN ELTON TO AMERICA
Review: I have bought Ben Elton books all over the world, from Oxford Street in London to remote villages in Greek Islands, yet cannot buy his books in my local Borders in New York City. Something must be done. Justice must be served. Ben Elton to America... ASAP

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down.
Review: I've enjoyed all of Ben Elton's books, but none so much as High Society. This tremendously well thought out book is difficult to put down. The running stories move rapidly together with amazing clarity and wit. The book follows the lives of several charactors and their relations with drugs. From the drug enslaved prostitute to the member of parliament pushing to have all drugs legalised. You'll finish this book with a mournful sense that you know the charactors stories in an intimate way. As well as hearing a commentary on the modern day war on drugs with such clarity that you feel astonished.

Rating:
Summary: Tommy Hanson Rules
Review: This was my first read or for that matter first exposure to Ben Elton. I was hooked in the very first paragraph, very funny and yes over the top characters. But that is what is fun about the book, a comical stereotypical handling of a very serious subject: Drugs and the possible effects of legalization of drugs. I have often re-read the exerps of the lead character Tommy Hanson the Rock Star. I am currently reading DEAD FAMOUS and will probably read STARK next. Buy HIGH SOCIETY, read it, enjoy it, good read for your next trip by airplane.

Rating:
Summary: a missed opportunity...
Review: Unknown to most Americans, Ben Elton is one of Britain's most successful comic writers (novels, plays, screenplays) today. I thought a couple of his novels, 'Dead Famous' and 'Popcorn', were rather good; sharp, satiric and often funny. So I greatly anticipated Elton's latest work, 'High Society', which raises the issue of legalizing all illicit drugs. Yet unfortunately I was generally disappointed.

'High Society' is a collage of parallel and interwoven mini-stories involving a rock star (think Robbie Williams), an MP (think Jonathan Aitkin), and an assortment of substance abusers and misfits. The MP is pushing for drug legalization legislation while the rock star, a heavy party guy, is tangentially recruited for the cause. Everything gets a bit crazy when the media undermine both characters, with the rock star also falling in love and the MP falling in lust. Towards the end everything turns a bit farcical.

While the author does do some clever associations of his characters to notorious folks (known mostly in Britain) I was disappointed that the discussion of drug legalization was not fully developed ... opportunity lost. However the book has enough laughs to overcome any disappointment.

Bottom line: it could have been a contender. Passable.

Rating:
Summary: a missed opportunity...
Review: Unknown to most Americans, Ben Elton is one of Britain's most successful comic writers (novels, plays, screenplays) today. I thought a couple of his novels, 'Dead Famous' and 'Popcorn', were rather good; sharp, satiric and often funny. So I greatly anticipated Elton's latest work, 'High Society', which raises the issue of legalizing all illicit drugs. Yet unfortunately I was generally disappointed.

'High Society' is a collage of parallel and interwoven mini-stories involving a rock star (think Robbie Williams), an MP (think Jonathan Aitkin), and an assortment of substance abusers and misfits. The MP is pushing for drug legalization legislation while the rock star, a heavy party guy, is tangentially recruited for the cause. Everything gets a bit crazy when the media undermine both characters, with the rock star also falling in love and the MP falling in lust. Towards the end everything turns a bit farcical.

While the author does do some clever associations of his characters to notorious folks (known mostly in Britain) I was disappointed that the discussion of drug legalization was not fully developed ... opportunity lost. However the book has enough laughs to overcome any disappointment.

Bottom line: it could have been a contender. Passable.