How can people give this 5 stars?!?
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I first read 'The First Casualty' and thought it was fantastic, a compelling read. I was therefore expecting great things from his other books. Much to my dismay, I found 'Gridlock' REALLY boring. I kept on reading it through sheer willpower, reading it quickly and just thinking "keep going, don't give up". I felt proud and relieved when I finished it simply because I hadn't given up.
If you value your life, don't waste your time reading this book (or any of his other books for that matter, they're just as bad). I find it really strange that 'The First Casualty' is so different, as I've said, that is a fantastic book. Really odd!
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Disappointing in the extreme
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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.
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Warning - author in training
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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.
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The best Ben Elton book by far
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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!
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Yawn!
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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.
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