Not his best
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As an academic exercise this is fine: Elton makes his point persuasively -the war on drugs has been lost and the answer is legalisation and control - and his interweaving of characters and storylines is clever. But as a novel it's not his best by a long way: the 'uplifting' stories are completely unbelievable and the realistic ones just depressing; and the characters are so unsympathetic it's hard to care anyway.
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Just read it...
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The author covers some of the most taboo issues in today's society by splitting the book into a range of different stories and portraying a massive amount of characters. Elton takes us into the criminal world of drugs abuse. He shows how drugs affect every class and every branch of society - from prostitutes and the homeless up to the upper classes and royalty- and he does it well. Elton shows both sides of the argument between drug legalization and drug addiction.
Even though this book is fiction it makes you wonder about the truth behind it and it helps you get into the minds of hundreds of drug abusers and addicts around the world. This book is aimed at older readers due to its explicit nature and it is not written for the easily offended. This book is gruesome but impossible to put down.
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Worth a read...
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I was a bit uncomfortable when I started reading this book and thought that I was going to hate it after 20 pages, however the book and subject matter does grow on you.
Having read a number of BE's other novels, the skill with which he weaves a number of characters towards an inevitable conclusion is to be admired, if the result is a little predictable.
In the end I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to know what happened to one of the characters in particular.
The book is BE's take on how the British media has the power to make and then break people. These are subjects which have been close to BE throughout his comedy career, and his distaste for the media and modern politics in general, shines through.
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High Society - Ben Elton
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A ‘Must’ read! Usually I am into thrillers, but this had me gripped from the first page. It might be difficult for a non-native English speaker as Ben introduces many colloquial accents (Scottish & Brummie etc) fairly early on. The story was tragic, gripping and too true to life not to take seriously. In places it’s utterly shocking, eye opening and horrific, but it depicts the underworld that many of us choose to ignore. Which ever way you look at it drugs are evil and the barons behind them just get richer and richer. A poignant chapter for me was when Tommy was left to fend for himself on the street after being beaten up and without his numerous ‘minder’s and ‘fixers’ to sort everything for him – how easy it would be to fall into the abyss of the homeless and the sordid drug related word. I loved the ending, I know it’s only a story but I was left in deep thought about the thousands of addicted victims of this world. Well done Ben!
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He makes me sick
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Ben Elton makes me sick. Comedy writer, comedian, playrite, producer and now novelist. As much as I wanted to criticise his writing skills or the plot or the characters, I can't. The book takes a candid look into the murky world of drugs and asks some searching questions of government policies and peoples attitude to one of society's major problem. Well written, well researched, simply fantastic.
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