Customer Reviews
a dark, dark dystopian satire - By: time I had some time alone, 11 Aug 2008 
Purely by chance, I read this novel shortly after completing The Book Of Dave by Will Self. Both novels use an imagined dystopian future England, decimated after severe flooding covers half the country, for a satire about the state of the nation today. As both novels appeared around the same time, this is clearly a coincidence; both Self & Elton aim at many of the same targets, but while Self's satire is like the point of a dagger skilfully skewering his targets, Ben Elton prefers the repeated hammering over the head with a blunt instrument.
Not that there is anything wrong with this. Elton has addressed the vacuousness of modern life before, & he doesn't spare his anger here. Ben Elton, like Will Self, sets his aim squarely at religious dogmatism. He is clearly horrified by the risein creationismin the USA, which is starting to make its presence feltin the UK, & takes this to its logical conclusion, where science & rationality are rejectedin favour of the titular 'blind faith' & a 'me' culture.
The first thing you should know about this novel is that it isn't funny. At all. Anyone familiar with Ben Elton's work will know that he uses comic situations to address serious issues; there is precious little to laugh aboutin Blind Faith, just a growing horror as the fast-paced plot drags you in.
It is about 100 yearsin the future. After a flood, Britain has become a much smaller country. People not only live & workin extraordinary proximity to one another, but are ruled by a religious fanaticism where privacy is frowned upon & beliefin evolution-in reason of any kind- is banned. Furthermore, every aspect of one's life is required to be posted online. But Trafford, our protagonist, has the makings of a dangerous subversive- he has a secret.
The plot similarity to 1984 is obvious, & Elton doesn't try to hide it, namechecking Orwell's work more than once. This is not a problem for me; the updating for a modern world is perfect, each target bringing a knowing nod from the reader. Ultimately, the despairin the story is equal to anything Orwell could think up; Elton does show us a chink of light at the close, but be warned it arrives at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.
As always with Elton, Blind Faith is a well-plotted easy read. However, for me the jaunty tone of the early chapters sits uneasily with the dark & cruel nature of the concluding section & as such I would not place it amongst his best work.
His poorest novel to date - By: Roger Boyle, 04 Aug 2008 
I have previously enjoyed Ben Elton's novels as they seemed to bein tune with current "fads"/media issuesin society (Friend Reunited/Big Brother/Congestion/Pollution etc)
In addition they were funny
This is kind of 1884/Brave New World/ Dystopian future
Is it a reworking of 1984?
Is it an allegory of our CCTV society
Is it a swipe at fundamentalism?
To be honest I do not know
I kmow it isn't an enjoyable read & it isn't worth the effort of reading
Rather horrible... - By: E. Pilley, 31 Jul 2008 
Despite being a huge fan of Elton's writing, I really didn't like this book. It is a clever blend of 1984 & Brave New World but updated to be more relevant to our generation, & it had its moments of biting satire, but overall it had a really nasty feel. This is deliberate I'm sure & there's no reason why books have to be light, amusing affairs all of the time, but for the me the tone was horrible, the ending predictably horrific & it left a nasty tastein my mouth.
Interesting concept - By: Natz, 31 Jul 2008 
The sharing of information.. Ben Elton really touches on subjects here that seem to be happening all around us right now. Why do people think we want to see the trash that is given to us on T.V. these days. What is so fascinating about other peoples lives? Is nothing sacred?
A different & imaginitive book. Ben Elton manages to create thought provoking work from subjects close to our hearts & from everyday life, pure genius.
'book of dave' its not - By: palace pier, 27 Jul 2008 Not a patch on 'The book of Dave' by Will Self but so similarin its background setup that it almost made me wonder if Ben had based his book on Will's.
Not a difficult book to read,started quite lightheartedly..even laughed out loudin one place but the plot gradually got deeper & darker & the end was shocking.
It certainly gave me sobering food for thought that some of todays situations could get out of hand without anyone realising it was happening.
