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| High Society | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Elton
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £6.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (52 reviews)
Sales Rank: 31933
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0552999954
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780552999953
ASIN: 0552999954
Publication Date: July 1, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Ben Elton's new novel High Society initially appears to be a cautionary tale about Britain today, but its vision of a society totally in thrall to criminality has elements of the visionary novel about it. Happily, the state of the nation is not (yet) quite as awful as it's rendered in this terrifying kaleidoscope. We're taken into a world in which drug use holds total sway, and the whole world essentially functions as a single criminal network. From royalty and the upper crust to drug abusers and prostitutes--right across the social spectrum--we are (in Elton's unsparing universe) plunging into a criminal world. Elton's cast of characters is massive, but all (notably a government minister who is trying to push through a bill to legalise drugs) are etched in with maximum vividness. Interestingly, although Elton casts a cold eye across the whole of society (including an unforgiving look at the media) the final effect of the book is anything but bleak. All the trademark wit is here, along with a sense of focus that is considerably more sophisticated than anything Elton has tackled before. As a serious satirical novel (yes, there is such a thing), High Society makes an indelible mark. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 Not his best November 17, 2006
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Just read it... June 12, 2006
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.
Worth a read... May 17, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
 High Society - Ben Elton March 3, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
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!
He makes me sick February 21, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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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