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Elton has a lot of fun with this one. Strange to think it’s around 30 years old as many of the topics are still prescient. A very enjoyable read.
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This Other Eden
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SMALL, WELL APPOINTED FUTURE. SEMI DETACHED.
If the end of the world is nigh, then surely it's only sensible to make alternative arrangements. Certainly the Earth has its points, but what most people need is something smaller and more manageable. Of course there are those who say that's planetary treason, but who cares what the weirdos and terrorists think? Not Nathan. All he cares is that his movie gets made and that there's somebody left to see it.
In marketing terms the end of the world will be very big. Anyone trying to save it should remember that.
If the end of the world is nigh, then surely it's only sensible to make alternative arrangements. Certainly the Earth has its points, but what most people need is something smaller and more manageable. Of course there are those who say that's planetary treason, but who cares what the weirdos and terrorists think? Not Nathan. All he cares is that his movie gets made and that there's somebody left to see it.
In marketing terms the end of the world will be very big. Anyone trying to save it should remember that.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1993
This edition
- Format
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400 pages, Paperback
- Published
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February 24, 2009 by Black Swan
- ISBN
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9780552771832
- ASIN
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055277183X
- Language
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English
About the author
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Ben Elton was born on 3 May 1959, in Catford, South London. The youngest of four, he went to Godalming Grammar school, joined amateur dramatic societies and wrote his first play at 15. He wanted to be a stagehand at the local theatre, but instead did A-Level Theatre Studies and studied drama at Manchester University in 1977.
His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His ground breaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.
More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written three plays for the London stage, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. Ben's international bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the novel Popcorn.
Elton lives in Perth with his Aussie wife Sophie and three children.
His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His ground breaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.
More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written three plays for the London stage, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. Ben's international bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the novel Popcorn.
Elton lives in Perth with his Aussie wife Sophie and three children.
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Community Reviews
Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
33(33%)
4 stars
37(37%)
3 stars
30(30%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
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Areal disappointment. I kept hoping that the characters would grow on me or that I'd find another level of humour but it just never happened. I've read other books by Ben Elton and enjoyed them but this one just didn't work.
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Premise One: everything is interconnected. Premise Two: everyone is guilty. Premise Three: it remains possible to pull a happy ending out of a universal cesspool. Ben Elton’s third novel is a vaguely futuristic saga (in harmony with his first two) about an Earth that, in the words of Tom Waits, “died screaming.” The dividing lines between capitalist polluters and Eco-friendly activists are, however, even more under erasure than they were in STARK and GRIDLOCK. Hence #2, above. It is a novel of mutually assured destruction that has nothing to do with nuclear weapons, and it makes a plausible case for the notion that the most dangerous species on Earth is homo sapiens.
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Excellent satire with page turning suspense.
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In isolation, it's a fine yarn. It's just a pity he'd already written it four years earlier in Stark. Same impending environmental catastrophe, similar evil billionaire, similar hapless rebels, different dastardly solution.
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I've read most of Ben Eltons books and this one disappointed a bit, and it was only when I realised it was written in 1993 did I understand why - some of the boo has already been realised - media crossover and blatant manipulation (are you reading this Simon Cowell?). Overall though it doesn't hang together quite as well as his more recent works.
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A very insightful and interesting take on the social and political aspects of climet change.
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It is sometime in the future and the world is in bad shape with regard to the environment. Plastic Tolstoy is all about marketing. He has created and sells the Claustrosphere. Only the rich can afford them, but that’s where people (those who could afford them) intend to go once the air is no longer breathable and water is no longer drinkable. Well, that’s already happening, but the effects are being staved off as much as possible. There is still an environmental movement, though, that believes that the Earth can be repaired.
There’s a lot more going on than what I’ve described and there are a lot of characters. The book is meant to be humourous, but mostly I found it odd. There were some funny parts. I did like how it ended. But, Ben Elton has better books.
There’s a lot more going on than what I’ve described and there are a lot of characters. The book is meant to be humourous, but mostly I found it odd. There were some funny parts. I did like how it ended. But, Ben Elton has better books.
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