Blind Faith

Ben Elton has outdone himself in Blind Faith. His close observations of the perils and absurdities of modern life have resulted in a startling dystopia that enfolds humanity's current contradictions in its enormous, all-embracing arms. It's a mash-up of New Age fundamentalism and evangelical display; meaningless hugs and the modesty of nakedness. Everything is shared. Everything is "liked." It's a selfie kind of world where nothing's private any more and withholding any information about yourself is bad, wicked bad.In every tenement there are tenants, and in every tenant's flat there is a screen as well as a webcam. It's a give and take sort of deal, wherein tenants are expected by the Lord to share their love-making, the birth of their children, and all the sundry details of their shabby lives. Sexuality, of course, is included. Everyone, male and female, is expected to be sexed up at all times, and for girls a first breast implant is a veritable rite of passage and is expected to be broadcast, as is her Cherry Pop. This is known as sharing, and is what the Lord wants. Complete and utter sharing, down to the bone.Our hero, Trafford, lives his silently desperate life in one of these tenements with his wife, Chantorria, and their newborn baby, Caitlin Happymeal. They're all monitored by the brutally jovial Barbieheart, who watches out for any deviations from the laws of the Lord of Love. Trafford works at NatDat, the National Data Collection Bank, which is so overcomplicated and overstuffed with information that it could not possibly find anything or follow up on anything, even if someone wanted it to.Oh, and did I mention while this is all going on, flood waters from melting icecaps have resulted in major death and disaster around the rest of the world? And that since inoculation of youngsters has been made illegal, babies only have a 50/50 chance of living beyond childhood?If you're expecting a joke-fest from Blind Faith, you have come to the wrong place. Instead, watch Blackadder again, or see Mr. Elton on stage. Blind Faith offers another kind of humor - it's this bizarre world in all its vulgar, egotistic, self-righteous rigidity, as seen through the eyes of the hapless Trafford, that gives the book the humor apparent in its every paragraph -- sardonic but ultimately humane.

Creepy and satirical, a look at an exaggerated world where social media is not only encouraged, it’s mandatory.Imagine a world where you are watched 24/7, encouraged to share you most intimate moments… losing your virginity, for instance, streamed live and available on your social media feed for anyone to watch! A world where to do otherwise is considered blasphemous and heretical. This is the tongue and cheek world created by Ben Elton in, “Blind Faith.”There are obvious over tones of Orwell’s “1984,” Huxley’s “A Brave New World,” and any number of other dystopian/government run amuck stories, but Elton manages to terrify and amuse at the same time by mixing in some very familiar modern day staples.The book can be a bit crass for some readers, but then I have yet to find a book that doesn’t offend someone, somewhere.As for me, I highly recommend it. It is a quick read, under 4 hours for most. Enjoy!

My final rating for the book leaves me to give a "I like it" rating but I took off a star because while I enjoyed it, it came down to a predictable ending which wasn't really all that satisfying. There were also certain things that I felt made no sense in the world the author created.One thing that sticks out to me is the part where they have to go to a concert and how women must sit on their mans shoulders for at least one song. Otherwise, it's disrespectful etc. I just felt that didn't make any sense. There are probably 2-3 of these types of situations through out the book that just didn't belong in the world in my opinion. Other than that, it was good. I bought this book on a whim. There was no excerpt to read so I bought this on "blind faith". The faith, God, and Lord talk made me nervous. I thought I made a wrong choice at first but I liked how that aspect turned out. So if someone is worried about this being about faith in God, it's not... really about that. It is more about science vs. faith.

This book is a combination of the trends depicted in Orwell’s 1984 & Huxley’s Brave New World with the current plague of wokeness & religious fundamentalism added. We should all be concerned for the current trend of our uncivil society that is upon us.

I was surprised to see a Ben Elton book getting one stars. I just finished the book...and it is really awesome. I easily rate it as the best book I have read this month...and I read a lot.It is Elton's take on a post apocalyptic dystopian, panoptic society, with his typical, always entertaining humor.I also know the reason for some people giving it poor reviews. It takes religion, faith and creationism head on. The book is about how in the society of the future God and blind faith has replaced science. Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are still a lot of people who deny evolution. These are the people who won't like this book.If you are a man of science, and like Elton's quirky humor.....don't miss this book.

I purchased Blind Faith to read on my Kindle, and would like to mention first that I was very impressed with the formatting and ease of readability. I do recommend for Kindle users.Ben Elton's work regardless of how "out there" it is always leaves you with a sense of hmm...what if?Highly recommended for those who like to be provoked, and although very enjoyable as a pure fiction in its own right, it does leave you with a rather unsettled feeling.

I enjoyed reading this book and it was well written, personally I thought it resembled Huxley's "Brave New World" more than 1984 but it takes elements from both.A great easy read to enjoy but I thought the book was used more as a vehicle for Ben Eltons' opinions than on telling a good story. The ending in particular was disappointing to me, but the path to the ending was enjoyable.

I originally read this book some years ago, well before social media took almost complete hold of our lives, and recall laughing more at the plot. I've just revisited it during the Covid 19 lock down of 2020 and found it to be so incredibly apposite I didn't laugh at all (ok, maybe a sort of wry smirk occasionally).The plot and setting is expertly drawn and I only felt the book could have been longer and a little more complex, but that's only because I didn't want it to finish rather than anything particularly lacking.I would recommend this to everyone (and do). If you feel out of step with current society, if you're cynical about capitalism, social media and identity politics, if you just want to read about someone who truly values knowledge, reason and truth then this book is for you. Highly recommended.

This is a book for deep thoughts. The writer has given the present situations we’re living in, especially with religion, a sardonic satire that will leave you either gawking with rage or smirking with glee. Something to laugh about.Strangely appropriate in this time during a pandemic where many authorities are talking about vaccination. In this story, the question about inoculating babies against certain viral infections are scorned at. Even making it punishable by law. Whose law? And citizens are prohibited from reading because information, or more so misinformation, will be propagated through social media governed by the authorities.An astounding look at the way we learn, not by our own thinking minds, but through hearsay. A reflection of the current situation we are in. Everything is being told, or published, but not many seek to know the truth.A story, even though is set in the future, is happening already. The writer did a great job with good writing and keep the story, as many of us are living within a comfortable perimeter, safe.Read this so we could start to think… about what we’ve been told.

I bought this copy as a Christmas present, however, I have read this book myself and it is my favourite of Ben Elton's books. His books are all very well written with different from the norm stories. Blind Faith is a superb dystopian/futuristic tale reminiscent of a 'Black Mirror' type scenario. It had me gripped from beginning to end

I read this about 8 years ago and was blown away by it. 1984 2.0 and bored everyone stiff, even buying a copy for our high church parish priest who dismissed it as atheist tosh (he would wouldnt he!)I've just seen a Facebook post by an old old friend. An old hippy if ever there was one who has since married and divorced and had break downs on every continent and tonight announced she was unfriending people she didn't like enough.The irony. I thought she'd unfriended me years ago.This book is a book of our time. Now as then.The only thing that seems to our people off is the authors name sominrately reveal it until the end of my pitch.I've enjoyed just about every Ben Wlton book which continue to be poignant, entertaining and unput downable commentaries of our troubled times.This book is no exception.

A very thought-provoking book from a daring novelist...This story is set in the future in a post-apocalyptic world where a Big Brother-like organisation, The Temple, rules society with every detail of everyone's life posted on blogs, webcam, FaceSpace etc etc. Humanity has become a broken, farcical illusion based on utter ignorance, stupidity, selfishness and vanity. It openly mocks religion, basically stating it is all just meaningless drivel.There are many eerily prophetic statements such as, "it's a curse to have intelligence if you are forced to cloak it in a lifetime of stupidity".It's a lot like 1984 and I loved it! If you're considering picking this up for some light reading then stop vacillating right now and do it!