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Blind Faith

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 2,002 ratings · 221 reviews

As Trafford Sewell struggles to work through the usual crowds of commuters, he is confronted by the intimidating figure of his priest, full of accusatory questions. Why has Trafford not been streaming his every moment of sexual intimacy onto the community website like everybody else? Does he think he's different or special in some way? Does he have something to hide? Imagi...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published October 1st 2008 by Transworld Publishers (first published 2007)

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Mar 14, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

why can't i give a book zero stars? this book gets zero stars.
maybe even negative stars.

also i would like to add that if you think this book is good you should try to read better books so that you have some sort of standard of comparison. seriously: people are probably talking about this behind your back.

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 14, 2009 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: four-stars

This book explores many issues that are prevalent in today's society such as vaccinations, religion, privacy, education, personal appearance, going with the mob, blind faith - too much to delve into in this review.

Blind Faith is a very apt title as most characters in this book are following faith blindly, just because someone says this is the way something is then it is believed and accepted and we have a lot of sheep living life aimlessly. Elton exaggerates what can happen if we lose ourselves...more

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Apr 15, 2009 Kirsty (Blatant Biblioholic) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humour, post-apocalyptic

This was my first Ben Elton, and I'll definitely be reading more.

Whilst being funny, this book was actually a little scary. Ok, so this is a gross exaggeration of the way our society seems to be headed, but it's still the way our society is headed nonetheless.

Privacy is a thing that many people claim to hold dear, yet many of us also use sites like MySpace and Facebook on a regular basis. This, however is through choice. How would people feel if they were forced to upload every TINY detail about...more

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Mar 01, 2008 Marcin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book reminded me a lot of Orwell's 1984, however the society depicted was a lot more ridiculous than that in 1984 (the book IS a black comedy though). A little predictable at times, but still a good read.

The world depicted is in the near future (say 50 years) after global warming has flooded a lot of the world - the book is set in London, which is now a series of islands. Basically a perverted form of religion has taken over, where nothing is private and everything must be shared with every...more

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Feb 06, 2008 Ian Wood rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: ben-elton

In his recent fiction Ben Elton has satirised the ills of society; ‘High Fidelity’ satirising drug culture; ‘Popcorn’, ‘Dead Famous’ and ‘Chart Throb’ celebrity culture and reality TV; ‘Past Mortem’ the Friends Reunited type web sites; In fact the only malaise of our society Ben hasn’t porn scorn on would be writers producing hackneyed dialogue to join together the hits of various beat combo’s to sell them as musical theatre. In his earlier fiction such as ‘This Other Eden’, ‘Stark’ and ‘Gridloc...more In his recent fiction Ben Elton has satirised the ills of society; ‘High Fidelity’ satirising drug culture; ‘Popcorn’, ‘Dead Famous’ and ‘Chart Throb’ celebrity culture and reality TV; ‘Past Mortem’ the Friends Reunited type web sites; In fact the only malaise of our society Ben hasn’t porn scorn on would be writers producing hackneyed dialogue to join together the hits of various beat combo’s to sell them as musical theatre. In his earlier fiction such as ‘This Other Eden’, ‘Stark’ and ‘Gridlock’ Ben concentrated his wrath on the businesses and governments whom were allowing global warming to threaten our very existence. In all of these novels we were warned against what the future had in store which was only alluded to rather than spelt out. Now we need not to pontificate any more, Ben Elton has now shared his future world vision.

No dates have been used but at some point in the future known as ATF, After the Flood, religious bigots have taken control of society by blaming the raising waters on a vengeful God rather that greenhouse gases melting the polar ice caps. The Temple officials have used the power of the internet to ensure that society worships the Love and them with suitable devotion. Trafford Sewell is constantly fighting against this blind faith initially believing he is the last man in Europe before finding the Humanists, an underground resistance movement.

Parallels with Orwell’s ‘1984’ are apparent but Elton’s drawing our attention to them in the text suggests he doesn’t have much faith in the intelligence of his readership. The book has also got much in common with Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, Woody Allen’s ‘The Sleeper’, ‘The Matrix’ trilogy or even The Who’s ‘Tommy’ but the frame work of ‘1984’ has been used as a template to frame the story. The book doesn’t work as well as ‘1984’ as Elton’s writing has a cheerful tone that lets too much light into the bleak world view and also that the Mara Hari character is a bit obvious.

All that said I really enjoyed the book and Elton’s humanist fanaticism which I think is fast becoming a faith in its own right. I’m loving it.
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Jan 14, 2009 Sabrann rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 02, 2009 Kirryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

'1984' for an internet generation. A bit too jaded and cynical for my taste, though Elton is a master world-builder. Not overly fond of being smacked over the head with repeated 'atheism is the only true reasonable way!' message, nor did I think the jab at the One campaign all that witty. Lost pace towards the end.

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Jan 10, 2009 Ginnz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Blind faith is another Ben Elton book where he takes a current idea and twists it into the worst direction he could. While it was a good idea and the story at times was gripping, at other times I became frustrated about how slowly the story was going and felt the betrayal was all a little simplistic. Nothing near as good as Past Mortem. Elton continues to produce books that make you critically think about the world, but I feel this one most people have already realised the self obsessed society...more

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Nov 02, 2008 Seth Rogovoy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was my first attempt at a Ben Elton book. Apparently Elton is huge in England -- a well known comic and TV writer. The TV writer part is readily apparent in his writing here -- the book is written almost entirely in dialogue.

The setup is clever if timeworn -- a kind of update of Orwell's "1984," but much lighter, and for the Internet/Facebook generation.

The story is schematic and predictable, and what is at stake outweighs or overpowers the incredible lightness of the characters. And Elton...more

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May 21, 2012 Veeral rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, post-apokalipsa, satirical, could-have-been-better

2/3rd of this book had a good satirical tone to it. Ben Elton has created an over the top dystopian world while intentionally making it dumb with low-brow humor, but a good satire nonetheless. The problem came when he became too ambitious and went on to create his own version of '1984'.

Remember that feeling when you are hoping against hope that a certain major character does not turn out as clichéd and as despairingly obvious as some other characters have been in the past, thus causing the book...more

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Oct 25, 2008 Ai-lin Kee rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book.

Ben Elton's satirical commentary about life does strike a chord. The irony of our quest to promote and encourage individualism and human rights, causes society to lose its soul. We do things and say things because society expects us to. We seek more and more to belong. We blindly follow where we are led and forget to question and be critical.

Even though, I understand that the story is set in a really bizarre future to re-inforce the how ridiculous society h...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 10, 2008 Cheryl (Bored in Vernal) rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those apocalyptic novels that we all need to keep reading just to remind ourselves from time to time what can happen when humanity gets stupid. In this one, religious fanaticism, obsession with sex, and governmental control all combine to make a truly scary society. I hesitate to recommend the novel to most of my friends, because there is a lot of offensive language and blatant sex. But interestingly, these elements are not gratuitous--they are in fact essential to the plot. I cri...more

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Nov 26, 2007 Esther Lowe rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no-one

This book made me feel like I had just watched an entire series of big brother - which is kind of the point but I'm sure you can be satirical about the dumbing down of society without dumbing down your book to the same level. It is crass and revolting. Totally uninspiring text, not funny, not enlightening in the slightest, and the ending is about as anticlimactic as they come. At least it is relatively short and only wasted half a day of my life. For a much better satirical look at where the cur...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Sam rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wish goodreads would have a 10-point rating scale because in my mind the difference between 2 and 3 stars is whether the book is worthwhile reading or not. 'Blind Faith' is not an awful book but nor it is it particularly worth reading, therefore a 5 on the 10-point scale would be most apt.

As it stands I've erred on the negative side at 2/5 because I was not particularly impressed with this offering from Ben Elton. The book is a very clumsy take on Orwellian themes and an even clumsier p...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Matthew rated it 1 of 5 stars

If you want to read Ben Elton's personal diatribe against religion and a paranoid view of society's increasingly open communication, you'll love this book. If you're looking for an interesting, well-written science fiction novel about a dystopian world where faith and excess work together to erode all signs of intellect and independence, look elsewhere.

Blind faith is a poorly presented attack on illogicality. It mainly felt like a stab at religion, and the kind of book those who take gleeful joy...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, humour

When God gave out "subtlety" Ben was at the end of the queue. However, he didn't have to wait long at the "cynicism" line, and he uses both to maximum effect in "Blind Faith". Elton sets this book in the future so that he can take a swipe, or a sledgehammer, at the way our current society is going. He invents a world that takes Orwell's 1984, crosses it with Big Brother (TV version), Jerry Springer, the Evangelical Right, the X Factor, our fast food culture, the self-help industry....you name a...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Dave James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: satire

Ben Elton
Blind Faith

‘The Lord made Heaven and Earth. The Lord made us. The Lord does this, the Lord wants that. We don’t know how or why, we don’t need to know, it just happens. There’s never any explanation, it’s all a miracle. Children are born, some die, it’s God’s will, we can’t change it. Don’t you think that, in a way, that’s sort of ... sort of ...?’ Thus Trafford, the hero of Elton’s Blind Faith, puts the question to his wife Chantorria, a terrified conformist in the insane world of Lo...more Ben Elton
Blind Faith

‘The Lord made Heaven and Earth. The Lord made us. The Lord does this, the Lord wants that. We don’t know how or why, we don’t need to know, it just happens. There’s never any explanation, it’s all a miracle. Children are born, some die, it’s God’s will, we can’t change it. Don’t you think that, in a way, that’s sort of ... sort of ...?’ Thus Trafford, the hero of Elton’s Blind Faith, puts the question to his wife Chantorria, a terrified conformist in the insane world of London several centuries after a global warming disaster has driven humanity back into an age of faith. Yes, this is a cautionary tale, a savage exposure of man’s need to believe and conform.

The novel harks back to Orwell’s 1984, but with a lighter touch and emphasis on religion rather than politics. In place of Big Brother and The Party we have The Temple, the authority that never fails, one that through the power of The Love controls cyberspace and individual thinking. Reason is subordinated to faith, science merely a manifestation of the Lord’s power; democracy is the will of the people, but a people brainwashed, threatened and in terror of non-conformity. Huge wallscreens in every apartment and public space monitor behaviour, with leaders demanding displays of faith in The Love, in which personal revelations of one’s indulgence in, say, feasting or oral sex, are mandatory. Pleasures must be shared, as must pain and grief caused by the perpetual child mortality rate – the water is polluted, London a reeking sewer, commuting replaced by Fizzy Coff – a physical appearance at the office, a necessarily rare occurrence in the overheated congested city.
Despite the parallels with Orwell – incipient paranoia when indulging in Own Life for example – Blind Faith’s totalitarianism encourages, nay, demands, self exposure. There is no Puritanism here: nakedness and sexual activity at all times, especially in public, are de rigueur. In fact, abstinence or reticence in these matters suggests a dearth of respect for The Love and is a serious concern of the local Confessor or the apartment censor Barbieheart, ‘the principle eyes and ears of the building, an enormous, globular, housebound sentinel who, although too big to leave her apartment, occupied every room.’ Like Winston Smith, Trafford falls secretly in love with a dissident, but ultimately with wider consequences when his viral email causes millions to receive their first Humanist mail shot.

Blind Faith is an exuberant and gripping novel that pillories evangelism and political correctness, delighting in exposing People Power and the cant and hypocrisy at the heart of belief. From obligatory local Hug-ins to massive pop-style congregations at the New Wembley Stadium, where The Love rules and you’d better not only believe it, but say it loud, shout it Big Time, and never betray a scruple of doubt. For heretics the torture chamber and the stake await! Books are out and wallscreens are in. Birthing videos must be posted, as must one’s private sex life. After all, what’s to be ashamed of? The Lord gave us genitals that we may celebrate Him, Big Time! Darwin is the Devil’s agent and science is merely the Lord’s way of reminding us of His power. Vaccination and those who support or practise it are defying the Lord’s will and must be hunted out, tied to the stake and burned over a pile of seditious books, any that may yet be found floating in the upper stories of deserted houses.

Of course this is all over the top, but very funny and not so far-fetched that it doesn’t chime with certain tendencies in our insidious world of what Elton calls ‘infotainment’, where cheerful idiocy rules the airwaves and cyberspace, and privacy and modesty are heretical.

At the end of the book, when Trafford’s daughter, Caitlin Happymeal, is the sole infant survivor in the latest smallpox epidemic (because of her covert vaccination) he is ‘ordered to stand on that stage at Wembley and credit divine intervention ... to give thanks to a stupid, vicious, capricious, illogical, immoral, maniacal deity who clearly exists only in the imaginations of idiots and bullies.’ Will he conform or be a recusant and face the consequences? Elton’s nail-biting plot has several more twists and turns before we know whether Trafford, like Orwell’s Winston Smith, will become yet another victim of orthodoxy.

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Sep 26, 2012 Regina Lindsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

In much the same vein as Farenheit 451, A Brave New World, and 1984, Elton takes the theme of total government control through current technology with well-developed characters and spins a masterful, if not terrifying tale.

After a cataclysmic flood caused by Global Warming occurs, society is run by a government with The Temple at its head. The Temple seems to be an ammalgamation of various belief from Christianity to Green Mythology, with the exclusion of Islam. Science is Evil. Everlasting lo...more

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Jul 26, 2012 port22 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction

"Blind Faith" is a dystopian novel that describes a future society by projecting our contemporary aspirations to excessively share details of our lives in social networks, distrust of science, and victory for religion.

The planet is flooded after global warming melts the polar ice caps, people disenchanted by science turn to religion for explanation of the disaster. Politicians are at first replaced by instant electronic plebiscites and later on with legislation by instant vote by sufficiently la...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Sesh rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. You know that one guy? He's the new kid to join the club, all wide-eyed and eager to learn about the cool new thing he's been introduced to. After the first couple meetings, he thinks he knows what's what, and starts getting into discussions with people about the topic the club covers. Unfortunately, he's not the greatest conversationalist, and ends up getting confrontational with the people he's trying to have a rational discussion with. "You think X? Well I think Y, and you're an idiot for thi...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Eve rated it 2 of 5 stars

I would have liked to give this book three stars for the subject it addresses, as I think more people in our society should give attention to the issue, and for the fact that it did keep me on edge and constantly wanting to continue reading (as most of Elton's books). However, in the end, the book itself, the story, the style, the plot just wasn't good enough for three stars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Elton fan, particularly of his early work - witty, confident, smart satire, to the point and...more I would have liked to give this book three stars for the subject it addresses, as I think more people in our society should give attention to the issue, and for the fact that it did keep me on edge and constantly wanting to continue reading (as most of Elton's books). However, in the end, the book itself, the story, the style, the plot just wasn't good enough for three stars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Elton fan, particularly of his early work - witty, confident, smart satire, to the point and dealing with interesting and important topics, expressing my thoughts and beliefs in an eloquent and funny way.

The first thing that will come to mind when you start reading this book is, inevitably, 1984 by George Orwell. It's a modern 1984 with a twist, a dark forecast of our future, the hypocrisy of our society exposed, the shallowness found in so many areas of life nowadays multiplied a thousandfold and joined by fanatic, lunatic religious beliefs, self-obsessed, over-indulgent, hateful, shallow citizens in an apocalyptic setting of a completely wrecked environment, world-wide misery, disease and war.

However, the story, the writing and the plot aren't nearly as intricate and intellectually stimulating, as well thought out and as fascinating as George Orwell's masterpiece.

Sure, there are some witty ideas, the world Elton builds is interesting and horrifyig, and the people's shallow, ridiculous names made me smirk on more than one occasion, but a lot of what Elton writes is TOO over-the-top, TOO obvious, TOO ridiculous.

Now, of course, we're used to this style being used by Elton, but in my opinion, he definitely overdid it in this book. He seems to have fallen victim to the twisted logic he himself makes fun of in this book, namely "If something is good, then surely more of it must be better! What's not to understand?". It worked in previous books, so why not use MORE of what worked in the past? I'm sure he wanted it to be over the top and ridiculously bold and blatant in this case, to reflect the society he was writing about.

To me, however, it lacks the intellectual, subtle criticism, the stuff you really have to think about, the stuff that makes you go "Aha", or "Yes, well-said, brilliantly expressed, that's the way it is", the feelings I had when reading some of his earlier books.

Moreover, the plot was very predictable (at least to me), a lot of ideas were not original (abbreviations for long words/phrases, for example, an idea clearly thought up by Orwell with his Newspeak) and generally, it was not a brilliant satire you or me couldn't have come up with, as the things he criticises/makes fun of are very obvious.

Then again, I was thinking he might have wanted it to be this obvious, in order to make the people he condemns, should they happen to read this book, see a reflection of themselves and maybe realize something needs changing.

All in all, a good topic, an enjoyable, (very) quick read, easy to understand, definitely not Elton's best, definitely not highly intellectual, but better than a lot of the crap that passes as literature these days.(less)

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Jul 14, 2011 Alyssia Cooke rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'd added this book to my list of 'books to buy' after reading a review from a fellow Ciao-er and bought it with the 'Christmas books' and other presents that my mother is already buying for Christmas...however needless to say this book did not last till Christmas and has already been devoured by me...and so now we come to the reviewing part of the reading process!

===Boring stuff===
Title: Blind Faith
Author: Ben Elton
Price: From 82p on Amazon at time of writing
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Blac...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Rob rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, terrible-trash-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. How embarrassing (that I read this, really. I'm not going to make any excuses. I am filled with regret but whatever.).

Ben Elton needs to take a break from typing pages upon pages of bland, repetitive dialogue with repeats of Grumpy Old Men on in the background and see how his focus groups of semi-literate Daily Mail readers are doing coming up with that post-apocalyptic dystopia scenario he asked for.

It's a pretty good indication that you're reading a terrible mockery of sci-fi if everything is...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been thinking about how I was going to write a review for Blind Faith since I had started reading it. Every time I was reading I would think about how this book related to some events or similarities between our real world and the world depicted in Blind Faith.

Blind Faith is a novel about a world that has been punished by the 'Love' aka 'God'. Everyone in this world has Blind Faith in 'The Love'. They believe that God gives you things, such as life, food, air, children etc and yet will al...more I have been thinking about how I was going to write a review for Blind Faith since I had started reading it. Every time I was reading I would think about how this book related to some events or similarities between our real world and the world depicted in Blind Faith.

Blind Faith is a novel about a world that has been punished by the 'Love' aka 'God'. Everyone in this world has Blind Faith in 'The Love'. They believe that God gives you things, such as life, food, air, children etc and yet will also take it away if you don't worship the Love.

The people are 'ruled' by the Temple that sets all the rules. You are not allowed to keep secrets or have privacy. Everything you do is always being filmed. People walk around barely clothed. Women are told to get Breasts implants. If a woman doesn't get breast implants then they must not love the love. Because the Love wants you to love your body by making it sexy with fake boobs. Everything on the Earth is created by the love.

Some of the similarities I related to in the book to the real world is the fact that the people are always being filmed. That made me think about how so many people will create videos and upload them to their web pages, blogs, youtube etc. In Blind Faith you need to post videos of you having sex with your current wife, the birth of a child and other things. If you don't then you must not love yourself and you can be punished for all this. The temple preaches that marriage is not meant to be you get married once and you last with that person until you die; the temple preaches that you are supposed to be married multiple times. When I read about the idea of marriage it made me think about how some people will get a divorce instead of trying to either work things out and possibly save the marriage.

I found the story entertaining and quite laughable with the contradictions with in the Temple beliefs. When the Children died they were sent to a better place. Yet the Children that live on the Earth are blessed and in a better place too. Just seeing how people can be easily manipulated to believe things when professed over and over again.

I am glad that I was able to read this book and be introduced to another new author.(less)

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Jan 16, 2010 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Das Buch ohne Vorwissen zu lesen, habe ich als Vorteil empfunden und deswegen werde ich hier nicht zu viel verraten. Nur soviel, dass es in einer Welt spielt, die der heutigen ähnlich ist, aber sehr überspitzt dargestellt. Das bezieht sich auf die Radikalisierung des Glaubens (der “Tempel” ist die höchste Instanz), fehlende Privatsphäre (Bloggen und “Tubing” ist Pflicht!), Klimaerwärmung (die halbe Welt ist überflutet) und Überbevölkerung (Menschenmassen überall). Trafford Sewells Leben ist auf...more

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Aug 29, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book has it all, and more. A gripping plot, excellent writing and characters that you really care about. There was one plot twist that was a bit predictable, but other than that I cannot find a flaw with this book, I really can't.

Blind Faith follows the journey of one man's awakening in a post-apocalyptic UK society where everyone is expected to share everything about their lives, by law. Everyone must blog and Tube the most important moments, to take pride in themselves as they were create...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

(This review may contain spoilers).

I actually only picked up this book to read because my sister had read it and told me to read it so that we could discuss it.

The society depicted in this book was pretty interesting. Full of contradictions, I personally felt that no one in the society truly loved or even cared about anyone else. Marriage was a sham - instead of two people choosing to spend the rest of their lives together, marriage lasted two, maybe three years, if that, before divorce inevitab...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

Ben Elton's novel is fun, an updated version of 1984 with real twists that reflect modern day England's obsession with both religion and statistics not to mention any remaining sense of privacy. While the novel ostensibly mocks faith it is equally harsh on celebrity culture and casual perhaps even indifferent attention to sex.

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May 19, 2012 Jayne Charles rated it 4 of 5 stars

I avoided this for a long time: the synopsis on the back cover didn’t grab me. I found it hard to swallow the idea of a world in which everyone is forced to tell everything about themselves and secrecy is not allowed. It seemed to me that such a society could only exist with the co-operation of its members. It also sounded a bit too much like Brave New World, which I hated. But now I’ve read it and I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s also not much like Brave New World, much more like 1984 which I lik...more I avoided this for a long time: the synopsis on the back cover didn’t grab me. I found it hard to swallow the idea of a world in which everyone is forced to tell everything about themselves and secrecy is not allowed. It seemed to me that such a society could only exist with the co-operation of its members. It also sounded a bit too much like Brave New World, which I hated. But now I’ve read it and I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s also not much like Brave New World, much more like 1984 which I liked very much.

Most of Ben Elton’s recent novels have based themselves on a single issue and they have worked very well (with the possible exception of Chart Throb where I thought the material was stretched a bit thin), whereas this one appears to be a mish-mash: I counted at least twenty ‘issues’ being satirised in as many pages at the start. It was at times hard to see where the focus of the novel’s sarcasm was meant to lie. But it cannot be denied that most of the feature of this grotesque futuristic world could be traced back to some facet of contemporary life, be it the obsession with celebrity, the tendency to wear revealing clothes, read naff self-help books, or splash our private lives all over social networking websites.

If there was a central theme amongst those vying for supremacy, it seemed to be the power of mob rule. There are echoes of the enforced outpouring of national grief fuelled by the media that followed the death of Princess Di which I found uncomfortable with at the time and which clearly did not escape the author’s notice. In real life such official channelling of public opinion seems geared towards innocuous ends (such as the fabrication of a public demand for Bruce Forsyth to get a knighthood) but this book clearly shows how ‘mass sentiment’ can be harnessed and used to keep minorities in line. It was as I began to see this that the book started to win me over. I realised my earlier assessment based on the synopsis was flawed.

Not everyone will like this – people sceptical about the moon landings or about the safety of vaccinations will find it uncomfortable reading. Creationists will hate it. People who read Elton for his humour may be disappointed because it isn’t very funny. True, there are moments of humour (such as the law that everyone is now famous by right) but I didn’t laugh until page 126 and that’s a long time to wait.

This is more one to read for the often startling consequences envisioned for seemingly harmless elements of life today. One in particular gave me a jolt as it’s a belief I hold myself – that easy access to cosmetic surgery will lead to a society where people are blamed for being ‘ugly’. Some of this book may seem far-fetched, and I’m sure a lot is, but it has something serious to say about where we are all heading.
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Nov 26, 2008 Lera rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Ben Elton

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 memo...more

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Quotes from Blind Faith

“The internet was supposed to liberate knowledge, but in fact it buried it, first under a vast sewer of ignorance, laziness, bigotry, superstition and filth and then beneath the cloak of political surveillance. Now...cyberspace exists exclusively to promote commerce, gossip and pornography. And of course to hunt down sedition. Only paper is safe. Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar, you have to hold it, you have to read it.” — 22 people liked it

“Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar. You have to hold it, you have to read it.” — 4 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Blind Faith Goodreads rating: 3.61 (2002 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2164457.Blind_Faith?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320483062l/2164457.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2164457.Blind_Faith?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Blind Faith by Ben Elton[/url]

Blind Faith

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