Some time ago, mostly during my university years I read several novels by Ben Elton, so I presume I must have liked his books quite a bit, otherwise I wouldn’t have read so many of them. Anyway, a couple of years passed since then, and now I mostly remember that a Ben Elton novel is an excellent choice when you’re waiting for an exam to start; or when your brain is muddled for some reason and you find it difficult to think clearly; or in any situation when it’s impossible to really pay attention to a book but you must pass the time somehow. By the way, I always suspected that Elton’s novels are disposable, but I wanted to find out for sure if this is really the case, and I had some time on my hands when I wouldn’t have been able to pay attention to a „proper” book anyway, so I went ahead and re-read one of his novels. I chose High Society because I had some vague recollections that I used to consider it as one of Elton’s better efforts.As it turned out, I was right – Ben Elton is indeed rather amusing in his own frightfully pedantic, spoon-feeding way, and he can weave a plot with wonderful ease (so this is a book I would normally read in one sitting because it’s virtually unputdownable), but the novel is absolutely transparent, with no depths or intricacies, and a second reading offers exactly the same results as the first. (In a way this is okay – I could at least pass some time with the book again.)So, getting down to High Society then. The protagonist is an unknown backbencher who comes up with the radical idea that all drugs should immediately be legalized in England because everyone is doing them anyway, and if people could get them legally, crime rates would drop by 90% and also, the state would get a lot of tax money. The main plot-line follows the actions and fights of this backbencher who wants to get support for his bill, and with a lot of work, he slowly manages to make the bill popular – but this is not how the story ends.Besides a whole lot of parliamentary debates and political manoeuvres, there’s a bunch of (awfully instructive and tale-like) other plot-lines where we get acquainted with several characters whose life was ruined by drugs one way or another. For instance, there’s the English chick who tries to smuggle some drugs from Thailand to England for the first time in her life, and gets caught. Then there’s the popular rock singer who destroys his health and career in about two years because he consumes an unbelievable amount of drugs. And then there’s another young girl who runs away from home and ends up being a crack whore within just a couple of days.I try not to be unnecessarily ironic. Of course my heart’s not made of stone, and I’m aware that dreadful things can happen to human beings because of drug-taking and because of the crime and violence associated with it – but I can’t stand Elton’s preaching and spoon-feeding style without irony. Because Elton’s characters are not really characters, and his stories are not really stories – in his novels, the characters and stories are just illustrations Elton uses in order to make me understand what he thinks is wrong with today’s drug politics and how he would like to change the drug-related legislation in England. (I’m not mixing up Elton and his protagonist – it’s only that I always feel when I read one of his books that his novels are never really about the beliefs of the characters but about the beliefs of Elton himself, which he – for some unknown reason – molds into the shape of a novel.)And naturally, I understand what Elton says, but I’m not exactly satisfied because I prefer reading about „real” characters in a novel, and not about puppets whose only function is to illustrate some point the author wishes to make. Anyway, I suspect that I get much more easily irritated by didactic-preaching literature nowadays, so considering my current taste in books (which is, of course, subject to change) I would say that Elton’s novels are not only disposable – they are novels you can live without. I’m pretty sure I will live without them in the future.
MP Peter Paget has an idea that will solve the drugs crisis in the UK – a very simple one – if we legalise all drugs and set up a licensed supply chain, we could quite literally pull the rug from under the feet of the drug barons. Ben Elton puts this idea forward in a very entertaining, readable way. I found myself having some agreement with him during this read, which I have to say I didn’t find particularly laugh out loud funny, but I did really enjoy. It is told in a series of short and sharp chapters featuring a number of characters across a wide spectrum of society, who are all affected by the drugs trade. We had a drug mule stuck in a Bangkok jail, the young couple so obsessed with where their next fix is coming from that their baby son is starving to death, the society “it” girl, so out of her brain that she is putting herself in danger. By far the most moving though is the story of Jessie, young and naïve she is “captured” and forced into a life of prostitution to feed the habit that her pimps have deliberately given her.One of the main characters is Tommy Hanson, gobby pop star who tells his story at his local AA/NA meetings. I have to say I found him really irritating, cocky and just plain annoying. This was the only real weakness in the story for me, because when he is telling his story he doesn’t show many signs of regret, especially at the start where he really comes across as just showing off to the other AA members. Imagine Liam Gallagher posturing at AA/NA and you have the general idea of the image that comes to mind with Tommy Hanson.It is a dark read, full of unlikeable characters and one that really shows the despair, humiliation and degradation that comes with a drug habit. It is not a pleasant read at all, but is one that is thought provoking. It really did make me think about where I stood in the debate.
What do You think about High Society (2002)?
Ben Elton does write quite well, although his novels can seem similar to his stand up performances, in that he is a excellent ranter in both contexts. And my spellchecker doesn't like the word 'ranter' - good! Spellcheckers need to be dully conventional, staid even. High Society is Ben Elton's novel about the illegal drugs trade and how to defeat it. The story is hardly staid, it has some graphic detail, some very graphic language and some excellent rants, once you get used to the idea that this is how the book is written. High Society charts the course of a backbench MP who wants to take on and destroy the illegal drugs traders by making all drugs legal. It illustrates the problems created by drugs with the stories of two addicts, contrasting the lives of a successful pop star and a young runaway. Needless to say, nearly everything which can go wrong for every single character does go wrong and the author's central stand of the novel, the drugs bill, fails disastrously, but there is an almost happy ending, for a couple of people.Ben Elton has been sneered at lately, as a former alternative comedian who has sold out, but High Society shows that, in 2002 at least, his ideas were as radical as ever.
—Sue
Though the book could be a little long-winded, it's worth a read. It does more to make you think about the evils of arrogance and conceit than consider the stance of this country on drugs, but the point stands. The lives of three of the women in this book would have, indeed, been much easier if drugs (all drugs) were a legal and legislated substance, but the greed of the law-makers in High Society undermines that sentiment. Whether this was something Elton meant to do remains to be seen, but I really did enjoy the read. Others seemed quite pleased by the disappointment heaped on Cathy Paget, but to be honest (after reading the novel) that seems like bitter spite to me; the girl was one of the more vivid characters and did little wrong other than to try to defend a father who ultimately let her down.
—Sheree Crawford
Очередной роман остряка Бена Элтона в моем зачете. В романе "Светская дурь" затронута другая проблема современного общества - наркотики и злоупотребление ими в масштабах нации. Я бралась за книгу с уверенностью, что буду смеяться так же, как смеялась над "Вторым Эдемом", и буду увлечена не менее сильно, чем "Смертью за стеклом". И это отчасти было так, однако с другой стороны книга эта - очень тяжелая и серьезная. За по-элтоновски гротескным и абсурдным главным лейтмотивом романа - продвижением законопроекта о полной легализации наркотиков в Британии - нам показывают столько тяжелых судеб и историй, что впору впасть в депрессию. Неужели все, что говорится в книге, правда? Неужели дети Британии уже со школы знакомятся с наркотиками, неужели обыватели по вечерам действительно забивают по косячку или глотают по таблеточке экстази в качестве послеобеденного отдыха, неужели все поп- и рок-звезды и знаменитости не выходят и наркотического ступора? Грязь, насилие, жестокость и наркотики так и хлещут из каждой строчки, из каждой буквы. Впору впасть в передоз, если бы не было так интересно, а что же будет в финале? Смогут ли герои - популярная рок-звезда, молоденькая проститутка, глупая нарко-курьерша и другие - подняться над собой? Пройдет ли законопроект и что это принесет миру? Ведь, читая эту книгу и речи главного героя - политика Питера Педжета - ты действительно начинаешь верить, что спасение нации, потонувшей в наркотической зависимости и попавшей под гнет преступности, только в том, чтобы легализовать все наркотики и сделать их приём контролируемым... Несмотря на тяжелую тему, Элтон не морализаторствует, не учит, не укоряет. Он просто создает картину, а решать и думать предоставляет нам самим. Стиль автора, его блестящие диалоги и напряженный сюжет не выпускают из сетей. Местами, особенно в середине книги, она казалась мне слегка затянутой, однако под конец роман совершенно невозможно отложить в сторону.
—Jenny Sparrow
