Blast from the Past - Ben Elton

I was up ‘til 1:30am last night, finishing off the last hundred or so pages of this book – Blast from the Past by Ben Elton. I have previously read some other of his novels - Stark (years ago) and more recently, Inconceivable (okay) and Dead Famous (very good). I wouldn’t say he is in my list of favourite authors, but he’s worth a read. This book is set over one night, but told over a lot of flashbacks and discussions about previous events. The ‘action’ is quite near the end, most of the novel is taken up with introducing you to the main characters and showing you their views of what has happened in their lives. Our ...  Read the complete review

Jack and Polly are lovers, or at least were back in the good old days. Their love was an incredible, all consuming flame which neither could deny even though they were from opposite ends of the spectrum and the world! The Plot: --------- The brief bit is above, now for the main! The story begins in the world of sleep. Polly is fast asleep in her North London flat with nothing on her mind and a deep sleep passing her through to the morning. The phone rings and it is her ex-lover and heart breaker, Jack Kent, a US soldier in town for a while. She could not be more shocked. Polly works for Camden council and one of her cases was ...  Read the complete review

When Polly’s phone rings at 2.15am she knows something is wrong. When the phone rings at that time of night, it’s not usually good news, and for Polly, she has become used to calls at these times of night, from her stalker, Peter, who continues to pursue her despite a restraining order placed on him by the courts. Like she does every other time, she waits for the answering machine to take the call, waiting to hear him abusing her privacy. However, this time it isn’t Peter on the other end, but some one that invokes equal amounts of emotion, but of a different kind. The voice on the other end is that of Jack, an American soldier she had ...  Read the complete review

Who remembers Saturday Night Live, the “anarchic” stand-up show from the early 80’s? If you do can you remember who was the most left wing comedian? Correct - it could only be the loveable motor mouth host Ben Elton, whose routines were dominated by bodily functions and Mrs Thatcher, and preferably both in the same sentence. Roll forward 20 odd years and Ben has now become a figure of the establishment and a respected author. Strangely two of his books Popcorn and Blast from the Past seem to be very open minded ridiculing strong left and right wing views in equal measure – how a huge fat cheque can change your views. On to the ...  Read the complete review

I have just been going through a Ben Elton phase and this has to be one of his best books. It is absolutely fantastic. It's the story of an English hippy flower power girl, her barmy stalker and an older, American soldier. It is well written, hysterically funny in places with a very surprising twist at the end. The characters are brilliant and you really empathise with the lonely English woman. The story is set in the present and interwoven with the couple's past history from 16 years before. This is done very cleverly and much of the plot is conveyed through the couples thoughts and memories. Much of the book is based on arguments ...  Read the complete review