Blast from the Past - Ben Elton Reviews

Beware of The Bug!! Polly is an innocent, working woman. All she wants is a peaceful night's sleep. But does she get that? Of course not! She is blasted from the past! Through the typical Elton stylee of flashbacks, we slowly learn who poor Polly is being blasted by. Her childhood lover, who left her depressed and heartbroken for the ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  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 ...  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. ...  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 ...  Read the complete review

Oh dear, what has happened to “yes indeed.little bit of politics, Mrs. Thatch, Mrs. Thatch Ben Elton.I saw that cringing closing speech on Room 101 and thought he’s mainstream establishment. Sadly this book is no better and ads up to a very tame non challenging run of the mill love story by an author who’s more worried about ...  Read the complete review

I didn't like this book. I found it really boring. I found it impossible to suspend my disbelief because I couldn't be bothered to, I didn't like any of the characters enough to care what happened to them and I felt as if I was waiting for something to happen. This feeling stayed with me until the very unbelievable end. ...  Read the complete review

I’ve been a Ben Elton fan ever since an ex-girlfriend of mine found ‘This Other Eden’ lying around on a train ages ago. Just to clarify - the book was lying around, she wasn’t. Although this particular book ‘Blast From The Past’ didn’t have me in hysterics as much as some of his other novels, ...  Read the complete review

Blast from the Past is not meant to be a really serious book. This book is meant to be humorous as well as carrying a serious message underneath. In my opinion the author gets the balance just about right. In fairness I did manage to work out a couple of the twists to the plot but none the less the book does manage to keep you guessing right up ...  Read the complete review

I have not read any of Ben Elton's previous books, so I did not what to expect. A bit of unfunny comedy, cardboard characters and some lame political comment presented in fifty-foot letters of fire. Elton suggests militarism and nuclear weapons are Not Very Nice, taking time out to remind us that Thatcher was Not Nice Either and that stalking ...  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 ...  Read the complete review