Customer Reviews

Meltdown

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book describes the fate of a group of university friends who graduate in the early 1990s, find success in finance, architecture, catering, and politics, and then all come undone in the economic crash of 2008/2009. Much of the text is devoted to the ironic downfall of 'Jimmy,' who owns an entire street in London but has borrowed so much money that he is desperately poor. Anybody who is raising children, owns real estate, and has a lot of debt, may find this book to be difficult reading. We know these are difficult days and don't need Elton's fictionalization to demonstrate the point.

The book is less comic than most of Elton's previous efforts. He makes fun of some aspects of English banker culture, celebrity culture, and child-rearing culture, but the tale is generally told straight. Some of the exposition is turgid, with backstories introduced via completely unbelievable reminiscences by other characters. "Jimmy said 'Well, wasn't it funny the way he met his later wife, Lizzy. We needed another roommate so we could make our rent, so we stuck up an ad. First that awkward guy responded but then we kicked him out and luckily for us, she applied.'"

Lots of recent British political and financial scandals play their role in the story, including the Parliament expense scandal, cash-for-honors, the nationalization of Northern Rock. Bernie Madoff appears as well.

Some of the material in the book is believable, other parts less so. It's pointless to quibble over details though, the book just isn't very good.

I like Ben Elton's books and while this is no Stark, it is still good and has that combination of an up to date theme and observational comedy that Ben Elton is so good at.

This is all about a total wanker plus, who gets bought up living the dream and all it's all a bed of roses and he is making loads of money as a stockbroker - and then it all falls down. It's a fabulous insight into a bloke who comes across as what would be a nice bloke, good to his mates and wife, but just circumstances have been tooo good for him and he has everything, even a full time maid and then he loses everything but has to survive for his missus and kids. It aptly says how its not how you manage when things are good but how you manage when it all turns pear shaped. How he gets out of it is great reading and very enjoyable. I loved it. 9/10

Ben Elton is a writer I admire for several reasons. Sheer volume of output is one, as well as his diversity, using his talents for scripts, musicals and his own stand-up in addition to his books. His ability to focus on current events and generate a good novel from it is also admirable.
Until this book.
Firstly, let me say I might be judging this harshly because of the quality of previous work. I feel like a teacher saying "I know you could do better", and really, who the heck am I anyway? But for my taste, and for all its good qualities, this book never really took off.
This is a novel set in and about the Global Financial Crisis. One of the strong themes that guides the story regards how quickly the crash came, and how rushed the decisions were in light of that. Unfortunately, I was left feeling that the same rush was applied to the writing of this book.
There are many good points, of course. Another of Elton's strengths is in creating a solid ensemble cast of characters, and on this aspect he delivers again. Affable people, some of them. Others rank with hubris. Earnest, vain, clever, aimless. A group whose dynamic couldn't help but drive a story through their conflicting natures.
Although I'm no financial guru, I can't fault Elton's research, either. Even if there are factual errors, this is after all a work of fiction. Writers can defy gravity, as far as I'm concerned, as long as it comes across in a believable way.
In the end, what made this book difficult for me was the actual delivery. While there were some sections of the book which more closely adhered to the old adage "show, don't tell", unfortunately they proved to be the exception. At times I felt I was reading a diary, but mostly I felt as if almost the entire book was written as an epilogue. There was an awful lot of explaining how characters had changed, and how positive or negative that was.
So...it's a book that is by no means poor. Perhaps poorly executed? There was very little left for a reader to infer. It was almost like Elton was telling us a story over a beer at the local pub. It would probably have been more engaging that way.

Not sure why this book has received such poor reviews. It may not be quite as good as Ben Elton's best - Past Mortem, Inconceivable and Blind Faith - but it is still a page turner. The characters are interesting and well developed. The plot is topical and great fodder for Ben Elton's humorous writing style. It also keeps you guessing what's going to happen next. I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended!

I read all of Ben Elton's Books. And truly thoroughly enjoyed them all, some more, some less, as diversified as their subjects have been.
This is the first time Ben Elton actually bores me. The first time I was tempted, and later have, skipped pages. I feel obliged to let you know these two points:
Ben Elten is a fabulous and entertaining author, this book is not representative of his previous works. The book is repetetive in it's topics and most of the characters are one dimensional, flat, flatter then even satire would want to have it. Really, a disappointment.
Ben, take a brake.

It's a first book by Ben Elton I've read. Stumbled upon it by accident on a cruise ship. Really liked the first half, the second half was a monumental piece of crap! It felt like there were actually two writers, one responsible for the first half, the second for the second. The last 100 pages or so read like the Communist Manifesto with the message that seems to be saying: Let's purify ourselves through poverty and only poverty brings the best in people. What a load of crap! If it was that simple we wouldn't have daily shootouts in the poor neighborhoods. Really liked the first part but what a disappointment!

I have read other books by Ben and they were great but this book was the pits. It is so bad I actually put it in the rubbish bin with 200 pages left as I just could not read any more. What a waste of my time and money.