Let’s start by establishing parameters. A very wise satirist once said these words: “Are you going put all the politics in, Ben? Are you gonna stick all that principle, all those concerns, are you going to shove all of that into the act?” “Well I’m not gonna bother, the politicians don’t anymore why should I? It’s all style and no content these days, isn’t it?” Well, this book is all style and full of content; that I can promise you.
The King of Satire is back and this time his target is the global financial crisis. “Meltdown” is Ben Elton’s latest book and as he excels best, it is topical fiction to the max. The global financial crisis has touched us all in some way, some people affected more than others, and because of this everyone who reads this book will be able to relate. At the same time Mr Elton’s signature “knob gags” are thrown in. Now, don’t get too worried, by that term I mean his satirical humour and the token one-liners that Ben is famous for. One gem I loved was Jimmy on recycling:
“I hate recycling…it’s a week long reminder of how much we drink.”
The humour is littered throughout the novel but it is rightly placed, expanded on and does make those lips curl up at the sides. For a very serious issue Ben has managed to write a novel that gives a message, messages in fact, to its readers as well as providing comedic entertainment along the way.
The two Ts are prominent – trials and tribulations. We see the roller coaster journey of implications the global financial crisis (GC) has on partners, business, mates, families and self-conscience. The Radish Club (all will be revealed) has a one-way gold pass on this roller coaster we know as life; there are highs, there are lows but nobody could guess how the GC would rock their ride. Could the lows be predicted? Could the characters have avoided their plight down the highest slope of the roller coaster ending in the popcorn stand having to pay the pimply teenager whose mother still ironed his underpants? Could they have avoided the ticket? Do lovely, lovely things mean nix in the end? Has everything gotten too big?
Too big? The banks certainly don’t think so. The futures market doesn’t think so. The players don’t think so. Meltdown. Some people play with the hand they’re dealt – others bet too much. Meltdown. The words from someone who has seen the changes before, “Never use your house as collateral, son, it’s risking the seed corn,” go in one ear and out the other. Meltdown. Do yourself a favour and read this book, who knows, it may stop Meltdown banging at your door – at the very least you’ll get a right old laugh out of it.
Avoid the piss puddles, pay the ferryman and buy this book!
A big thank you goes out to Samantha Dawson of Random House Australia for providing me with a copy of “Meltdown” to review – thank you!
To read Meltdown’s blurb click here
Am happy to discover your blog. I wrote about Meltdown too, on faeriesrevenge.com. I liked the reminder that financial success can be as fleeting as anything else in life. We spend too much time and energy envying the rich.
Thanks for sharing!
Jeannine
Hi Jeannine
Thank you very much for stopping by.
Too much energy indeed and just think what else we could all be doing with that energy – living our lives hopefully.
I’ve just finished reading Meltdown. I agree with Nytrydr. I think Meltdown is less ‘radical’ compared to his other works like Blind Faith. My favourite book of his would be High Society. 🙂
Actually, it’s not his best work in my opinion, but that’s not to say it isn’t good. In recent times Ben Elton has set the bar pretty high for himself with cracing reads like First Casualty and Past Mortem (each excellent in different ways from the truly extraordinary Stark and Gridlock which I still re-read frequently). Yes, The main character becomes sypathetic far more than the other members of his clique and he seems at once to have a tighter grip on reality than the rest and an equal disregard for or disbelief in the consequences that will follow from that, but overall I didn’t find any of the character terribly redeemed byt the end.
What Elton gets right (as usual) is the humanity, the frailty of his protagonists, where in a time of crisis their first thoughts are still for themselves but how they feel bad about it and act better than they really want to, and he tells well the pain not just of the Wealthy, but of each segment of society in desperate times.
I think it just felt a bit rushed at the end really, like the story essentially finished before the book did.
Still well worth a read, and I have no doubt I’ll read it again at some point and find more genius than I remember now – thats’ another great thing about Elotn’s books, they are re-readbale and still very enjoyable, so thickly woven are the plots and characters there’s always more than one read in them and they will surprise you again and again.
Some great observations there, thank you for posting this. I completely agree about how Elton gets the humanity right, that whole paragraph is well picked up and worded – couldn’t have said it better myself 🙂
Nice to find a fellow Elton fan with something to say 🙂
Thanks again