High Society

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High Society by Ben Elton – 3 out of 5.

Again this was an audio book for listening to in the car. This one was read by Greg Wagland, who does a sterling job of covering all the characters. The story is very character driven here with each chapter being about the events surrounding an individual person. Our three main characters are Peter Paget (a backbench Labour MP), Tommy Hanson (a famous Pop singer – think Robbie Williams-ish) & Jessie (a young Scottish lass who's having a really hard time of it), but there are loads of other supporting characters who all play their parts.

The basic idea behind the story is “should all Drugs be legalised?”. All the goings on revolve around the pros & cons of this central concept. All the characters are in contact with Drugs & Alcohol to some greater or lesser degree & as the story progresses you see how the, at first seemingly random, plot strands start to roll together into one giant spliff – erm I mean, into one cohesive story. As with most of Elton's books, there is relativity little comedy here (at least of the laugh out loud kind) and although there is humour, it's all pretty serious stuff, with a genuine thought provoking message attached.