Location: Home > Humour > Mystery > The First Casualty

The First Casualty

Author: Ben Elton
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł7.99~~
Buy Used: Ł0.01
You Save: Ł7.98 (100%)

New (26) Used (152) from Ł0.01

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

57 reviews
Sales Rank: 14523

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 419
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 1.3

ISBN: 0552771309
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780552771306
ASIN: 0552771309

Publication Date: May 3, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available

Similar Items:

•	Chart Throb
•	Past Mortem
•	This Other Eden
•	Blind Faith
•	Dead Famous

Customer Reviews: Read 52 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

Stick to what you do best June 11, 2008
I may not like the trendy left winger style of Ben Elton when he gives stand up routine but I normally do like his scripts and books a lot. He is capable of very good stuff. But this book -OH dear! If you know nothing about the first Wold War at all then you may not be put off by it. Otherwise it is so full of innacurate nonesense as to make reading it painful. He still can't help himself with class stereotyping and at any moment I was expecting Major Thatcher to step out of a staff car to bully the poor working class troops over the top. It may have escaped Ben Eltons knowlege that many "toffs" and famous people and their sons also died in the trenches alongside the ordinary man as well It was truely a lost generation and this book does not do them justice. And over the top is what this tripe is. Not withstanding that the "hero" of the book would never have been in the position he found himself in as his protected job would never have permitted him to be called up in the first place. Sorry Ben, I do not know how this book has had so many positive reviews it was very badly researche, the subject matter not at all understood and written by someone who is capable of much more. Stick to what you know best.

1 out of 5 stars

I wanted it to be good: but it wasn't. May 30, 2008
Oh dear. There were the nuggets of an excellent thriller in here, but they were lost amongst clunky prose and implausable situations. I wanted to know what happened at the end, so I persevered, but as I got more and more frustrated with the story-telling I glance-read the final few chapters. It was a real pity as this story, in the hands of a better writer, could have been really good.
Ignore any of the reviewers that compare this to BlackAdder - there is no intended humour in this novel - it is bleak, bloody and realistic (although implausable). Unless, of course, I have completely missed the point, and it is a very, very black comedy.....

3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining twaddle February 11, 2008
The joke, I've decided, is on me - now squirming with embarrassment at having thought I'd get a measured and insightful novel about WWI from Ben Elton. Not that I haven't enjoyed his books in the past, but now its obvious to see that he's far better writing about modern day matters - notably the environment and the cult of celebrity - than events almost 90 years ago. `The First Casualty' starts off faintly ridiculous, and gets sillier... our police inspector hero sickened by the horrors of war, but managing to find the resolve to jump over the top with gay abandon - suffering from nothing more serious than fatigue and wet clothes.
Ridiculous as it was, I'm ashamed to say I was pretty much engrossed with this daft story right up to the dimwitted conclusion. I'll be taking this back to the library later today, I should probably do so with a bag over my head.

1 out of 5 stars

Absolute tripe November 24, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is badly written, horribly implausible, trite, cliche ridden, historically innacurate rubbish. If only no stars were possible, or even minus-stars. What I am staggered by is the number of very positive reviews. What sort of stuff is the British public reading. This pretentious nonsense is an insult to the English language and should bring shame on the publishers. "What's in a name?" If one is a so-called 'celebrity' it seems no matter how awful the book, publication is almost mandatory.

4 out of 5 stars

The First Casualty November 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read too many books to be able to review them all, and wasn't going to review this book until I read some of the other comments! I now feel compelled to defend Ben Elton as an author - I have read and enjoyed all his books and find him an intelligent, witty writer. Of course people are entitled to their opinions, but some are downright rude! The First Casualty is a departure indeed for Mr Elton and I think it worked pretty well. Yes, there are shades of Blackadder, but so what? My only criticism is that some of the dialogue seemed a little stilted, particularly when the soldiers were discussing the war, but other than that it was a good entertaining read. I have read Birdsong and can safely say that I much preferred The First Casualty.