Blind Faith, by Ben Elton

This book tells the story of Trafford, a man leaving in London after large parts of the world were submerged in water due to the global warming effect. The brittish society has become ego-centric, exhibitionist and religious. The dominating religion, which is vaguely Christian, decides over the lives of all citizen. Cameras accessible to all, including the government, are present at every corner.

Trafford is unsatisfied by the daily routine, and has difficulties sharing the enthusiasm of his fellow citizen for his lifestyle. Through a colleague, he discovers the life, philosophy and science from before the great flooding. He joins the resistance and plans to spread his newly acquired knowledge to others who dare not yet voice their critical views.
Unfortunately, Trafford is betrayed and the resistance movement is crushed.

My main complaint against the book is its similarity to "1984". Ben Elton updates Big Brother to include contemporary devices, such as western religious extremism, the Internet, Facebook and reality shows. Oddly, he also throws in self-help books in the lot. This novel reeks of fear of technology and of conservatism. Ben Elton is out of touch with the new generation. He uses "1984" to validate his negative opinion of the freedom of expression offered by modern media.

On a positive side, I enjoyed the (somewhat) positive ending of the story, even though the book closes on "Trafford knew that natural selection would save the world, [...] and that one day the Confessors of the Temple would be extinct", a sentence which I find naive.