on House of Cards
Review House Of Cards Penned By Michael Dobbs Format Printed Matter
it as soon as Thursday, JanWhen I got to the end of the novel, I felt rather let down to find it was not as good as the BBC television serial "The House of Cards".
Interesting that. Usually it is the other way round, This captivating trilogy can be seen as a compilation of case studies in politics, Too bad the "special relationship" is missing, A real page turner. That said, the series with Ian Richardson is darker and slightly better, Having recently seen both the US and British adaptation of this classic tale of political skullduggery, I thought I'd give the book a try.
It's very readable, and the plotting propels it despite a couple of slightly cringey attempts at descriptive writing in the early chapters.
The casual sexism is a bit harder to take, though, I'm not entirely sure it's just down to the characters and the milieu, either the author habitually describes women by the colour of their hair and the quality of their tits.
To a modern reader this
strikes a slightly discordant note, as do the rather patronising references to Northern towns.
A bit of racial stereotyping, too, Still, all in all it has stood the test of time pretty well, Still as relevant then as now, The story of a Chief Whip in the British Government destroying his enemies to become Prime Minister is just brilliant.
Read this book in, and its thest volume of the great Francis Urquhart trilogy, This book is mainly, as you might suggest, about Francis Urquhart, Chief Whip, and who has his hands on every secret an willing to betray them all to become Prime Minister himself.
Also a very important figure in this book is the journalist, Mattie Storin, a young tenacious political correspondent, She will become intrigued when faced by the biggest challenge in her life when she stumbles on a scandalous web of intrigue, blackmail and financial corruption at the highest levels, and possibly murder.
Determined to come up with the truth, she must risk everything, even her own life, in her effort to publish the revelations to the public.
What is follow is a thrilling story of political ambition, where life and death know no bounds, and in this political environment everything will be settled and ruled by man of power and greed.
Highly recommended, for this is a tremendous begin of a great trilogy, and that's why I like to call this first episode: "A Brilliant Start Of Trilogy"!
Interesting that. Usually it is the other way round, This captivating trilogy can be seen as a compilation of case studies in politics, Too bad the "special relationship" is missing, A real page turner. That said, the series with Ian Richardson is darker and slightly better, Having recently seen both the US and British adaptation of this classic tale of political skullduggery, I thought I'd give the book a try.
It's very readable, and the plotting propels it despite a couple of slightly cringey attempts at descriptive writing in the early chapters.
The casual sexism is a bit harder to take, though, I'm not entirely sure it's just down to the characters and the milieu, either the author habitually describes women by the colour of their hair and the quality of their tits.
To a modern reader this
strikes a slightly discordant note, as do the rather patronising references to Northern towns.
A bit of racial stereotyping, too, Still, all in all it has stood the test of time pretty well, Still as relevant then as now, The story of a Chief Whip in the British Government destroying his enemies to become Prime Minister is just brilliant.
Read this book in, and its thest volume of the great Francis Urquhart trilogy, This book is mainly, as you might suggest, about Francis Urquhart, Chief Whip, and who has his hands on every secret an willing to betray them all to become Prime Minister himself.
Also a very important figure in this book is the journalist, Mattie Storin, a young tenacious political correspondent, She will become intrigued when faced by the biggest challenge in her life when she stumbles on a scandalous web of intrigue, blackmail and financial corruption at the highest levels, and possibly murder.
Determined to come up with the truth, she must risk everything, even her own life, in her effort to publish the revelations to the public.
What is follow is a thrilling story of political ambition, where life and death know no bounds, and in this political environment everything will be settled and ruled by man of power and greed.
Highly recommended, for this is a tremendous begin of a great trilogy, and that's why I like to call this first episode: "A Brilliant Start Of Trilogy"!
Michael Dobbs Baron Dobbs of Wylye is an active member of the House of Lords and an internationally bestselling author who has never been far from controversy.
He has worked at the centre of British politics for Margaret Thatcher, John Major and now David Cameron, and was once described as 'Westminster's baby faced hit man'.
He is the author ofthrillers, including House of Cards which became a hugely successful television drama, and three previous Harry Jones thrillers, The Lords' Day, The Edge of Madness and The Reluctant Hero.
He tries to live quietly near a pub and a church in Wiltshire, For information, go to www, michaeldobbs. com.