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To Play the King (House of Cards Trilogy, Book 2) |  |
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To Play the King (House of Cards Trilogy, Book 2) | |
Bestselling author Michael Dobbs was at Mrs Thatcher’s side as she took her first step into Downing Street as Prime Minister and was a key aide to John Major when he was voted out. In between times he was bombed in Brighton, banished from Chequers and blamed for failing to secoure a Blair-Major television debate. He is now one of the country’s leading political commentators.
网友对To Play the King (House of Cards Trilogy, Book 2)的评论
书不错，送货也很快！
平装外文书所以用的再生纸，轻，黄。
可能这本比较久了所以油墨印迹有点明显。
内容嘛，和美剧英剧有点差距。
The newly crowned King of the United Kingdom (Michael Kitchen) is displeased with the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) and becomes involved in politics in a way that Urquhart finds unacceptable for a constitutional monarch. At their first meeting, the King expresses concern about Urquhart's social policies, which he argues have led to greater problems for urban areas. Tensions escalate when Urquhart moves his leftist Environment Secretary to a job in Strasbourg after rejecting his proposals to regenerate inner cities. The King's Assistant Press Se"rest":"cretary, Chloe Carmichael, leaks the outcome of the meeting to the press, which rankles Urquhart.<br /><br />Corder, Urquhart's sinister bodyguard and security advisor, puts the King and other enemies under surveillance. Fearing the King will weaken the Prime Minister's position, Urquhart obtains "Regal Insurance" from Princess Charlotte, the former wife of a royal family member. Urquhart's underling, Party Chair Tim Stamper, persuades her to divulge lurid details about the Monarchy to Sir Bruce Bullerby, the editor of the Daily Clarion tabloid, on condition the information is published after her death. Urquhart also begins regularly meeting with the King's ex-wife, repeatedly assuring her that whatever his differences are with the King, that he has no intention of disturbing the Monarchy.<br /><br />The King and his staff produce a public service announcement implicitly denouncing how Urquhart's policies have affected Britain and covertly rally Opposition leaders to join forces against the Prime Minister. Irked by this intransigence, Urquhart calls an early election. His wife, Elizabeth, introduces him to a pollster named Sarah Harding and persuades him to choose her as a political advisor. Urquhart is impressed with Harding's intelligence and starts to favour her over Stamper, who becomes increasingly bitter over Urquhart's reluctance to promote him to a senior position. Urquhart eventually begins an affair with Harding, which puts a strain on her marriage. Through all this, Urquhart continues to be haunted by his murder of Mattie Storin; and unbeknownst to him, someone possesses Mattie's tape recording of her own death.<br /><br />After a brief abduction by some homeless thugs, Harding is told to "Ask 'im about Mattie Storin". Despite her feelings for Urquhart, Harding begins to question his version of events about the tragedy. She meets John Krajewski, a former colleague of Mattie's who is now a paranoid freelance journalist. Corder and his staff execute Krajewski and blame it on Irish republican terrorists. Meanwhile, Urquhart threatens the King with Charlotte's memoirs, saying that he will be forced to publish them if the King continues to publicly oppose him. The King, however, refuses to be blackmailed. Urquhart engages in secret meetings with the King's ex-wife, who urges him not to back down. He also blackmails Bullerby into publishing Charlotte's memoirs in the Daily Clarion, threatening to release images of his sexual relationship with the princess.<br /><br />While the royal scandal succeeds in hurting the King's popularity, the polls reverse when Conservative MP John Staines is arrested for child molestation. A furious Urquhart blames Stamper for the fallout, having put Staines in the public arena before his arrest. Mycroft, the King's closeted advisor, begins fearing his sexual orientation may damage the king's standing, having seen Staines in a gay bar with an underage boy before Staines' arrest. Mycroft eventually decides to come out to the King's press corps, and at the same time announcing his resignation.<br /><br />The deadly explosion of a tower block, as a result of a tenant's tapping into the gas main, puts the King's arguments about social problems back into the public domain. The King organizes a bus tour visiting disadvantaged council estates in Britain to show his concern, arranging for Opposition leaders to follow him. He refuses to include a security detail. Urquhart arranges for Corder to have the King abducted by thugs during his tour of an estate in Manchester. The Parachute Regiment, secretly shadowing the King's tour on Urquhart's orders, rescues him from possible harm. The King is seen as foolish for his negligence towards security, and Urquhart seems like a hero for having protected him.<br /><br />Urquhart announces his intention of having unemployed youth from the estates conscripted into the military, re-enacting a form of peacetime national service. The Conservatives subsequently win the general election with a 22-seat overall majority. With his policies vindicated by the electorate, despite the King's public opposition, Urquhart demands the king's abdication. Meanwhile, Corder realises that Stamper has passed information on Mattie's murder to Harding as insurance. With urging from Elizabeth, Urquhart orders Corder to assassinate them. Harding's car explodes when she is en route to meet Chloe, while Stamper's car explodes outside New Scotland Yard. The media interpret the car bombings as Provisional IRA attacks."
如果像第一第三也能凑合看看，性价比太差太差
I enjoyed the second instalment of the House of Card trilogy but it was less gripping than the initial book and I felt like the character's motivations were not explored fully and at times conversations did not ring completely true (book 1 was more believable). That said, I've bought the final book all the same and plan on finding out how things play out for FU and Co.
On a technical note, a few things frustrated me. Although there were far fewer typographical errors than book one (I only noticed a couple), it drove me mad that there was no contents set up so it was impossible to tell if you were approaching the end of a chapter on Kindle so it was hard to pick when to put the book down and whether a good stopping place was approaching. Two other niggles about continuity. Firstly, FU's wife seems to be called Mortima in book one and then her name changes to Elizabeth - this grated to the point I actually went back to the first book and checked I hadn't been deluded about her name (I wasn't) and I also googled to see if there was an explanation for the change but I was unable to locate any comment. Secondly I found it odd that England has a queen in book one, and then in book 2 which seems to be only days or weeks after the previous book there is a king with no real explanation for the transition. I have never encountered such odd continuity glitches in a trilogy before and I'm surprised not to have read others comment on it, it makes me think I missed something big but I even skimmed the final chapter of book one looking for a clue but couldn't see any.
In both this and "House of Cards" (the books), the psychological aspects of FU are neglected. However, the plot in this volume is much more compelling (at least to me), coherent, satisfying than is the BBC series based on it. I was pleasantly surprised after having first seen the BBC series and concluding that in that series, "To Play the King" was the weakest of the trilogy.
This book is the second in a trilogy featuring a highly successful but murderous,ruthless, and vengeful Prime Minister. In this book the P.M. with the appropriate initials, F.U. (Francis Urquhart) takes on a newly crowned and popular King who happens to recognize quickly that his newly elected prime minister is not what he seems. This is a very entertaining read and the author, who has served in senior governmental positions in Britain, makes it all sound very plausible. Highly recommended.
The three part series is about the rise and fall of a british politician from party whip to prime minister. Early volumes crackle with intrigue through and including murder. Last volume really drags with needless subplots. Reading is helped (possibly hindered?) by the superb BBC series "House of Cards" and the current good, occasionally superior ,American remake. If you have seen the BBC version, you automatically read the prime Minister's speech in the stately voice of Ian Richardson.
Engrossing, brilliantly written, fast moving political drama. I had no hesitation in ordering the third of the trilogy, "The Final Cut", which I am presently enjoying immensely.
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