Westminster in words

Friday, 4th July 2008

National Review publishes a symposium on books everyone ought to be reading. John Podhoretz notices one title is missing:

I am shocked, shocked that no one mentioned what is without question the best political novel ever written — "Phineas Finn", Anthony Trollope's account of an idealistic young member of Parliament and how his naive belief that he can do good things in London is tested by the complicated realities of how power is wielded, how money influences policy, and how compromise is a necessary evil. It is witty and wise and timeless. It is not just the best political novel; it may be the best book about politics ever written.

To be fair, Mona Charen does nominate the magnificent "The Way We Live Now", although she has misgivings about the way Trollope depicts Melmotte (a 19th century Robert Maxwell) and the anti-semitism of the times. I'd give him a pass - just - on the grounds that he gives us the likeable Ezekiel Breghert too.

Btw, she shouldn't be so shy about admitting to reading "Dracula". It's shockingly under-rated. As a matter of fact, I've just put my 15 year-old son onto Bram Stoker's tale. The many film versions (including the wildly over-rated "Nosferatu") never, ever do justice to it.