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kat_hou's review against another edition
1.0
Reading it I felt like there was some indecision about whether the book should be character- driven or plot-driven when being written. Ultimately it falls somewhere in between, which is not very good. As a result the characters are lucklaster and the plot is rather random and episodic (which would be fine by me if the characters had more... well, character). Not even one person in this book had a complete personality and the story, while having potential, falls short.
The writing style is unneccesarily pompous and pretentious with one-liners here and there to appear sophisticated.
The representation of women is unfortunate. And while I understand that this book was originally written in a different time (1989) when not all of us where much socially aware and concerned on representation issues, it was resently "remastered". And while the author said that the characters appear more unique after that, I disagree as far as women are concerned.
Finally, I have only seen a couple seasons of the Netflix adaptation and I have to say that Francis Urquhart is a thousand times weaker than Frank Underwood (both in characterisation and in terms of inspiring awe and fear).
The writing style is unneccesarily pompous and pretentious with one-liners here and there to appear sophisticated.
The representation of women is unfortunate. And while I understand that this book was originally written in a different time (1989) when not all of us where much socially aware and concerned on representation issues, it was resently "remastered". And while the author said that the characters appear more unique after that, I disagree as far as women are concerned.
Finally, I have only seen a couple seasons of the Netflix adaptation and I have to say that Francis Urquhart is a thousand times weaker than Frank Underwood (both in characterisation and in terms of inspiring awe and fear).
caszriel's review against another edition
4.0
My brother said that Francis Urquhart is more conniving than Francis Underwood and considering he hasn't *properly* watched S1 of House of Cards I don't think his opinion is valid but at the same time, the literary genius of this book...
swagggerlove's review against another edition
3.0
Książkę Michaela Dobbsa zaczęłam czytać przed tegorocznymi wyborami, więc idealnie wczułam się w klimat - jednak nie było trudno. Autor umiejętnie wprowadza nas w świat politycznych zagrywek i nawet laik w tej kategorii łatwo się odnajdzie. Sięgnęłam po ten tytuł skuszona serialem "House of Cards", bo w moim przypadku zawsze najpierw książka, potem jej ekranizacja. Nie zawiodłam się lekturą, jestem ciekawa wątku zapoczątkowanego w ostatnim rozdziale, dlatego będę polować na pozostałe części w bibliotece,a po ich przeczytaniu rzucam się w wir serialu. Gorąco polecam "Bezwzględną grę o władzę" - czyta się jednym tchem, a można się też dowiedzieć interesujących elementów życia polityków.
sunny76's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little while to get into this book, but I the characters (good, bad, and sad) held me. This book was published 25 years ago about Great Britain and it's Parliment, so there were terms I wasn't totally familiar with, thank goodness for the English vs US dictionary on my Kindle! I have not seen the British TV series or the American TV series (the reason for the republication), but decided to read this because of the interest in the American TV series. This is worth the read. I can't say much else or I would be posting spoilers...
mrpatperkins's review against another edition
2.0
I decided to read House of Cards because I admire the Netflix series with Kevin Spacey, but this is one of the few times the show/movie is better than the book. Francis Urquhart lacks motivation for his quest for power, except for a weak connection to his departed father. Mattie Storin has even less development as a character, and that's it. All the other players just come and go, static and flat, offering a chess board full of pawns that can only move forward one step at a time until knocked out by the king. What Netflix has done well is give the protagonist's wife a much better developed role, establish Kevin Spacey as a powerful politician with a lust for higher power, and offer characters who seem real and feel as if they could move fluidly throughout the universe.
This book does none of that.
This book does none of that.
fitzer147's review
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
meliemelo's review
3.0
Obtenu grâce à l'#OP1000K de Bragelonne.
Déjà, je ne savais pas que ce livre avait plus de vingt ans... ni que l'histoire se déroulait, à l'origine, au Royaume-Uni ! Je me suis donc trouvée un peu surprise au début.
Le truc, en fait, c'est que, même si le livre est bon, pour moi il ne fait que souligner le génial travail d'adaptation des scénaristes de la série US (je n'ai pas vu celle de la BBC). Pas seulement au niveau de la transposition (très bien pensée, d'ailleurs) : les personnages ont été étoffés (surtout les femmes, ce que j'apprécie énormément), la plupart des éléments sont modifiés... je n'ai pas encore terminé la saison 1 (entamée bien avant d'avoir lu le livre), mais j'apprécie déjà beaucoup ce qui a été changé... et la manière dont certaines choses ont été gardées.
Mais c'est du roman qu'il faut parler. Et il est bon, je le répète, et je comprends complètement qu'il ait eu du succès. Mais je pense que je l'aurais mieux apprécié si je l'avais lu avant de commencer la version de Netflix...
Déjà, je ne savais pas que ce livre avait plus de vingt ans... ni que l'histoire se déroulait, à l'origine, au Royaume-Uni ! Je me suis donc trouvée un peu surprise au début.
Le truc, en fait, c'est que, même si le livre est bon, pour moi il ne fait que souligner le génial travail d'adaptation des scénaristes de la série US (je n'ai pas vu celle de la BBC). Pas seulement au niveau de la transposition (très bien pensée, d'ailleurs) : les personnages ont été étoffés (surtout les femmes, ce que j'apprécie énormément), la plupart des éléments sont modifiés... je n'ai pas encore terminé la saison 1 (entamée bien avant d'avoir lu le livre), mais j'apprécie déjà beaucoup ce qui a été changé... et la manière dont certaines choses ont été gardées.
Mais c'est du roman qu'il faut parler. Et il est bon, je le répète, et je comprends complètement qu'il ait eu du succès. Mais je pense que je l'aurais mieux apprécié si je l'avais lu avant de commencer la version de Netflix...
finlay27's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5