The Ghost: Robert Harris

[poliphilo]

This is a novel about a British Prime Minister who- in various ways- including participation in an illegal Middle-Eastern war- sold his country- its reputation and its advantage- downriver for the benefit of the USA. So it's about Tony Blair, right? Well, sort of: the central character is recognisably Blair (Robert Harris was a member of the 1997 cool Britannia gang and well-placed to observe the dear leader) but the portrait is little more than an assembly of mannerisms- and the mystery of his character and its arc through history- how did a goofy, apolitical longhair wind up as leader of the people's party and a warlord of the western world?- is flashily "solved" in a flight of unverifiable fantasy. Someday someone will write a great book about this fascinating man; but this isn't it; this is just a thriller- albeit an intelligent one- with such depth as it has provided by the cunningly contrived wasteland setting of Martha's Vinyard in winter- a deserted playground of the super rich given over to the wind and the rain.

Comments

[sovay]

Someday someone will write a great book about this fascinating man; but this isn't it,

How do you feel about the various films in which Michael Sheen plays Tony Blair? I've only seen The Queen (2006), but I'm aware of the existence of The Deal (2003) and The Special Relationship, which I think just finished principal photography.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've seen The Deal and The Queen. I think Sheen does a reasonable impression of Blair, but I don't think he goes very deep- but, then again, neither of those scripts gives him all that much to work with.