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Rapstone Chronicles #3
The Sound of Trumpets
In a satirical novel focusing on the British class system and parliamentary politics, merciless MP Leslie Titmuss is deposed and replaced by Terry Flitton, a centrist-style politician.
241 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
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About the author
John Mortimer
252 books231 followersJohn Clifford Mortimer was a novelist, playwright and former practising barrister. Among his many publications are several volumes of Rumpole stories and a trilogy of political novels, Paradise Postponed, Titmuss Regained and The Sound of Trumpets, featuring Leslie Titmuss - a character as brilliant as Rumpole. John Mortimer received a knighthood for his services to the arts in 1998.
Series:
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rapstone Chronicles
Series:
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rapstone Chronicles
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 29, 2016
I'm a big fan of Mortimer's writing. In Trumpets, he pokes both sides of the aisle with his witty pen. I read the two previous books in this Rapstone series, but you don't have to. The book can stand alone. All his characters go through life like the steel balls in a pinball machine, getting battered about by the flippers until they fall to their doom, except the crafty Titmus who has put a quarter in the machine and plays the game until it tilts. Mortimer has no qualms about rewarding evil if you don't count sleeping in a single bed alone as punishment.
March 26, 2009
The death of John Clifford Mortimer has sent me searching through his bibliography for books (and plays) I've missed or would like to read again. I'd loved Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained but I'd somehow been unaware of a third book in the Rapstone Chronicles, The Sound of Trumpets. Although the book is predictably good, what happens was quite unexpected, at least to me. I was prepared for a good sneer at New Labour, but Mortimer's kindly world-view made me pity, then love, a hypocrite. It did not, however, change my view of Tony Blair.
December 19, 2013
Satirists couldn't ask for richer material than the current political soil. In fact, if comedy depends on exaggerating human foibles, it's getting hard to find foibles that aren't already stretched to absurdity.
But John Mortimer is up to the challenge. This elder statesman of English mysteries knows where all the bodies of comedy are buried. His latest novel, "The Sound of Trumpets," skewers political opportunists with deadly results.
Terry Flitton is an ambitious liberal, determined to snatch the parliamentary seat away from Conservatives who have held it for decades. As confident as he is glib, Terry represents the new Labour Party, a telegenic mixture of old-style concern for the poor and hip acknowledgment of market realities, a defender of the downtrodden complete with a cell phone.
Always in loyal attendance, his lovely but tedious wife, Kate, is a liberal in the third degree who believes "the truth was great and would prevail once the Nativity play was abolished in favour of the enactment of multi-ethnic legends and Afro-Caribbean history took the place of grim reminders of Henry VIII and the British Empire." Together they're determined to organize the masses, create a utopian society, and get people to sort their rubbish more carefully.
Despite Terry's confidence, victory is only a remote possibility until he receives a call from Leslie Titmuss, a member of Parliament and the crotchety Lord of Hartscombe. An archconservative living in bitter solitude since Margaret Thatcher's fall from power, Titmuss offers to help from the depth of his political knowledge.
It's an odd alliance, to be sure, but Titmuss is determined to make Terry win in order to punish a member of the Conservative Party who turned against Mrs. Thatcher. "Revenge is one of the few remaining pleasures of old age," Titmuss explains.
Accepting clandestine assistance from "the enemy" turns out to be Terry's first step toward a stunning political victory and complete moral demise. As the campaign starts to turn his way, he slips quickly and thoughtlessly into an affair with an old trust-fund liberal, comforting himself with the excuse that his wife and this woman live in "different worlds."
When Kate objects to her husband's sudden shift to the right - an expediency engineered by Titmuss - Terry explains patiently that he needs to get elected before he can pursue his real agenda.
Of course, that's a Faustian bargain, with Lord Titmuss in the role of Mephistopheles. But as long as Terry is useful to him, Titmuss helps him control the press, redesign his past, and knock his opponent off balance. The old master makes it his business to know everyone else's business, and his knowledge of embarrassing deaths and sexual peccadillos keeps him firmly in control at all times.
Mortimer is one of those master writers who make it look easy. Decades of success in print and on television have given him a Titmuss-like command of his characters. Here, as usual, he tells a story with such sustained and disciplined wit that moments of outrageous absurdity are all the more delightful. This social commentary is perfect tea-time diversion for those who like their herbs bitter.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0304/p2...
But John Mortimer is up to the challenge. This elder statesman of English mysteries knows where all the bodies of comedy are buried. His latest novel, "The Sound of Trumpets," skewers political opportunists with deadly results.
Terry Flitton is an ambitious liberal, determined to snatch the parliamentary seat away from Conservatives who have held it for decades. As confident as he is glib, Terry represents the new Labour Party, a telegenic mixture of old-style concern for the poor and hip acknowledgment of market realities, a defender of the downtrodden complete with a cell phone.
Always in loyal attendance, his lovely but tedious wife, Kate, is a liberal in the third degree who believes "the truth was great and would prevail once the Nativity play was abolished in favour of the enactment of multi-ethnic legends and Afro-Caribbean history took the place of grim reminders of Henry VIII and the British Empire." Together they're determined to organize the masses, create a utopian society, and get people to sort their rubbish more carefully.
Despite Terry's confidence, victory is only a remote possibility until he receives a call from Leslie Titmuss, a member of Parliament and the crotchety Lord of Hartscombe. An archconservative living in bitter solitude since Margaret Thatcher's fall from power, Titmuss offers to help from the depth of his political knowledge.
It's an odd alliance, to be sure, but Titmuss is determined to make Terry win in order to punish a member of the Conservative Party who turned against Mrs. Thatcher. "Revenge is one of the few remaining pleasures of old age," Titmuss explains.
Accepting clandestine assistance from "the enemy" turns out to be Terry's first step toward a stunning political victory and complete moral demise. As the campaign starts to turn his way, he slips quickly and thoughtlessly into an affair with an old trust-fund liberal, comforting himself with the excuse that his wife and this woman live in "different worlds."
When Kate objects to her husband's sudden shift to the right - an expediency engineered by Titmuss - Terry explains patiently that he needs to get elected before he can pursue his real agenda.
Of course, that's a Faustian bargain, with Lord Titmuss in the role of Mephistopheles. But as long as Terry is useful to him, Titmuss helps him control the press, redesign his past, and knock his opponent off balance. The old master makes it his business to know everyone else's business, and his knowledge of embarrassing deaths and sexual peccadillos keeps him firmly in control at all times.
Mortimer is one of those master writers who make it look easy. Decades of success in print and on television have given him a Titmuss-like command of his characters. Here, as usual, he tells a story with such sustained and disciplined wit that moments of outrageous absurdity are all the more delightful. This social commentary is perfect tea-time diversion for those who like their herbs bitter.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0304/p2...
May 19, 2017
"Laying low since the deposal of his beloved Margaret Thatcher, and his own subsequent removal from Parliament, Leslie Titmuss has been waiting for an opportunity to return from his political grave and exact his revenge on the Tories that betrayed him. His chance comes with the bizarre death of a Conservative MP and an unexpected election for his empty seat. Enter New Labour hopeful Terry Flitton, the bright-eyed, principled, centrist politician whose thirst for power is matched only by his naivete. Who better to school him in the arts of political maneuvering than a seasoned veteran with an ax to grind? Before long Flitton and Lord Titmuss are celebrating success -- but at a price that leaves the young politician struggling to locate the values he somehow lost along the way."
~~back cover
I was rather stunned by this wee book. It's been a while since I read the first two books in this trilogy, so I didn't remember all the nasty political infighting, particularly the cold, calculating nastiness of Lord Titmuss. And the man is awash in cold, calculating nastiness. It was an unsettling read for me: I'll make no bones about being a flaming, tree-hugging liberal and always identify with people who go into politics with high ideals and firm plans to resolve at least some of the ills of our society. I'm not naive enough to think that everyone in politics doesn't have to compromise and swallow bitter bedfellows to get elected, but watching this particular political ravishment unfold was painful and a virtual reminder of just how badly we're governed by people whose ultimate goal is power, which has cauterized their ideals along the way.
~~back cover
I was rather stunned by this wee book. It's been a while since I read the first two books in this trilogy, so I didn't remember all the nasty political infighting, particularly the cold, calculating nastiness of Lord Titmuss. And the man is awash in cold, calculating nastiness. It was an unsettling read for me: I'll make no bones about being a flaming, tree-hugging liberal and always identify with people who go into politics with high ideals and firm plans to resolve at least some of the ills of our society. I'm not naive enough to think that everyone in politics doesn't have to compromise and swallow bitter bedfellows to get elected, but watching this particular political ravishment unfold was painful and a virtual reminder of just how badly we're governed by people whose ultimate goal is power, which has cauterized their ideals along the way.
February 11, 2026
Sadly disappointing. There just wasn’t enough material; everything rushed by and lacked a satisfying conclusion, so there’s a half finished feeling to the whole book. I liked Mortimer’s satire of political values but it felt too simplistic (yeah, New Labour were almost Tories, we’ve heard it a lot); Titmuss losing his sinister command of the narrative takes away the bite of it, and Terry is too underdeveloped to pose any rivalry to him. The concept of a young MP being schooled in devious tactics is a great one, but it’s too small a part of the plot to feel earned here. I liked Agnes’s focus this time around but even her story felt rushed, with little time to develop her illicit affair.
Every plot point predicts a huge impact but nothing ever happens; there’s mild threat, a little anxiety for the characters, but - unlike in the previous books - it’s never critical. We don’t learn anything new about existing characters and the new lot are bland pastiches of political types. Wish this had been more vicious, or had the bittersweet feeling of the previous book!
Every plot point predicts a huge impact but nothing ever happens; there’s mild threat, a little anxiety for the characters, but - unlike in the previous books - it’s never critical. We don’t learn anything new about existing characters and the new lot are bland pastiches of political types. Wish this had been more vicious, or had the bittersweet feeling of the previous book!
November 8, 2017
Mortimer can't really write young people, and occasionally a grouchiness or a hint of satire-by-numbers (those pointless acronyms) intrudes, but this is such an astute, immersive, neatly (and viciously) plotted book, and at times it can be desperately moving: Flitton's closing speech in the Commons got me right in the tear-ducts. The aggressively PC wife seemed to drop the wrong side of caricature, but most of the other characters are memorable and wonderfully sketched, including Lord Tebbit - sorry, Titmuss - the gaunt, Machiavellian Tory grandee tied forever to the previous prime minister.
November 4, 2021
I read the Titmuss trilogy back in the 90s. I enjoyed it then and have thoroughly enjoyed rereading the three books. Mortimer is a formidable writer, truly talented and so quietly funny.
I have read almost everything he has written starting with the Rumpole stories, through the Rapstone and Dunster chronicles and then the entertaining accounts of his own life. All top quality and hugely entertaining.
I have read almost everything he has written starting with the Rumpole stories, through the Rapstone and Dunster chronicles and then the entertaining accounts of his own life. All top quality and hugely entertaining.
August 20, 2020
A nostalgic romp into British politics in the years immediately post Thatcher and also into the (often) bitingly funny writing of John Mortimer - interesting what transitions easily to 202o and what does not.
December 14, 2017
Essentially, a gentle ITV Sunday night drama that's run for one season too many in book form. Ask yourself, would this have been published if it had been by an unknown? No.
October 7, 2018
Read to complete the trilogy. Satire and plot rather ran out of steam!
April 23, 2020
A rather scathing review of the British government based on a hapless politician manipulated by an astute political dinosaur from the other side of aisle.
May 20, 2021
A slightly uneven ending to the Rapstone Chronicles.
June 15, 2022
3rd of 3 and still going strong right to the end.
December 16, 2022
I didn’t know this was a trilogy but the last book was very good.
April 29, 2025
Clever book with insights into local political shenanigans.
February 2, 2013
An interesting novel with an adequate plot but I didn't find myself wholly intrigued. Political machinations aside, and this is a novel constructed almost exclusively upon the political beliefs of individuals and their implications in the rest of their lives, the characters seemed too ready to shrug off their convictions and get on with accepting their role in the plot.
In the constituency of Hartscombe and Worsfield south, a by-election is called after the incumbent Tory MP dies attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation in his private swimming pool. The Labour candidate, one Terence Flitton, known in his youth as 'Red Tel' for a militant devotion to socialist ideals, arrives with his beautiful, younger, wife and manages to not only commit adultery with a woman 17 years his senior (and here we are supposed to suspend our disbelief that a heavy smoking 50 year old woman would honestly appeal to a man with, again, a beautiful, younger wife) but also become the pawn of one Lord Titmuss, a dedicated Thatcherite who launches the Labour man to victory to avenge his beloved Iron Lady's deposition. Flitton bends utterly to the will of Titmuss, goes against all his ideals in an attempt to secure votes, and wins a hollow victory: I found it either far too fantastical or far too real a political truth to enjoy.
Adequate but insubstantial, I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with British politics.
In the constituency of Hartscombe and Worsfield south, a by-election is called after the incumbent Tory MP dies attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation in his private swimming pool. The Labour candidate, one Terence Flitton, known in his youth as 'Red Tel' for a militant devotion to socialist ideals, arrives with his beautiful, younger, wife and manages to not only commit adultery with a woman 17 years his senior (and here we are supposed to suspend our disbelief that a heavy smoking 50 year old woman would honestly appeal to a man with, again, a beautiful, younger wife) but also become the pawn of one Lord Titmuss, a dedicated Thatcherite who launches the Labour man to victory to avenge his beloved Iron Lady's deposition. Flitton bends utterly to the will of Titmuss, goes against all his ideals in an attempt to secure votes, and wins a hollow victory: I found it either far too fantastical or far too real a political truth to enjoy.
Adequate but insubstantial, I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with British politics.
March 30, 2011
My somewhat eclectic choice of reading matter at the moment is driven largely by my mother who keeps piling books on me whenever I visit and I feel duty bound to read them. Still, I'm reading things I would never have looked at otherwise so I suppose it's a good thing.
In the end I'm glad she did - it's an enjoyable yarn about the rise of New Labour and how this affects those caught up in the political processes of the late 1990s. Good characters, good plot and you're never quite certain how things will pan out, despite the machinations of the politicians involved.
In the end I'm glad she did - it's an enjoyable yarn about the rise of New Labour and how this affects those caught up in the political processes of the late 1990s. Good characters, good plot and you're never quite certain how things will pan out, despite the machinations of the politicians involved.
March 6, 2014
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John Mortimer's novel is set in Blair's Britain, with Terry Flitton standing as New Labour's candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Hartscombe and Worsfield South. The by-election has been caused by the mysterious death of the sitting MP (wearing a leopard skin bikini, his hands manacled behind his back and a ping-pong ball in his mouth)...
Read by Rik Mayall, and abridged by Neville Teller.
John Mortimer's novel is set in Blair's Britain, with Terry Flitton standing as New Labour's candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Hartscombe and Worsfield South. The by-election has been caused by the mysterious death of the sitting MP (wearing a leopard skin bikini, his hands manacled behind his back and a ping-pong ball in his mouth)...
Read by Rik Mayall, and abridged by Neville Teller.
Read
August 7, 2008to tell the truth i read his non-Rumpole books, and he is amazing. so much insight into human nature, such great comments and quips - masterful. mastery. i just reread a slim paperback and experienced his greatness all over again, was glad to reread it. i don't really remember the title of the ones I read, though, i just go to the library. do not underestimate this heavyweight.
December 14, 2008
Funny, entertaining look at the odd world of British politics. A perfect change from the non-fiction I had recently been reading. It apparently is third in a trilogy, but I hadn't read the earlier ones and it really didn't make a difference.
July 10, 2012
Satire on the rise of New Labour in 90s Britain. Plot moves along fast, and is witty in places. All the characters are revealed as either selfish or naive, so it's hard to find a character to like, but the author succeeds in staying neutral to the end. Third part of a trilogy of books.
January 10, 2009
This is the last book of the Rapstone Chronicles, which are wickedly, viciously entertaining.
July 25, 2014
Not really into books about politics, so may account for my not being into this book. Sorry John, but I have enjoyed many of your book much more.
December 9, 2014
Interesting and a good story. I missed the British humour, and I'm not conversant in British politics, but I enjoyed the story just the same.
Read
January 21, 2015the best of the three but do take the trouble to read from the beginning if you can
August 25, 2015
3rd book in trilogy--unflattering portrait of politicians
February 22, 2009
Vintage Mortimer.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews