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The Taoiseach: Power, Whatever the Cost
In Ireland in the second half of the 20th century, a corrupt circle of politicians and shadowy business figures control the levers of power. At the heart of this web of deceit and intrigue is the Taoiseach, the Irish prime minister, Harry Messenger.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Peter Cunningham
8 books22 followersPeter Cunningham is an award winning Irish novelist.
He is best known for the historical novels The Sea And The Silence, Tapes Of The River Delta, Consequences Of The Heart and Love In One Edition, which chronicle the lives of local families during the twentieth century, in Monument, the fictional version of Waterford in south-east Ireland, where Cunningham grew up.
His novel, The Taoiseach, which was based on the life of former Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Charles J. Haughey was a controversial bestseller.
Capital Sins, a satirical novel, dealt with the collapse of the Irish economy during the financial crisis that began in 2008.
Cunningham’s work has attracted a significant amount of critical attention and praise. The Sea And The Silence (translated into French as La Mer Et La Silence) was awarded the Prix de l’Europe in 2013. This novel was also short-listed for the Prix des Lecteurs du Telégramme and the Prix Caillou.
Consequences Of The Heart was short-listed for the Kerry Listowel Writer’s Prize. In 2011 Cunningham won the Cecil Day Lewis Bursary Award.
His fiction is distinguished by its fusing of political material with psychological realism and a lyrical sensitivity to place and people.
Peter Cunningham is a member of Aosdána, (the Irish Academy for Arts and Letters). He has judged the Glen Dimplex Literary Awards and the Bantry Festival Writer’s Prize.
Under the pseudonym Peter Wilben, he has published the Joe Grace mystery thrillers series
http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Wilben/e/...
He is best known for the historical novels The Sea And The Silence, Tapes Of The River Delta, Consequences Of The Heart and Love In One Edition, which chronicle the lives of local families during the twentieth century, in Monument, the fictional version of Waterford in south-east Ireland, where Cunningham grew up.
His novel, The Taoiseach, which was based on the life of former Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Charles J. Haughey was a controversial bestseller.
Capital Sins, a satirical novel, dealt with the collapse of the Irish economy during the financial crisis that began in 2008.
Cunningham’s work has attracted a significant amount of critical attention and praise. The Sea And The Silence (translated into French as La Mer Et La Silence) was awarded the Prix de l’Europe in 2013. This novel was also short-listed for the Prix des Lecteurs du Telégramme and the Prix Caillou.
Consequences Of The Heart was short-listed for the Kerry Listowel Writer’s Prize. In 2011 Cunningham won the Cecil Day Lewis Bursary Award.
His fiction is distinguished by its fusing of political material with psychological realism and a lyrical sensitivity to place and people.
Peter Cunningham is a member of Aosdána, (the Irish Academy for Arts and Letters). He has judged the Glen Dimplex Literary Awards and the Bantry Festival Writer’s Prize.
Under the pseudonym Peter Wilben, he has published the Joe Grace mystery thrillers series
http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Wilben/e/...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 9, 2012
At first I cannot catch the pace of the story. It started very fast while I was still in the mood of some warming introductory stories. Packed of details and climax everywhere. It's indeed a brilliant novel about what government in Ireland is all about. The story really makes me remember about Indonesian politics. When corruption and nepotism become main topics.
One of things that I dislike about the book is the plot. The writer keeps jump from current year to the past and come back to current year and back to the past again frequently. It is indeed thrilling for people who enjoy some historical and political novel. Because I am new to a political novel it kept me struggling with reading it.
Despite of all that, the novel as a whole deserve a standing ovation. It's revealing all the politics that happens in Irish politics in that era. What a Taoiseach can do in the view point of his most-trusted man. In the end, like what politics is all about: conquering others. The fear of having no power and sink down to the bottom is the most crucial theme in this novel. The Taoiseach can do everything to maintain its power. Corruption and nepotism. Even friends can be used to maintain the position. The one who helped Taoiseach the most one by one is going to an end of their political career or even worse their lives. Gardener as his most-trusted man feels that helping Taoiseach is no longer beneficial. Someday he will end up like others while he has a family to be held on. Emotional battle happened inside Gardener hearts and it makes the story become lively even though it only appears near the end of the book.
Maybe I will read this again someday after I am quiet used to read political novel.
One of things that I dislike about the book is the plot. The writer keeps jump from current year to the past and come back to current year and back to the past again frequently. It is indeed thrilling for people who enjoy some historical and political novel. Because I am new to a political novel it kept me struggling with reading it.
Despite of all that, the novel as a whole deserve a standing ovation. It's revealing all the politics that happens in Irish politics in that era. What a Taoiseach can do in the view point of his most-trusted man. In the end, like what politics is all about: conquering others. The fear of having no power and sink down to the bottom is the most crucial theme in this novel. The Taoiseach can do everything to maintain its power. Corruption and nepotism. Even friends can be used to maintain the position. The one who helped Taoiseach the most one by one is going to an end of their political career or even worse their lives. Gardener as his most-trusted man feels that helping Taoiseach is no longer beneficial. Someday he will end up like others while he has a family to be held on. Emotional battle happened inside Gardener hearts and it makes the story become lively even though it only appears near the end of the book.
Maybe I will read this again someday after I am quiet used to read political novel.
Displaying 1 of 1 review