As a Dubliner I have a 'so near but yet so far' view of the North. At times the conflict seems nothing more than an absurd 400 year old hangover from the reformation; at other times it's a cruel and vicious sectarian conflict that is just too tragic for words. So a book about a prominent political leader during both the troubles and the peace process should have been an interesting read. But alas, it wasn't. If this book is the in-depth analysis it is supposed to be well then I'm sorry it's just an in-depth analysis of a very boring person.
The style of the book is a series of interviews between author and Mr. Trimble as his only interlocutor. I would have thought that a intelligent and prominent person from such a unique place in Western Civilization would have had some very interesting stories and opinions but sadly very little in this book fits into either of these categories. Mr. Trimble's nature comes across as someone trapped in a prison of conservatism; paranoid and defensive; formal and pedantic. He will go to great lengths to justify any of his political actions not from a philosophical or ideological perspective but more from the perspective of a dilemma where he is trying to argue he picked the least worst option.
It would have been very interesting if he gave his opinions from other conflicts throughout the world and from history and then extrapolated some bit of wisdom that could be applied to his own context but that never happens. His world begins and ends with his own political arena. This makes for a boring read - even if Northern Ireland is a unique place in Western Civilization!
Outside of any interesting opinions other characteristics that make an interesting person are also in short supply. The best effort at humour is a lame joke about a bus driver who makes a smart remark about politicians. One would think that the basis of the conflict i.e. the alternate religious groupings would surely prompt some sort of reflection of religion itself, but he isn't forthcoming in this regard either. I mean most intelligent educated people have some sort healthy scepticism towards many aspects of religion now. Mr. Trimble is an intelligent man but he is too trapped in his conservatism to let his mind even entertain questions that would seem obvious to other people. I get the impression he'd rather read a book about stamps than anything from Mr.Dawkins or Mr. Russell.
I didn't really learn a lot from this book. He does go on record about things like his trust for John Bruton but that's fairly well known already. To summarise if Trimble is as boring as he came across in this book, then it is an accurate in-depth analysis and the author has done his job well. However, if he isn't and there were things the author was incapable of bringing out by asking a limited set of questions then he has come up short.
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Alex Ireland
David Trimble needs to loosen up!
Rezension aus dem Vereinigten Königreich vom 26. April 2010Verifizierter Kauf