Saturday, February 09, 2013

Flashman and the Tiger by George MacDonald Fraser




            Continuing on my journey through the Flashman books, here is book number 11 in the Flashman series.  See also: Flashman, Royal Flash, Flash for Freedom, Flashman at the Charge, Flashman and the Great Game, Flashman's Lady , Flashman and the Redskins, Flashman and the Dragon, Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, Flashman on the March, and the original source material Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes.

            This book is actually a bit unique. Unlike the other books in the series, this book is a collection of 3 separate unconnected shorter stories:
            The Road to Charing Cross,
            The Subtleties of Baccarat, and
            Flashman and the Tiger.

            Of these 3, the longest is The Road to Charing Cross, which clocks in at 219 pages (including footnotes) and easily takes up the bulk of the book.  The second two shorter stories are about 60 pages each.  The short story Flashman and the Tiger is actually the shortest of the collection even though it’s used as the title of the whole book.  (Presumably because it had the catchiest title out of the 3).

            The shorter length of these stories, however, is not a disappointment.  Although they have fewer pages, none of the stories feel too short or hurried.  Each story is the natural length it needs to be, and the narrating style loses none of Flashman’s usual philosophical reflections or various digressions.

            The footnotes however, are slightly awkward.
            The Flashman books are famous for their footnotes, and the Flashman reader is constantly flipping to the back of the book to find out more about historical events and characters. 
            In this book, however, the footnotes are located at the end of each story.  Which means when you are reading The Road to Charing Cross, instead of just flipping to the back of the book, you have to fumble around to find the footnotes located somewhere in the middle of the book. 

            Other than that minor complaint, the book works well.

            So, let’s start with the first story:
The Road to Charing Cross
          The longest of the 3, this is more properly a novella rather than a short story. 

            Like many of the Flashman stories, it has two acts.

            The first act covers the Congress of Berlin (W), Bismark, and the eccentric journalist Stefan Blowitz (W).

            Do you know much about the Congress of Berlin, why it happened, and what was accomplished there?  Or did you know anything about the famous 19th century journalist Stefan Blowitz? 
            No, me neither, but if you’re curious, and you want a fun way to learn history interspersed with Flashman’s usual antics, this is a great read.

            The second act covers the opening of the Oriental Express, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Emperor Franz-Josef (W) and his tense relationship with Empress Elizabeth (W), and the Hungarian Independence movement.

            Once again, if you’re mildly curious about any of these things, this Flashman is always a great way to learn some history and have some fun doing it.
           
Flashman Continuity Note:
          This story follows the characters and situations introduced in Royal Flash. Make sure you read Royal Flash before attempting this book.

Connections with Other Books I’ve been Reading

* In The Revolutions of 1848 by Priscilla Robertson, Kossuth (W) is depicted as the major hero of the failed Hungarian independence movement.
            I got a very positive impression of Kossuth from Priscilla Robertson’s book, although in the Flashman book he is connected with some unsavory characters.  (Although Kossuth himself does not appear in this book, he is reference a couple of times as a regular firebrand, and he has a connection with the villains of the story.)

* Flashman continues his tradition of making throw away references to his friend Richard Burton  (although unfortunately a Flashman book showing the two of them teaming up together was never to be seen.)

* And speaking of Flashman books I would have liked to see: I would have loved to see a book about Flashman on General Gordon’s last stand at Khartoum.  (See either Three Empires on the Nile by Dominic Green  or The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham).
            Unfortunately, George MacDonald Fraser died in 2008, so we’ll never get that book now, but this book teases us with what might have been. 
            One of the subplots of this story is Flashman doing everything he can to avoid being sent to the Sudan with General Gordon, and the final pages of the book show Flashman failing in his attempts and being sent out with General Gordon on the expedition anyway. 
            And then the book just ends there.  Whether Fraser intended to write about Flashman’s adventures at Khartoum, or whether he was just teasing his readers with a book he never intended to write, I’m not sure.

The Subtleties of Baccarat
          As with the other Flashman stories, this was a fun way for me to learn about a little piece of history that I would otherwise never have known about.
           In this case it involves a card cheating scandal that became famous because it involved the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII.
            Want to learn more?  A perfect excuse to pick up this book then.

Flashman and the Tiger
          This last story is a lot of fun because Fraser writes Flashman into a Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Empty House (W) which is retold from Flashman’s perspective.

            In this revised version of Sherlock Holmes, we find out that while Sherlock Holmes was facing off against Colonel Moran, Flashman was also having his own little crisis involving Moran.  Fraser does a clever job of seamlessly interweaving Flashman’s story into a pre-existing Sherlock Holmes story without disturbing the original story.

            And for the history buffs, there’s also a backstory which involves Flashman at Rorke’s Drift, a British military disaster in South Africa.

Notes
*  This story also drops hints about Flashman’s adventures with Gordon at Khartoum.

*  The late Christopher Hitchens published an essay in which he took issue with this Flashman story.  Hitchens claimed this story ruined Flashman’s character, because it showed Flashman was going soft.  In previous stories Flashman had always betrayed everyone who was close to him to save his own skin, but in this story Flashman deliberately puts himself at risk to save his granddaughter.
            I’m actually willing to allow that Flashman has a soft spot for his own children and grandchildren.  (Some of the worst monsters in history still showed a tender side to their own offspring.)  But like all literary debates, this ultimately just comes down to your own interpretation of the character.
            (The essay is collected in Hitchens’ book Arguably (A).  I think I found a copy on-line as well [LINK HERE])

Connections with Other Books I’ve Been Reading

* The Adventure of the Empty House is included in Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume I, which I read 6 years ago.  However, I didn’t remember this particular story, and so had to go back and read it again.  (Which I was happy to do—I’m glad this Flashman book gave me an excuse to go back and re-read a good Sherlock Holmes story.)

* Rorke’s Drift is also covered in The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham.

Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky Talk to Al Jazeera: The responsibility of privilege


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