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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