Some praise for Flashman
These are the sort of books that someone would gladly say ‘You couldn’t publish this today’. Straight off the bat, I would say the fact they are still in print puts that argument to bed. But what great news that they are still in print, because you can pick up a copy, and I would strongly recommend you do! Hopefully if I say a few words about them, I can convince you to give them a try.
I first encountered the Flashman books by George MacDonald Fraser, to the best of my memory, in the mid 2000’s. For some birthday or Christmas present my dad had bought me a pack of 4 or 5 of ‘The Flashman Papers’ as the proper series title of the books are known. I subsequently threw the first Flashman book into my kit bag, it accompanied me to sea along with a handful of other books. As a young Naval rating, and now as a much older one, reading has always been the most enjoyable past time while at sea for me.
While deployed to the Caribbean, one night at sea with some spare time I cracked the spine of the book. I was at once, hooked, fascinated and enthralled. The books are historical fiction in the form of found memoirs. Like a lot of historical fiction, it revolves around the protagonist being shoehorned into real historical events. Frasers writing of battle scenes are simply unsurpassed, he manages to really put you there, with a sense of scale and awe that I have never come across anywhere else. It really feels like you are perched on Flashman’s shoulder and appreciate the severity of every situation the Protagonist finds himself in. This brings me to the real hook, Fraser's writing is wonderful, his choice of historical setting engaging, but what sets his work apart is Flashman himself. He looks every part the dashing, square chinned, king and country, ‘play up, play up and play the game’ sort of cavalry officer you would find hanging in portrait in wardroom corridors across the country. It’s the fact he is not that keeps you coming back, he is as described throughout the books, a rotter, cad, rogue, womaniser, coward bully and many more. He simply is awful, and people can’t get enough of him. He has various societies, fan pages and sub-reddits, the internet is filled with blog posts and articles about him. You want to see him get his comeuppance while at the same time hoping for his survival and undeserved glory at every turn.
There are 12 books in the series, there are some fan fictions out there as well, and a cameo in another Fraser novel. You would think I can tell you I have read all twelve numerous times in the nearly twenty years since I first met Flashman on the page. But I haven’t, I told myself that I need to slow down, I didn’t ever want my adventures with Flashman to end. I set myself a rule that I would only read the books that I didn’t already own as I came across them in charity shops or received them as presents. That way I could spread the enjoyment of stepping abroad with Flashman for many years to come.
Last year I came across the last Flashman Paper: Flashman on the March in an Oxfam book shop, it was a with a heavy heart that I purchased it and brought it home. I have been putting off reading it ever since. It's hard for me knowing it will be my last outing with the anti-hero and poltroon that is Harry Paget Flashman VC. It will be an emptier literary landscape for me to walk through in the knowledge that I won’t be accompanied by a fresh outing with Flashman. I have walked with him through Frasers brilliantly told stories from Britain to Afghanistan, the Punjab, Africa, America, China and many others. I have seen him beat the retreat at Kabul, survive Jalalabad, be sold into slavery, take part in Harpers Ferry, escape from Zulus at Isandlwana and join the Charge of the Light Brigade. Every time avoiding bravery and derring-do for cowardice and self-interest. I of course can re-read the books and think I might. But I will never have that same, first read experience. But how lucky I am to have had that experience.
