Levemand til hest : af Flashman-papirerne 1839-42 (1969)

Went in not knowing at all what to expect, so could have benefited from content warnings for rape, racism, misogyny and all the worst of the British empire.

These books are defended on the grounds that he’s supposed to be an anti-hero, that you should treat them like you would Lolita. Well, maybe, but it’s hard not to hear a Brexity chorus in the distance going “quite right, you tell ‘em Flashy”. And the author’s late-life tirades against PC don’t help much on that front.

Plot gallops along, that’s true. And it’s unflinching about empire at its lowest. Too difficult to rate.

Written in the style of a memoir supposedly discovered years after the event the book follows Flashman from expulsion at Harrow into the army and to India and Afghanistan. Then a series of events and self preservation lead to him surviving and being a war hero who meets Wellington and Queen Victoria. No woman is safe. The book ends with him contemplating wjether hiscwife is being unfaithful.

Endless adventure in a boy's own tale. A ripping yarn indeed. Caddish rake, lovable rogue, womeniser, brute whatever you want to call him. Will be reading all the books in this series. Great stuff. ( )

It took about 150 pages but this book eventually won me over. I had never heard of the series until an actor I used to serve coffee to recommended the first one to me. Since then I've discovered the Flashman series has quite a cult following. I think I can see why. At no point does Fraser relent in portraying the main character as anything more than a cowardly, narcissistic, misogynist, bullying jerk. Yet, somehow you end up liking him. Or maybe not liking him but you like watching him.

Granted, it took me a while to get on board. In one scene early on Flashman rapes a woman given to him by a Gilzai chieftan. Full blown rape, people. It was hard to recover from as a reader. In fact, the main "bad guy" in this novel hates Flashman because he and the woman are in love. There lies the trick of the novel. Though the "good guy" is most certainly a bad guy and the "bad guy" pretty well justified, the narrator (an older Flashman reflecting on his life) is so honest about his shortcomings and about how undeserving he is of his official heroic acclaim that you just sort of go along with him as an unlikable, racist, sexist, jit.

Aside from all of that, the historical accuracy and setting were compelling and Fraser can be a deft writer.

I do recommend the book but not without reservations. You have to know what you are getting into and you really can't be offended very easily. With all that in mind, if you are looking for an interesting, quick bit of entertainment you will probably enjoy this. ( )

It took about 150 pages but this book eventually won me over. I had never heard of the series until an actor I used to serve coffee to recommended the first one to me. Since then I've discovered the Flashman series has quite a cult following. I think I can see why. At no point does Fraser relent in portraying the main character as anything more than a cowardly, narcissistic, misogynist, bullying jerk. Yet, somehow you end up liking him. Or maybe not liking him but you like watching him.

Granted, it took me a while to get on board. In one scene early on Flashman rapes a woman given to him by a Gilzai chieftan. Full blown rape, people. It was hard to recover from as a reader. In fact, the main "bad guy" in this novel hates Flashman because he and the woman are in love. There lies the trick of the novel. Though the "good guy" is most certainly a bad guy and the "bad guy" pretty well justified, the narrator (an older Flashman reflecting on his life) is so honest about his shortcomings and about how undeserving he is of his official heroic acclaim that you just sort of go along with him as an unlikable, racist, sexist, jit.

Aside from all of that, the historical accuracy and setting were compelling and Fraser can be a deft writer.

I do recommend the book but not without reservations. You have to know what you are getting into and you really can't be offended very easily. With all that in mind, if you are looking for an interesting, quick bit of entertainment you will probably enjoy this. ( )

Extremely un-P.C. Not really laugh-out-loud funny, but amusing nonetheless. Flashman is not your unreliable narrator -- he's unashamedly honest about his caddishness. Historically accurate, which means the utter ineptitude of the British Army is amply on display. ( )