Only Flash and Blood (Flashman on the March - George McDonald Fraser)

Member Name: duncantorr

Product:	Flashman on the March - George McDonald Fraser
Date:	02/06/06 (202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Flashy in rip-roaring form

Disadvantages: But for how much longer?

Imagine yourself adrift in a sinking canoe on the upper reaches of the Blue Nile, being swept towards the brink of the second highest waterfall in Africa. On either bank troops of lancers are hunting you, murderous minions of one of that ill-fated continent's most bloodthirsty tyrants. With you in the canoe is a native warrior-princess with whom you have been conducting a steamy affair, sworn enemy to the tyrant although almost equally bloodthirsty. Desperately, you grab some thorny creepers trailing from an islet in midstream.

"I was half-in-half-out of the canoe, and it was slipping slowly away beneath me. Another second and it would have been gone, leaving me behind, but Uliba, floundering in the water that was swamping it, made a frantic lunge towards me, seized my leg, and clung on with the strength of despair. I shrieked with pain as my palms slipped along the whiplash withies; they were cutting like fire and I was losing my hold, the intolerable weight was dragging me loose, and in another moment both of us would be swept away into that thunderous white death in the mist. There was only one thing to be done, so I did it…."

What would you do in this predicament ? I won't tell you what Flashman does for fear of giving the game away, but those of you who know him from his earlier adventures will have no difficulty guessing that it is as bereft of gallantry as it is hilarious in its outcome.

*


Flashman on the March is the twelfth instalment in the on-going (or so one hopes) disclosure of "The Flashman Papers" as "edited and arranged" by George Macdonald Fraser.

The underlying idea is that the "Papers" were supposedly discovered in a Leicestershire manor-house and found to consist of the reminiscences of Brigadier-General Sir Harry Flashman, VC etc. Apparently written in his old age around 1900 they span Flashman's illustrious although previously underreported career, detailing his involvement in almost every major crisis and conflict from 1840 onwards. Until their discovery, the modern public were largely unaware of Flashman's progress following his ignominious expulsion from Rugby School in 1839, where he appears to have had an unenviable reputation as a bully and braggart, according to Thomas Hughes' account in the classic Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Fraser's revisionist account in the "Papers" does not so much contradict Hughes as imbue Flashman's admittedly unsavoury character with a humanity and charm that render the rendition of his hair-raising exploits irresistible. Having in a moment of drunken bravado opted for a career as an army officer, Flashman is repeatedly pitched into brutal battles and entrusted with perilous missions, for which his cowardice and tendency to panic make him ill-equipped. Fortunately for him, he doesn't have to rely on brains or bravery, since he has luck, his appeal to women, and his baser instincts to see him through. The contradiction between the ostensible hero and the inner poltroon is central to both the excitement and the humour generated by the recounting of his escapades.

*


The historical backdrop for the action of Flashman on the March is the Abyssinian War of 1868, one of the lesser-known Victorian campaigns.

Having established himself as Emperor of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) through treachery and extermination of his enemies, the local despot Theodore addressed to Queen Victoria a letter of greetings and goodwill, which was promptly lost by the Foreign Office and hence left unacknowledged. Taking offence at this lack of monarch-to-monarch courtesy, Theodore then clapped in irons all the British citizens he could lay his hands on, together with those sent to negotiate their release.

In response to public outrage at home and concern about the blow to British prestige abroad, a force was despatched under the command of Sir Robert Napier, who had earned his spurs in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, to free the hostages and bring Theodore to heel. This was no easy task, requiring as it did a trek across hundreds of miles of uncharted desert and mountains swarming with hostile tribesmen, and the siege of the impregnable Abyssinian stronghold of Magdala, perched on a pinnacle of well-defended rock.

In fact just the sort of challenge to which Flashman would be bound to try - and fail - to give a wide berth.

*


The action opens with Flashman marooned in Trieste, lamentably short of the readies after a hairsbreadth escape from adventures in Mexico, and in hiding from the irate relatives of an Austrian heiress seduced during the voyage. His only way out of this bind is to accept a commission to guard a consignment of cash being sent out to help finance Napier's expedition.

Arriving, after sundry unwelcome scrapes, in Abyssinia, Flashy's only desire is to arrange his passage home, but he finds himself inveigled into accepting a further, even less welcome assignment: to ride ahead through the hostile mountains to forge an alliance with Masteeat, Queen of Theodore's tribal enemies. His guide on this desperate venture is Uliba, half-sister to Masteeat and would-be claimant to her throne.

So the stage is set for some rollicking narrative, full of life-threatening setbacks and death-defying escapes, triumph and near-disaster, plots and counter-plots, derring-do and, of course, in Flashy's case, derring-don't. As always, the last thing Flashy wants is to be a hero, but fate, lust and the interpretation others place upon his deeds dictate otherwise. Masteeat, Uliba and the monstrous Theodore himself are only a few of the outsize characters with whom he interacts as the yarn rattles along to its climactic and cunningly-contrived conclusion.

*


The structure of the story and the intertwining of real history with Flashman's fictional involvement are flawless - even down to the explanation as to why his role does not appear in any official history of the Abyssinian Campaign.

Fraser is an assiduous researcher, and carefully documents the historical background in the form of footnotes - ostensibly annotations to the original "Papers". This technique has the added benefit that those who simply want to read the story as a story can disregard the footnotes and not be troubled by questions of historical authenticity. But there are rewards for those that do, both in exploring some interesting coeval byways, and in the form of clever tongue-in-cheek explanations for apparent discrepancies or anachronisms.

Characterisation is sharp, and not just of larger-than-life personalities like the maniacal Theodore and the sly seductive Masteeat. Napier, understated but incisive, modest but manipulative, is particularly well drawn.

Since the story is supposedly related by Flashman in the first person, it is couched in the contemporary slang of the officer class. This jars a bit at first, but soon loses its self-conscious feel as the reader becomes attuned to the expressions and cadences. Needless to say, it is utterly incorrect politically, for example:

"You know my opinion of heroics, and I'd not break sweat myself to save a parcel of niggers being sold into slavery - which is probably no worse than the lives they've been living in some desert pesthole, and may well be a blessed change for the females who find a billet in some randy bashaw's hareem."

If you are likely to be bothered by such language and sentiments, don't bother with Flashman. You need a broad-minded sense of humour to enter into the spirit of the thing. There are also some ribald reflections on the milieu in which he finds himself:

"Besides, in Ab society, which as I've told you is probably the most immoral on earth (Cheltenham ain't in it), rogering the hostess is almost obligatory, part of the etiquette, like leaving cards, and not at all out of the way in a country where's it's considered a mortal insult to praise a woman's chastity, since it implies that she's not attractive enough to be galloped."

Fraser's use of language is also ideally suited to his narrative technique. Drawn-out, detailed descriptions of dramatic action are interspersed with bawdier passages and with interludes for reflection and explanation, allowing the reader to catch breath and prepare for further excitement and suspense. In all the technical aspects of story-telling, Fraser is a consummate professional.

*


In fact, I believe that what Fraser has achieved with the Flashman series is extraordinary clever, since it works simultaneously at three levels: as adventure, as humour and as history, or quasi-history at least.

As writer of page-turning adventure stories, he is heir to a tradition that goes back to Haggard, Hope, Buchan and beyond. Like them he does not short-change the reader on action or drama, but he has put a modern spin on their swash-buckling approach entirely suited to the spirit of the era. Fraser recognised that a straightforwardly heroic hero would not have the same appeal in our sceptical, quizzical times, and therefore created an anti-hero, a reluctant hero, a would-be skulking scoundrel induced to perform heroics by forces beyond his control.

This not only chimes with today's tastes but allows great scope for mirth as our hero-rogue is drawn into ever more terrifying situations, and the friction between outer bravado and inner funk grows more acute with each escalation. The potential problem with this is that the situations might become merely absurd, and the suspension of disbelief on which both humour and suspense depend be dispelled. It is here that the historical authenticity underpins the credibility - and hence the entertainment - of the whole.

Another cleverness is the way in which Flashman's character has been developed as the series has progressed. In the first novel in the series - simply entitled Flashman - the protagonist is much more like the bullying blackguard of Tom Brown's Schooldays than he has subsequently become. Fraser has smoothed the hard edges of his character as the series has progressed - signs of a better nature sometimes surface now as they never would have done ten books ago. Flashman is now not quite as black as originally painted, or even as he paints himself. Not that he is ever given to sentimental moralising, of course, and his better nature is often jokingly expressed, for example:

"I was thinking of other charming monarchs I have known, like Ranavalona with the death-pits, and that noble savage Gezo of Dahomey bouncing about on his throne fairly slobbering with glee as his Amazons sliced up his victims with cleavers. Plainly Theodore was from the same stable. It's enough to make you turn republican."

This could be explained simply as Flashman (or Fraser) mellowing with age, but I believe it's more intentional than that. I believe that Fraser recognised that in the long run Flashman would need to be made more sympathetic in order to continue to appeal. The books would not work simply as an extended joke about Flashy's caddish anti-heroics; the reader would tire of it.

The reader does not tire of it because, however dastardly his deeds, there is a human side to Flashman that becomes increasing engaging the more one becomes acquainted with him. In this, he is one of the great characters of modern literature and deserves to be recognised accordingly.

*


Flashman on the March is published in the UK by Harper Collins, ISBN 0-00-719739-X. Recommended retail price is £7.99 for the paperback, £17.99, though I note that Amazon currently have it on offer for £3.99 and £11.87 respectively. I was lucky enough to find the hardback for £9.99 in a discount bookshop before the paperback came out, so shop around.

*


There have been some suspicions stirred by recent volumes in the series that Fraser's virtuosity might be going off the boil. Flashman and the Angel of the Lord in particular is ponderous and lacks pace in its telling, in sorry contrast with Fraser at his prime.

If the verve were on the decline it would be understandable, since Fraser is approaching eighty years of age and could reasonably expect to ease off a bit after a strenuous career as a soldier, journalist and novelist. Apart from the Flashman series, he has produced numerous other novels, short stories and works of non-fiction. At his age it is difficult to imagine that he will be able sustain his quality and quantity for long into the future.

But in Flashman on the March he has defied the years and is right back on form with a classic of its inimitable kind. Possibly not the best - try Flashman at the Charge for that - but up among the contenders. A rattling good adventure story, in every sense of the word - and Flashy has his own favourite meaning where rattling is concerned. If you've already acquired a taste for Flashy, rest assured that this instalment will not disappoint. If you're not yet acquainted with him, oh how I envy you. What a treat you have in store. Go out at once and beg, borrow or even (if all else fails) buy a copy of the first Flashman and go on from there. I defy you not to be entertained by him.



© First published under the name torr on Ciao UK, April 27th 2005

Summary: Like all Flashman books, a splendid adventure yarn made hilarious by its hero's anti-heroics