Fraser was at his peak around this time, consistently turning out Flashmans of high quality. This is perhaps the best of them all - I thought it would make the best movie because it tells the one story, whereas the others are often broken into two halves. It is also the most emotionally devastating of the series - an odd description for a Flashman novel I know but it suits. Usually in Flashman stories you can be a bit removed from the impact of what happens, as Flashman is, but in this one people that Flashman knows, likes and even loves go through turmoil and are killed, sometimes horribly: the Rani of Jhansi, Skene the political officer, Ibrahim Khan his former blood brother (who grows up to become the same surly Pathan fighter who consistently pops up in Flashman books), Scud East, the horny Mrs Leslie. You feel their deaths - it really packs a wallop.
Inevitably this slants towards the British side of the mutiny although the Indian side is depicted sympathetically - the buffoonish thoughtlessness of the English missionaries, the incompetence of (some) of the army and politicians, the cruelty of British reprisals; against that are the horror of the massacres at Meerut and Cawnpore, the struggle at Lucknow, the viciousness of the Russian agents.
This contains some of Fraser's best writing: some brilliant one liners (e.g. Flashman looking down our noses at them like proper Britons should do with rebellious natives who've got the drop on them, "I shan't be writing to mother about this"), excellent descriptions of action, great comic set pieces (like Kavanagh running out from Cawnpore), first rate sketches of historical figures (Queen Victoria, Palmerston, Cardigan, Campbell, Havelock), moving sections (the death of Scud East and the Rhani), memorable fictional creatures (e.g. the civilian colonel), and the brilliant finale with Flashman strapped to a gun by Brits who think he's a mutineer. There's even a very witty coda with the revelation that Tom Brown's School Days has been published. He does use the "n" word an awful lot.
As a side note, I don't think Flashman was ever braver than he is in this novel. He says he's a coward all the way but he goes on all the missions he's sent on, and never shirks his duty even in Cawnpore. He probably had no other option but there's no "pure Flashman" moments like throwing women out of sleds or anything like that. I've read it about five times and still enjoy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment