Flashman (The Flashman Papers, #1)

Questions About Flashman (The Flashman Papers, #1)

by George MacDonald Fraser

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I stopped reading on page 35. How can anyone find this enjoyable?
Set Sytes Enjoyable for many reasons. The strength of the prose, the attention to detail of the time period and setting, the historical research clearly gone in…moreEnjoyable for many reasons. The strength of the prose, the attention to detail of the time period and setting, the historical research clearly gone into it, the storytelling itself, the cynicism towards imperialism and British exceptionalism and even military heroism, the lively sense of humour, the send-up of historical figures and the demythologising of them, revising them to the exact opposite of hagiography (most of the people we revere as heroes in our nation's history were most probably total bastards), and most of all the unique "voice" of the work, making Flashman, as another put it, one of the greatest fictional anti-heroes (although it's wrong to have the word hero anything to do with him really) of all time.

It's probably just not for you. But in terms of understanding how someone else can enjoy it, think of it as learning about history, especially a lot of the stuff we don't really learn about otherwise, in an entertaining, deeply cynical, subversive and even farcical manner.

As for Harry Flashman himself, think of him like a worse Blackadder (or maybe the cast of It's Always Sunny!). We root for Blackadder even though he's a truly horrible person, therefore we sort-of root for Flashman - less because he's a charismatic villain, but because others are even worse. Although it's satisfying too to see him suffer as much as he does, anyway. I will say though that he's never as awful a person in later books as he is in this first one, and quickly becomes closer to Blackadder in morality.

I personally consider these books the finest written historical fiction books out there.(less)
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