Flashman saves the day
I just flew home from a trip to Israel, and boy are my arms tired! But seriously, I had a great time, saw my daughter (who's studying over there for a year) and experienced one of the most interesting and unique places on earth. I'll save the details for another post.
What I really wanted to talk about was a book I read while stuck in the Ben Gurion airport for 12 hours. (In case you're wondering, my hellishly long wait in the aiport was necessitated by a 5:30 AM flight and Israeli security procedures which require you to check in no earlier or later than 3 hours before the flight.) I heard about a novel called "Flashman" by George Fraser and picked it up prior to the trip. It is a real gem of a book.
In case you've never heard of this series, the Flashman books are based on a fictional character named Harry Flashman who is a ne'er-do-well upper crust Englishman in the middle 1800's. He gets kicked out of boarding school for drunkenness and ends up buying a cavalry commission in the army. Through a complicated sequence of events he finds himself in the middle of some of the most famous battles of the 19th century. The author is a meticulous researcher who populates the novels with historically accurate sketches of generals, kings, and other well-known figures. His depiction of the battles and the minutiae of military life--uniforms, weapons, slang and the like--is incomparable. People interested in military history will find this fascinating.
Now what really makes the novels interesting is the character of Flashman himself. He is a total cad of a fellow, cowardly, most politically incorrect, but somehow ingratiating. His ego is exceeded only by his sex drive, which seems limitless and is the source of many unpredictable and amusing consequences.
In any event, if you spend a weekend polishing off one of these books and do not find it immensely enjoyable, I would be flabbergasted.
What I really wanted to talk about was a book I read while stuck in the Ben Gurion airport for 12 hours. (In case you're wondering, my hellishly long wait in the aiport was necessitated by a 5:30 AM flight and Israeli security procedures which require you to check in no earlier or later than 3 hours before the flight.) I heard about a novel called "Flashman" by George Fraser and picked it up prior to the trip. It is a real gem of a book.
In case you've never heard of this series, the Flashman books are based on a fictional character named Harry Flashman who is a ne'er-do-well upper crust Englishman in the middle 1800's. He gets kicked out of boarding school for drunkenness and ends up buying a cavalry commission in the army. Through a complicated sequence of events he finds himself in the middle of some of the most famous battles of the 19th century. The author is a meticulous researcher who populates the novels with historically accurate sketches of generals, kings, and other well-known figures. His depiction of the battles and the minutiae of military life--uniforms, weapons, slang and the like--is incomparable. People interested in military history will find this fascinating.
Now what really makes the novels interesting is the character of Flashman himself. He is a total cad of a fellow, cowardly, most politically incorrect, but somehow ingratiating. His ego is exceeded only by his sex drive, which seems limitless and is the source of many unpredictable and amusing consequences.
In any event, if you spend a weekend polishing off one of these books and do not find it immensely enjoyable, I would be flabbergasted.
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
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