I've just started it, and like it a lot better than I expected so far. The introduction about how the first edition of the book was received had me laughing out loud more than once. I have no idea whether that intro is true or not -- MacDonald talks about reviewers who took his first introduction at face value and thought the book was a real memoir, but I wouldn't put it past him to write a joking intro to the new edition.
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Originally Posted by How Did I Get the Idea of Flashman?, 2013
...one left-wing journal which hailed it as a scathing attack on British imperialism
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I suspect I'm going to read it at least partly in this light, whether the author intended it or not
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Originally Posted by How Did I Get the Idea of Flashman?, 2013
...complain that he’s a racist (of course he is; why should he be different from the rest of humanity?)
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Hm. In a way I agree -- it's extremely difficult to grow up in a racist society without internalising some of those views. On the other hand, if everyone's racist, it becomes a meaningless criticism. It
is meaningful to say that someone's especially racist, and I expect Harry Flashman will reveal himself to be in that category.
Starting the book, this passage struck me:
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Originally Posted by Chapter 2
He was a nabob’s grandson, you see, old Jack Flashman having made a fortune in America out of slaves and rum, and piracy, too, I shouldn’t wonder
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I've read a lot of historical novels, and if important characters are wealthy the novels often ignore thorny questions about the source of that wealth. Here, the author is willing to say the unpleasant part out loud, and the protagonist sees (realistically) no problem with it.
There's absolutely no doubt that Harry Flashman is a terrible person, and I'd dislike and condemn him if he was real, but I think I'm going to enjoy reading about him. He's an interesting contrast to the protagonist of East Lynne, who's no doubt a far better person, but when we first meet her in the the book she's so bland and devoid of personality that I haven't mustered the interest to read beyond the second chapter.