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Sto caricando le informazioni... L' ussaro della regina bianca (1969)di George MacDonald Fraser
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. For starters, Harry Flashman is expelled from school as a drunken bully. After seducing his father's mistress, he begins a secret life that leads from the boudoirs and bordellos of Victorian England to the erotic frontiers of her exotic Empire. Along the way he lies, cheats, steals, fights fixed duels, betrays his country and proves a coward on the battlefield. Let's face it: Flashman is not really a nice guy. He's a bully, a coward, a rapist, a racist and a drunk. His survival instinct means that he manages to get out of scrapes that can (and does) kill everyone around him. People around him mistake his cowardice, and resulting survival against all odds, as some form of heroism. Kicked out of Rugby, and having been blackmailed from one regiment to the next after marrying one of his conquests, he ends up in Afghanistan in the late 19th century - at a time when the British are to make one of their more ignoble retreats back to India. Whole regiments are slaugtered around Flashman, due in no small part to the incompitence of the officers around him. [written in 1969, decades before 9/11, this is a fictional illustration of why the West will never win in Afghanistan and would be lucky to come out with a draw]. Did get a bit bored with the tediously long chapters and the constant battles, so not sure I'd like to read a sequel. Nihilistic pulp of limited merit or use. Knowledgeably & well enough written, but we read adventure novels notably for the vicarious delight of seeing a hero (= imagining ourselves) “take charge” against hostile situations which threaten him on the most existential level. So it’s *very* blue-balling & quickly repetitive - after some early chapters’ admitted amusement - to have patiently to read through the very opposite actions again & again. Two satisfying exceptions: The snake pit, where the protagonist (having no choice) shows himself unusually resolute & lethal. & the ending, where he suffers some subtly crafted & humorous consequences for his overall behaviour via two final - cushy, but irreversibly humiliating - developments. Still. Hardly time optimally spent, & I largely regret it. It was sheer coincidence that I read this only a few months after The Far Pavilions... For those unfamiliar with either of these books, they both deal with 19th century British army in India & Afghanistan. Flashman is involved in the first Anglo-Afghan war while Ashton Pelham-Martyn was present for the second Anglo-Afghan war; neither of them were typical British Army but otherwise they are quite different characters!! Flashman could be called an anti-hero I suppose; he certainly describes himself that way, as a coward & scoundrel. His actions, particularly in regard to women, are awful but the reader can't help liking him. Perhaps it is because he is so open about all his weaknesses that one prefers him to the braver but stupider (or hypocritical) soldiers around him. In any case, as in Far Pavilions, the reader is left shaking his/her head at the incredible incompetence and arrogance of the leaders in the British army. What a fun read. This guy is a mess, not much about him to like, and quite a lot to despise. His story, though, is incredible and very entertaining. He's still an interesting character, huge flaws and all. I suppose this is somewhat like reading a story from the villain's perspective, although he's not quite a villain; he's certainly not the good guy, either. It's great to read the story from the POV of such a character, with the motivations and inner monologue to explain some of his behavior. The reader can see just how shameful of a person he is, and yet still want to follow his story. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
Humor (Fiction.)
HTML:If ever there was a time when I felt that 'watcher-of-the-skies-when-a-new-planet' stuff, it was when I read the first Flashman." P.G. Wodehouse Fraser revives Flashman, a caddish bully from Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes, and relates Flashmans adventures after he is expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830s. Flashy enlists in the Eleventh Light Dragoons and is promptly sent to India and Afghanistan, where despite his consistently cowardly behavior he always manages to come out on top. Flashman is an incorrigible anti-hero for the ages. This humorous adventure book will appeal to fans of historical fiction, military fiction, and British history as well as to fans of Clive Cussler, James Bond, and The Three Musketeers. Flashman is the first book of the famous Flashman Papers series. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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While this book is the first tin a 12 book series, I think one was all I will fi time to read. ( )