Flash for Freedom - some afterthoughts

As I said at the start of this that Flash for Freedom does differ from the two books that preceded it. It's in North America, I don't know if Flashman ever went to Canada, he spent most of his time on the continent either in the US or Mexico, but he seemed to have gone most other places and I can only imagine what sort of chaos he could have caused in Canada, so there may very well be an adventure there that never actually made it to print. Secondly at no stage is Flashman ever actually doing something for Queen and Country. He pretends to be a naval officer, but that's only to get himself out of trouble. It also ends differently as I have covered.

It seems to be an attempt by George MacDonald Fraser to make a comment on the slave trade, and in fact when you think about it slavery of one form or another is the continuing theme of the book. It begins with the downtrodden masses of England, who like many in similar straits in Europe were rising up in revolution at their plight (this was covered briefly at the end of Royal Flash) and it continued early in Flash for Freedom, it was largely how Harry came to think about this adventure and how Morrison managed to railroad him into having a go at politics. The slavery theme continues on the Dahomey and in the slave states of the United States, only the slaves in those positions can't rise up in the way the factory and mine workers in England could. George MacDonald Fraser liked to make comments on the hypocrisy of those in power in Victorian England, and he does it in Flash for Freedom. On the one hand they decry slavery, although they know it goes on and they largely allow it to, no one ever looked close enough at Morrison's business to realise that he profited from slavery and his ship was captained by an Englishman. On the other hand they allow and profit from legalised slavery amongst their own in the factories and the mines that were often owned and run by the very same aristocracy that railed against slavery in the colonies.

I do like Flash for Freedom, clunky title aside, and it introduces some of the most memorable characters from the entire series: John Charity Spring and Susie Willinck are two of them, not to forget the elfin Missus Mandeville. It's a great rip roaring tale from a bygone somewhat genteel age with riverboats and bustling ports and a gold rush underway. I couldn't shake the thought at the end that Harry wasn't out of the States yet and it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought, so there was more to the tale than first thought.

Three down and lots more to go. Join me again in March when Harry Flashman leads the Light Brigade into the Valley of Death.

Flash for Freedom - a few brief words to begin

I did this for Flashman and Royal Flash, I liked writing them and it kind of got me in the mood to read the books, so I’ll stick with it for Flash for Freedom. There’s not as much background needed as was for the other two, but I can still find things to point out. This was the first Flashman book where George MacDonald Fraser could branch out and break away from what he’d done before. It’s also Harry doing something largely on his own. What he did in Flashman was his duty, or attempt to do his duty, and Royal Flash was because he was being forced to impersonate Prince Carl Gustaf by Bismarck and his bully boys. In Flash for Freedom he’s certainly not a willing participant, but he’s largely dropped into things and forced to keep himself alive and get back to England. That last thing is a common theme through nearly all of the books, Flashman is always trying to get back to England and Elspeth, it’s like he see the two things as safe, which to him in many ways, they are.

Flash for Freedom is also the first time Harry goes to the United States, he returns there for other adventures after, George MacDonald Fraser seems to have a good deal of affection for the US, and as always his research is impeccable. I think he tended to like wherever he set the adventures, because you couldn’t do that amount of research and write the books without such a sense of irreverent fun without being somewhat fond of your setting and situation.

I’ve never liked the title. The titles work much better when they’re Flashman and the… or Flashman in the…, etc… This was the last time they got clever with the titles. It does sound really clunky and doesn’t make a lot of sense. Royal Flash was a rather clever play on words and directly referenced the content of the book. Okay, Flash for Freedom deals with slavery, but it doesn’t really convey an awful lot. I’m not sure what an alternative title that wouldn’t offend people may have been, given the sensitive nature of the content, but I’m sure the marketing department of the publisher could have come up with something better than what eventually came out.

It’s the first of the books that actually ends on a cliffhanger, seriously it does. I’m damn glad I didn’t read it when it first came out, because Fraser left readers hanging for 3 books and a few years before he wrote the packet that directly follows Flash for Freedom. Evil, evil man!

If no one’s worked this out I’m a Joss Whedon fan, and I will occasionally use Jossisms here. I said that to explain the next little bit. The Flashman’s don’t really contain a single bad guy as such. It’s generally whoever is trying to kill Harry, and he certainly knows how to get people’s backs up. Villains don’t often appear for more than one book at a time, although there is an exception to this in Flashman at the Charge and Flashman in the Great Game. Flash for Freedom contains the first appearance of a character who in 'Joss speak' is the series’ equivalent of a ‘big bad’. I shall say no more until I get to the introduction of said character, but you have been warned.

This is also where you first run into issues with publication order versus chronological order. Flash for Freedom picks up where Royal Flash left off, but to be strictly chronological you should read Flashman's Lady and Flashman and the Mountain of Light, which cover the years in between the first part of Royal Flash and the final two thirds.

That’s about all I can really come up with, join me tomorrow when the fun really begins!