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Xander77 posted:I'm not exactly a huge fan of the glorious Romanov dynasty, but it's important to note Fraiser is only expressing disgust with the dreary landscapes of the Russian empire and its ape-like common folk because that's the political enemy du jour. Had he lived to present day, he would just as happily be castigating the barbarous and cunningly cruel Arabs, who would menace Flashman with the scimitars and kidnap his lady for their harem. As for "at least in jail you don't live in constant terror of being arrested" - it's a common refrain in revolutionary memoirs, but probably not a major concern for mid 19th century provincials.
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Aug 7, 2020 12:34
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Flashman finally meets Pencherjevsky at dinner, and finds him a huge man who “made me think of Jack and the Beanstalk,” loud, hearty, overbearing, and undoubtedly played by Brian Blessed if there was ever a movie version. He's officially introduced to Valentina and her aunt, Sara, as well. quote:I spared a glance for Aunt Sara as well. She’d be a few years older than I, about thirty-five, perhaps, with dark, close-bound hair and one of those strong, masterful, chiselled faces—handsome, but not beautiful. She’d have a moustache in a few years, but she was well-built and tall, carrying her bounties before her. The food is excellent and Flashman enjoys the company. Pencherjevsky asks Flashman for details about the fighting at Balaclava, and then demonstrates on the tablecloth how he would have handled it; he's full of admiration for the British, especially Scarlett and the Heavy Brigade, and contemptuous of the Russian commanders. Pencherjevsky also mentions Valentina's husband, and makes it clear he doesn't think much of the guy – he passed out drunk at the wedding after only a glass or two of vodka. And while he's in the fighting in Crimea, he's an artilleryman and doesn't even ride well, which a born-in-the-saddle Cossack like Pencherjevsky considers unthinkable. quote:I found myself liking Pencherjevsky. He was gross, loud, boisterous—boorish, if you like, but he was worth ten of your proper gentlemen, to me at any rate. I got roaring drunk with him, that evening, after the ladies had retired—they were fairly tipsy, themselves, and arguing at the tops of their voices about dresses as they withdrew to their drawing-room—and he sang Russian hunting songs in that glorious organ voice, and laughed himself sick trying to learn the words of “The British Grenadiers”. I flatter myself he took to me enormously—folk often do, of course, particularly the coarser spirits—for he swore I was a credit to my regiment and my country, and God should send the Tsar a few like me. The next few weeks pass pleasantly for Flashman. He's allowed nearly total freedom as he learns Russian, goes for rides around the country, and gets to know the family better. quote:All mighty pleasant—until you discovered that the civility and good nature were no deeper than a May frost, the thin covering on totally alien beings. For all their apparent civilization, and even good taste, the barbarian was just under the surface, and liable to come raging out. One evening, when Flashman is playing chess against the Count and the women are playing cards, Valentina calls her maid in and has her long red hair cut off, giving it to her aunt to pay off a bet. quote:“Ah, how pretty!” says she, and shrugged, and tossed them over to Aunt Sara, who stroked them, and said: Pencherjevsky grumbles but gives in, only warning his daughter to be more careful playing cards from now on. quote:I’ve a strong stomach, as you know, but I’ll admit that turned it—not the disfigurement of a pretty girl, you understand, although I didn’t hold with that, much, but the cheerful unconcern with which they did it—those two cultured ladies, in that elegant room, as though they had been gaming for sweets or counters. And now Valla was leaning on her father’s shoulder, gaily urging him on to victory, and Sara was running the hair idly through her hands, while the kneeling girl bowed her pathetically shorn head to the floor and then followed the housekeeper from the room. Well, thinks I, they’d be a rage in London society, these two. You may have noticed, by the way, that the cost of a maid was fifty roubles, of which her hair was worth thirty. Flashman calls the serfs “oppressed, dirty, brutish, useless people – just like the Irish, really, but without the gaiety.” He describes attending one of Pencherjevsky's court sessions, where he hands out justice to serfs who have misbehaved: quote:There was an iron collar for a woman whose son had run off, and floggings, either with the cudgel or the whip, for several who had neglected their labouring in Pencherjevsky’s fields. There was Siberia for a youth employed to clean windows at the house, who had started work too early and disturbed Valla, and for one of the maids who had dropped a dish. You will say, “Ah, here’s Flashy pulling the long bow”, but I’m not, and if you don’t believe me, ask any professor of Russian history. Pencherjevsky doesn't see anything wrong with this system: he's proud to have given his serfs “a stone church, with a blue dome and gilt stars” that's better than most villages', and he says they respect that he gives them “strict justice, under the law.” He says the serfs are stupid, idle, and lazy, and would be unable to fend for themselves without his leadership. Serf revolts were a regular feature of Russian life at the time, but not on Pencherjevsky's estate – he has his Cossacks to keep order and, as he tells Flashman, he never touches a serf woman. quote:From him I learned of the peculiar laws governing the serfs—how they might be free if they could run away for ten years, how some of them were allowed to leave the estates and work in the towns, provided they sent a proportion of earnings to their master; how some of these serfs became vastly rich—richer than their masters, sometimes, and worth millions—but still could not buy their freedom unless he wished. Some serfs even owned serfs. It was an idiotic system, of course, but the landowners were all for it, and even the humanitarian ones believed that if it were changed, and political reforms allowed, the country would dissolve in anarchy. I daresay they were right, but myself I believe it will happen anyway; it was starting even then, as Pencherjevsky admitted. The part about Marx being at Flashy's wedding is, as you may remember, a reference to his wedding to Duchess Irma in Royal Flash. But as much as he enjoys life on Pencherjevsky's estate, Flashman starts getting increasingly bored and homesick as time goes on. quote:The thing that bored me most, needless to say, was being without a woman. I tried my hand with Valla, when we got to know each other and I had decided she wasn’t liable to run squealing to her father. By George, she didn’t need to. I gave her bottom a squeeze, and she laughed at me and told me she was a respectable married woman; taking this as an invitation I embraced her, at which she wriggled and giggled, puss-like, and then hit me an atrocious clout in the groin with her clenched fist, and ran off, laughing. I walked with a crouch for days, and decided that these Russian ladies must be treated with respect. Hey, any woman who punches Harry Flashman in the crotch can't be all bad.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:56
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So Flashman is writing his memoirs before 1861? Because that's when serfdom was abolished. ... Can't recall any major serf rebellions during the 19th century offhand.
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Aug 8, 2020 14:41
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Xander77 posted:So Flashman is writing his memoirs before 1861? Because that's when serfdom was abolished. Well, he's writing his memoirs in terms of what he thought at that time the books were set. And this one is set in late 1854 or so at this point.
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Aug 8, 2020 15:20
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East, meanwhile, passes the time writing to Tom Brown, who's now a farmer in New Zealand. Flashy reads part of the letter when East isn't around: quote:“…I don’t know what to think of Flashman. He is very well liked by all in the house, the Count especially, and I fear that little Valla admires him, too—it would be hard not to, I suppose, for he is such a big, handsome fellow. (Good for you, Scud; carry on.) I say I fear—because sometimes I see him looking at her, with such an ardent expression, and I remember the kind of brute he was at Rugby, and my heart sinks for her fair innocence. Oh, I trust I am wrong! I tell myself that he has changed—how else did the mean, cowardly, spiteful, bullying toady (steady, now, young East) become the truly brave and valiant soldier that he now undoubtedly is? But I do fear, just the same; I know he does not pray, and that he swears, and has evil thoughts, and that the cruel side of his nature is still there. Oh, my poor little Valla—but there, old fellow, I mustn’t let my dark suspicions run away with me. I must think well of him, and trust that my prayers will help to keep him true, and that he will prove, despite my doubts, to be an upright, Christian gentleman at last.” In late January, Valentina's husband, “an amiable, studious little chap,” comes home on leave for a week, with the news that the siege of Sevastopol is still going on. Pencherjevsky clearly can't stand him, barely talks to him, and spends the visit drinking heavily (even by Russian standards.) Shortly after he leaves, Aunt Sara invites Flashman to take a steam bath (“the sovereign remedy against our long winters”). quote:It was a big log structure, divided down the middle by a high partition, and in the half where we stood was a raised wooden slab, like a butcher’s block, surrounded by a trench in the floor. Presently the serfs came in, carrying on metal stretchers great glowing stones which they laid in the trench; the heat was terrific, and Aunt Sara explained to me that you lay on the slab, naked, while the minions outside poured cold water through openings at the base of the wall, which exploded into steam when it touched the stones. Flashy undresses and lies down while the servants dump in the water and fill the room with the steam: “hellish hot and clammy, but not unpleasant.” As he rolls over, Aunt Sara reenters, now wrapped in a sheet and with a handful of birch twigs. quote:And then, in that steam-heat, she began to birch me, very lightly at first, up the backs of my legs and to my shoulders, and then back again, harder and harder all the time, until I began to yelp. More steam came belching up, and she turned me over and began work on my chest and stomach. I was fairly interested by now, for mildly painful though it was, it was distinctly stimulating. Aunt Sara had other motives than boredom, however, which Flashman discovers the day after. Pencherjevsky invites him for a ride out, and starts to talk in a rambling fashion about the history of the Cossacks. He talks about his regret about never having a son, and says that he wishes Flashman didn't have a wife and child of his own back in England so he could stay, and maybe give him a grandson. He dismisses his son-in-law with disgust – he hasn't even gotten Valentina pregnant yet. And then Pencherjevsky gets to the point: quote:“There must be a man to follow me here! I am too old now, there are no children left in me, or I would marry again. Valla, my lovely child, is my one hope—but she is tied to this…this empty thing, and I see her going childless to her grave. Unless…” He was gnawing at his lip, and his face was terrific. “Unless…she can bear me a grandson. It is all I have to live for! To see a Pencherjevsky who will take up this inheritance when I am gone—be his father who he will, so long as he is a man! It cannot be her husband, so…If it is an offence against God, against the Church, against the law—I am a Cossack, and we were here before God or the Church or the law! I do not care! I will see a male grandchild of mine to carry my line, my name, my land—and if I burn in hell for it, I shall count it worth the cost! At least a Pencherjevsky shall rule here—what I have built will not be squandered piecemeal among the rabble of that fellow’s knock-kneed relatives! A man shall get my Valla a son!” Flashman asks if Valentina would be willing, but Pencherjevsky says his daughter will obey him in this. Flashy knows better than to refuse, so he stays quiet and allows Pencherjevsky and Sara to make the arrangements. quote:I sallied forth at midnight, and feeling not unlike a prize bull at the agricultural show—“’ere ’e is, ladies’n’ gennelmen, Flashman Buttercup the Twenty-first of Horny Bottom Farm(.)” He finds Valentina surprisingly ready to welcome him -- maybe she's tired of the winter too. Flashman pays many more visits to Valentina's room in the nights to come – just to make sure, you know – to the point he starts to feel like they're actually married. East, meanwhile, seems to suspect something is up, but doesn't know what. But East, unlike Flashman, also has military duty on his mind. Over the winter, there have been occasional military visitors to Starotorsk, because the nearby town is an important way camp for troops heading to Crimea, so Pencherjevsky hosts the officers and nobles passing through. During those visits, Flashman and East are kept in their rooms with a Cossack guard. Sometimes there are even conferences held in the house. The guard sometimes sleeps on the job, so East speculates about the possibility of listening in to gather information that might be useful to the British leadership. Flashman denounces the idea as dishonorable and ungentlemanly (by which he means dangerous, and likely to disrupt this cushy vacation from the war), but East says they haven't given parole, so why not? A couple weeks after Flashman starts making his nighttime visits to Valentina, multiple carriages start arriving at the estate. East and Flashman are sent to their rooms again, but they can hear lots of people moving around downstairs, and from the window they spot Pencherjevsky in full dress uniform, so it's clear someone really important is coming to Starotorsk. The Brits are kept in their rooms for three days, with the guard especially watchful. On the third day, Valentina visits them to play cards, and makes it wordlessly clear to Flashy that she's getting bored again and expects him to visit that night. And when Flashman sticks his head out the door later on, the Cossack guard is drunk and sleeping. Flashy sneaks past him and into Valentina's room, and sneaks back a few hours later. quote:So I kissed her a long good-night, with endearments, resumed my night-shirt, squeezed her bouncers again for luck, and toddled out into the cold, along her corridor, down the little stairs to the landing—and froze in icy shock against the wall on the second step, my heart going like a hammer. East immediately assumes that Flashman has been eavesdropping as well, and quickly moves from the landing to a gallery overlooking the library. Flashy follows, trying silently to get East to turn back. Once in the gallery, which is concealed by a carved screen, they can clearly hear what's being said below. Despite Flashy's best efforts, East won't be budged, so they just lie there and listen. At first, it's just chatter about various organizational details that aren't relevant to the war. quote:I became conscious of a rather tired, hoarse, but well-bred voice speaking in the library, and one word that he used froze me where I lay, ears straining: Flashman freezes at the mention of Ignatieff, and peers through the screen to see who's down there. quote:At the far end, facing us, Ignatieff was standing, very spruce and masterful in his white uniform; behind him there was the huge easel, covered with maps. On the side to his left was a stout, white-whiskered fellow in a blue uniform coat frosted with decorations—a marshal if ever I saw one. Opposite him, on Ignatieff’s right, was a tall, bald, beak-nosed civilian, with his chin resting on his folded hands. At the end nearest us was a highbacked chair whose wings concealed the occupant, but I guessed he was the last speaker, for an aide seated at his side was saying: Selachian fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Aug 9, 2020 |
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Aug 9, 2020 18:33
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I always thought that was one of the more obviously pulpy plot hooks in the series. The villainous Ruskis hatching their dastardly schemes even discuss the fact that there are British officers staying who may find out what's going on. But for some incredibly stupid reason they decide that doesn't matter.
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Aug 9, 2020 20:00
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Genghis Cohen posted:I always thought that was one of the more obviously pulpy plot hooks in the series. The villainous Ruskis hatching their dastardly schemes even discuss the fact that there are British officers staying who may find out what's going on. But for some incredibly stupid reason they decide that doesn't matter. On the same note - a later novel outright states the Indian rebellions were sponsored by nefarious Ruski agents.
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Aug 9, 2020 20:07
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Xander77 posted:So Flashman is writing his memoirs before 1861? Sometime between the death of Victoria in 1901 and the outbreak of war in 1914 iirc.
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Aug 12, 2020 23:45
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quote:“Item Seven, the plan known as the expedition of the Indus. By your majesty’s leave.” Ignatieff goes on to explain the invasion will be carried out with 30,000 men, including 10,000 Cossacks. They were hoping the Persians would also attack the Turks to help draw the British deeper into the war, but another agent says that the Persians, while hostile to the British, intend to stay neutral. However, the Russians are also planning to bring the Afghans and Sikhs in on their side to drive out the British from India, telling them that they're not bent on conquest, just liberation. quote:“We have considered five possible routes which the invasion might take. First, the three desert routes—Ust-Yurt-Khiva-Herat, or Raim-Bokhara, or Raim-Syr Daria-Tashkent. These, although preferred by General Khruleff”—at this the stout, whiskered fellow stirred in his seat—“have been abandoned because they run through the unsettled areas where we are still engaged in pacifying the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Khokandians, under the brigand leaders Yakub Beg and Izzat Kutebar. Although stinging reverses have been administered to these lawless bandits, and their stronghold of Ak Mechet occupied, they may still be strong enough to hinder the expedition’s advance. The less fighting there is to do before we cross the Indian frontier the better.” Ignatieff says that the plan now is to enter south of the Caspian Sea, possibly through Persia, and from there to Kabul and south. There are approximately 25,000 British troops in India and 300,000 native troops, but they expect the natives will overwhelmingly either desert or rebel against the British once the fighting starts. quote:”It is doubtful if, six months after we cross the Khyber, a single British soldier, civilian, or settlement will remain on the continent. It will have been liberated, and restored to its people. They will require our assistance, and armed presence, for an indefinite period, to guard against counterinvasion.” The Tsar asks a few more questions, and Ignatieff assures him the Russian force can reach the Khyber Pass within seven months; the British will know what's happening when the Russian troops start crossing Persia, but by that time it will be too late to respond. The Tsar gives his approval, but Ignatieff has one more idea: as a distraction, he wants to feed Flashy and East false information that the Russians are looking to invade Canada through Alaska and then let them escape. quote:“Too clever,” says Khruleff. “Playing at spies.” Khruleff and another general, Duhamel, argue against the idea, saying that Flashy and East might get suspicious if they escaped too easily, and the Tsar agrees with them. As the meeting breaks up, Flashman and East sneak back to their rooms and start discussing what to do. Flashman says that even if they get word to Raglan, it may be too late – it'll take a month to get word to England, at least a couple of months to collect an army, and then four months to send them to India, by which time the invasion will already have started. East brings out a Russian atlas and says he's figured out they're only a couple hundred miles from Sevastopol, but Flashy says there's the Russian army in the way, not to mention how are they supposed to outrun Pencherjevsky's Cossacks? Plus the geography of the Crimea means they would have to pass through the bottleneck at Armiansk, meaning their pursuers would just have to wait for them there. quote:“No, they wouldn’t,” says he, grinning—the same sly, fag grin of fifteen years ago. “Because we won’t go that way. There’s another road to the Crimea—I got it from this book, but they’d never dream we knew of it. Look, now, old Flashy friend, and learn the advantages of studying geography. See how the Crimean peninsula is joined to mainland Russia—just a narrow isthmus, eh? Now look east a little way along the coast—what d’ye see?” The Arabat Spit is basically a long skinny sandbar, with salt marshes and lagoons on one side and the Sea of Azov on the other. As East says, it was barely used in the 19th century, although it's now a beach resort area (and was partly occupied during the recent Russian invasion of Crimea). quote:The thought of abandoning this snug retreat, where I was feeding full, drinking well, and rogering my captivity happily away, and going careering off through the snow-fast Russian wilderness, with those devils howling after me—and all so that we could report this crazy scheme to Raglan! It was mad. Anyway, what did I care for India? I’d sooner we had it than the Russians, of course, and if the intelligence could have been conveyed safely to Raglan (who’d have promptly forgotten it, or sent an army to Greenland by mistake, like as not) I’d have done it like a shot. But I draw the line at risks that aren’t necessary to my own well-being. That’s why I’m eighty years old today, while Scud East has been mouldering underground at Cawnpore this forty-odd years. But Flashy can't put it that way, so he tries to make reasonable-sounding objections: who knows if the Arrow of Arabat is still navigable in winter, or if it's guarded? How can they travel in Russia without identification, and how can they get away from Starotorsk without the Cossacks chasing them down? quote:“I know that!” he cried. “I can count, too! But I tell you we’ve got to try! It’s a chance in a million that we’ve found out this infernal piece of Russian treachery! We must try to use it, to warn Raglan and the people at home! What have we got to lose, except our lives?” After arguing back and forth – East for escaping right away, Flashman for waiting and seeing – they're unable to come to an agreement and go to bed, with Flashy determined to block East from doing anything rash. Selachian fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Aug 13, 2020 |
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Aug 13, 2020 00:41
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Selachian posted:with Flashy determined to block East from doing anything rash. Good luck with that, Flashy.
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Aug 13, 2020 16:56
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I'm just surprised Flashy never gets to explode the zeppelin fleet Bismark used to invade London.
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Aug 13, 2020 18:02
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Genghis Cohen posted:I always thought that was one of the more obviously pulpy plot hooks in the series. The villainous Ruskis hatching their dastardly schemes even discuss the fact that there are British officers staying who may find out what's going on. But for some incredibly stupid reason they decide that doesn't matter. It's been a couple years since I read the series, but I believe that was the whole point - the "plans" they were discussing were phony. They wanted Flashman & East to escape, carrying misinformation.
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Aug 13, 2020 19:33
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Grendel posted:It's been a couple years since I read the series, but I believe that was the whole point - the "plans" they were discussing were phony. They wanted Flashman & East to escape, carrying misinformation. Yeah, but the thing is that Flashy and East heard them discussing their real plan to invade India and to let the two of them go with knowledge of the phony plans. Unless I just misread that post.
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Aug 14, 2020 03:35
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The phony plan was to invade through Alaska.
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Aug 14, 2020 07:56
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East is unable to come up with a workable plan for escape, until events catch up with them. Flashman finds Pencherjevsky losing his temper at two visitors, a priest and “a lean, ugly little fellow dressed like a clerk” named Blank. It turns out that an old woman among Pencherjevsky's serfs can't pay her “soul tax” – a poll tax collected to support the military – and if she can't pay it, she'll be driven out of her house. The priest and Blank want to pay the tax for her, but Pencherjevsky won't have it: if his serfs get the idea that someone else will pay their taxes for them, they'll all stop paying. He says the woman's son is a wealthy kulak (farm-owner) who could pay, but if he won't, then it's no one else's business. Pencherjevsky denounces Blank as a Communist agitator, “sowing sedition, preaching revolution,” and chases them away from his house. quote:He advanced, hands clenched, and the two of them went scuttling down the steps. But the fellow Blank had to have a last word: The Cossacks ride off, and about an hour later, when Pencherjevsky has mostly calmed down, one of them returns and says they caught one of them and beat him to death. Unfortunately, it was the priest they caught, not Blank, and Pencherjevsky is horrified at what might happen if word got out he had a priest killed. Dinner that night is tense, and after Flashy goes to bed, he's woken by the sounds of gunfire, and stumbles out into the hall with East. quote:There was a crash of musket-fire from beyond the front door, splinters flew in the hall, and one of the Cossacks sang out and staggered, clutching his leg. The other were at the hall windows, there was a smashing of glass, and the sound of baying, screaming voices from outside. Pencherjevsky swore, clasped Valla to him with one enormous arm, saw us, and bawled above the shooting: Pencherjevsky throws Valentina to Flashman, ordering him to get her away from Starotorsk to his other house in Ariansk, and then turns to lead his Cossacks against the oncoming mob. Flashman, East, and Valentina rush down the back stairs, grabbing supplies as they pass through the kitchen, and out to the coach house, where they load up a troika sled and harness the horses. quote:East seized the whip from its mount and lashed at the beasts, and with a bound that nearly overturned us they tore away, down the road, with the mob cursing at our tail, waving their fists, and one last shot singing wide as we distanced them. Flashman pulls Valentina up and wraps her up in furs, taking some more furs for himself and East, since they've left their coats behind and it's bitterly cold. As they gather themselves to continue their journey, East is struck by a sudden thought: this is their golden opportunity to escape and head for Yenitchi and the Arrow of Arbat. Pencherjevsky and the Cossacks are unlikely to survive the serf attack, and even if they do, it will take days to reorganize themselves. quote:“Right,” says I. “Let’s be off. We’re sure to hit some farm or station where we can change horses. We’ll drive in turns, and—” Flashman spots a village after a while and they ask directions. Valentina wakes up and has an attack of hysterics about her father and aunt, so East gives her some laudanum that knocks her out, much to Flashy's disappointment: “I could have kicked him, for if there’s one thing I’d fancy myself good at, it’s comforting a bereaved and naked blonde under a fur rug.” After changing horses at a way-station, they stop as the sun is coming up and pull off the road to sleep. They continue on in late afternoon, through frozen wilderness that makes Flashman nervous: quote:I had a bottle, and some bread, but nothing could warm me; I was scared, but didn’t know of what—just the silence and the unknown, I suppose. And then from somewhere far off to my right I heard it—that thin, dismal sound that is the terror of the empty steppe, unmistakable and terrifying, drifting through the vast distance: the eldritch cry of the wolf. The howl isn't repeated, and shortly after they stumble across a serf's cabin. He tells them the nearest town is Yenitchi, only a few hours' drive away. As they ride away from the cabin, Flashy hears more wolves howling in the distance, and then spots dark shapes following the sled. quote:“Jesus!” I shrieked. “Wolves!” Then suddenly the wolves fall away, and the sled starts passing houses as they enter Yenitchi. Selachian fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Aug 16, 2020 |
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Aug 16, 2020 04:40
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1) There's a fun footnote musing on who the agitator "Blank" may have been the ancestor of. 2) The wolves chasing the sled is straight out of a couple of [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throw_to_the_wolves"]19th century novels[/url] and marks the third time (along with the escape across the icy river prefiguring the climax of Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Prisoner of Zenda being lifted wholesale from the Schleswig-Holstein adventure) Fraser implies that Flashman's adventures are the real-life inspiration for famous literary scenes.
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Aug 16, 2020 05:08
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Wolves are supposed to be super adverse to human contact right? I wonder if they'd hunt carriage horses and see humans as part of the risk.
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Aug 17, 2020 20:27
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tokenbrownguy posted:Wolves are supposed to be super adverse to human contact right? I wonder if they'd hunt carriage horses and see humans as part of the risk. They generally stay away unless they're hungry and desperate. There are exceptions, of course, though they typically target isolated children. I suspect the wolves with not-afraid-of-humans genes were either domesticated or killed centuries ago. I feel like it's pretty telling that East is the one who suggests kidnapping Valentine, not Flashy. Viola the Mad fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Aug 18, 2020 01:56
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Flashy and East roust the local postmaster, who provides them with fresh (although not very good) horses and some more supplies, as well as clothes for Valentina, and rather than pause in town, they head straight for the Arrow of Arabat. quote:It was a dismal prospect. Beyond the bridge, which spanned a frozen canal, we could see the Arrow of Arabat, a long, bleak tongue of snow-covered land running south like a huge railway embankment into the Azov Sea. The sea proper, which was frozen—at least as far out as we could see—lay to the left; on the right of the causeway lies a stinking inland lagoon, called the Sivache, which is many miles wide in places, but narrows down as you proceed along the Arrow, until it peters away altogether where the causeway reaches Arabat, on the eastern end of the Crimea. The lagoon seems to be too foul to freeze entirely, even in a Russian winter, and the stench from it would poison an elephant. Valentina finally wakes up, although she's still sleepy and dazed. Flashy tells her that her father got away with the Cossacks, and that they're taking her to the Russian army for safety. quote:It served, after a deal of questioning and answering; whether she was still under the influence of the laudanum or not, I wasn’t certain, but she seemed content enough, in a sleepy sort of way, so we plied her with nips of brandy to keep out the cold—she refused outright the clothes we had got, and stayed curled up in her rugs—and being a Russian girl, she was ready to drink all we offered her. East and Flashman decide to sleep for a little after all, but Flashy doesn't get much rest – he's too nervous to relax. After an hour, when the moon has risen, they get moving again. They ride down the Arrow for several hours, East and Flashman trading off driving duties. As they get near the end, Flashy hands the reins over to East and climbs into the back of the troika with Valentina. quote:Valla stirred sleepily in the darkness, murmuring “Harr-ee?” as she stretched restlessly in her pile of furs on the floor. I knelt down beside her and took her hand, but when I spoke to her she just mumbled and turned over; the laudanum and brandy still had her pretty well foxed, and there was no sense to be got out of her. It struck me she might be conscious enough to enjoy some company, though, so I slipped a hand beneath the furs and encountered warm, plump flesh; the touch of it sent the blood pumping in my head. Flashman dozes off afterward, but he's woken as East pulls to a stop. He's heard something behind them, and they pause to listen – and faintly, Flashy hears the sound of hooves and harness. Someone's riding up on them, and it must be pursuit, since who else would be out here at this time of night? East climbs back into the driver's seat and gets the horses moving again, and Flashy looks back. quote:Very dimly through the falling flakes, I could just make out the causeway bend, and there, moving out on to the straight on this side of it, was a dark, indistinct mass—too big and irregular to be anything like a sled. And then the moonlight caught a score of twinkling slivers in the gloom, and I yelled at East in panic: As Flashy thinks this, he can feel the sled starting to slow down. quote:I plunged to the side of the sled, stuck my head out, and bawled at East. But there's nothing in the sled for Flashy to throw out – the food is just a couple of loaves of bread and bottles. He unbuckles the heavy sled cover and lets it go, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. quote:I groaned and cursed, while the freezing wind whipped at me, casting about for anything else to jettison. The furs? We’d freeze without them, and Valla didn’t have a stitch—Valla! For an instant even I was appalled—but only for an instant. There was eight stone of her if there was an ounce—her loss would lighten us splendidly! And that wasn’t all—they’d be bound to check, at least, if she came bouncing over the back. Gallant Russian gentlemen, after all, don’t abandon naked girls in the snow. It would gain us seconds, anyway, and the loss of weight would surely do the rest. Flashy sees a couple of the riders swerve and stop; the others keep on, but they're falling behind as the sled moves faster. quote:“On, Scud, on!” I shouted. “We’re leaving ’em! We’ll beat them yet!” East is overcome by grief, while Flashman plays the stern patriotic duty card for all it's worth; he'd have jumped off himself, but they need the both of them to make it through to increase their chances of getting the information to Raglan. quote:“My God, East! Have you any notion what this night’s work has cost me? D’you think it won’t haunt me forever? D’you think I…I have no heart?” I dashed my knuckles across my eyes in a fine gesture. “Anyway, it’s odds she’ll be all right—they’re her people, after all, and they’ll wrap her up nice as ninepence.” They pass through Arabat, at the far end of the spit, without stopping, and enter into a hilly area where Flashy hopes to lose the horsemen. But as they start downslope, one of the horses stumbles and then they all go down, and the troika hits something and overturns, sending Flashman and East flying. Flashman lands on his back, and the sled slides over him. quote:The sled came lumbering over, slowly almost, on top of me, a fiery pain shot through my left side, a crushing weight was across my chest; I shrieked again, and then it settled, pinning me in the snow like a beetle on a card. East tries to get the sled off Flashy, but it's too heavy for him to move without the horses. And he can hear the horsemen coming closer. quote:”Push, or dig, or anything, curse you!” I cried. “Get me loose, for God’s sake! What are you doing, man? What is it?” For he was standing up now, staring back over the mouth of the gully towards Arabat; for half a minute he stood motionless, while I babbled and pawed at the wreck, and then he looked down at me, and his voice was steady. Selachian fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Aug 18, 2020 03:47
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Yea this is right up there with the slave-raping scene, because you should never forget that for all his congeniality Flashman is an absolute monster.
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Aug 18, 2020 04:03
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 I love it when Flashy experiences some instant-karma.
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Aug 18, 2020 04:37
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:Yea this is right up there with the slave-raping scene, because you should never forget that for all his congeniality Flashman is an absolute monster. Wasn't she one of the ones who shaved a serf-girl's head for the LOLs. It's not that far up with slave-raping. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Aug 18, 2020 06:30
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Everyone posted:Wasn't she one of the ones who shaved a serf-girl's head for the LOLs. It's not that far up with slave-raping. Valentina's not a slave, but he raped her and then threw her out of the troika. Nor is it poetic justice like Flashman experiences. In any case, posting that "this rape is not as bad as that rape" is terrible.
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Aug 18, 2020 07:48
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How are u posted:
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Aug 18, 2020 11:00
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Safety Biscuits posted:Valentina's not a slave, but he raped her and then threw her out of the troika. Nor is it poetic justice like Flashman experiences. In any case, posting that "this rape is not as bad as that rape" is terrible. I completely agree with you. I was skimming the book excerpts and missed Flashman raping Valentina. My earlier post was referring only to Flashman tossing her out of the coach.
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Aug 21, 2020 20:31
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Are you saying he raped her because she was drugged? Or did I misread that?
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Aug 21, 2020 21:01
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sebmojo posted:Are you saying he raped her because she was drugged? Or did I misread that? As a guy who ate a day of Probation over this, that would be my take now that I've finally read the passage. Here it is with the relevant (to me) part bolded: quote:Valla stirred sleepily in the darkness, murmuring “Harr-ee?” as she stretched restlessly in her pile of furs on the floor. I knelt down beside her and took her hand, but when I spoke to her she just mumbled and turned over; the laudanum and brandy still had her pretty well foxed, and there was no sense to be got out of her. It struck me she might be conscious enough to enjoy some company, though, so I slipped a hand beneath the furs and encountered warm, plump flesh; the touch of it sent the blood pumping in my head. Valentina is either unconscious or semi-conscious at this point. Either way she's clearly unable to give informed consent. Having sex with somebody without their consent is by definition rape. Whether she would have consented had she been conscious is irrelevant.
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Aug 21, 2020 21:32
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Not long after East leaves, Flashy hears hooves and Russian voices, and a couple of Cossacks ride into his view, and one of them knocks him out with a whip handle. quote:I suppose my life has been full of poetic justice—an expression customarily used by Holy Joes to cloak the vindictive pleasure they feel when some enterprising fellow fetches himself a cropper. They are the kind who’ll say unctuously that I was properly hoist with my own petard at Arabat, and serve the bastard right. I’m inclined to agree; East would never have abandoned me if I hadn’t heaved Valla out of the sled in the first place. He’d have stuck by me and the Christian old school code, and let his military duty go hang. But my treatment of his beloved made it easy for him to forget the ties of comradeship and brotherly love, and do his duty; all his pious protestations about leaving me were really hypocritical moonshine, spouted out to salve his own conscience. Flashman spends a week in a cell in Arabat's fort, until his captors drag him out – and Ignatieff is there waiting for him. quote:They had hauled me into the guard-room, and there he was, the inevitable cigarette clamped between his teeth, those terrible hypnotic blue-brown eyes regarding me with no more emotion than a snake’s. For a full minute he stared at me, the smoke escaping in tiny wreaths from his lips, and then without a change of expression he lashed me across the face with his gloves, back and forth, while I struggled feebly between my Cossack guards, trying to duck my head from his blows. Ignatieff tells Flashy that he has given up any right to be treated as a prisoner of war by trying to escape, kidnapping Valentina, and then throwing her out of the sled. He says that Pencherjevsky has survived the slave revolt, and Valentina is also alive too. quote:“I require an answer to one question,” says Ignatieff, “and you will supply it in your own language. Lie to me, or try to evade it, and I will have your tongue removed.” His next words were in English. “Why did you try to escape?” Ignatieff brushes off this lie. He can only think of one reason why Flashman and East would have tried such a risky escape. He demands Flashman tell him what “Item Seven” means, and says that Flashy will be killed if he doesn't know. Faced with this, Flashman can only confess the whole story, while blaming the whole idea on East and claiming he tried to stop him. Ignatieff has Flashman's guards gag him and drags him out to the courtyard, with another prisoner. quote:Two more Cossacks appeared, carrying between them a curious bench, like a vaulting horse with very short legs and a flat top. The prisoner shrieked at the sight of it, and tried to run, but they dragged him to it, tearing off his clothes, and bound him on it face down, with thongs at his ankles, knees, waist and neck, so that he lay there, naked and immovable, but still screaming horribly. The guards force Flashman to look at the damage the knout has done – “the wretched man's buttocks were cut clean across, as by a sabre, and the blood was pouring out.” The Cossack gives the victim five more strokes, and then: quote:“Now observe,” says Ignatieff, “the effect of a flat blow.” Flashman is dragged back inside with Ignatieff. quote:“That was a demonstration, for your benefit. You see now what awaits you—except that when your turn comes I shall take the opportunity of ascertaining how many of the drawing strokes a vigorous and healthy man can suffer before he dies. Your one hope of escaping that fate lies in doing precisely as you are told—for I have a use for you. If I had not, you would be undergoing destruction by the knout at this moment.” Ignatieff explains that since the escape, they have been expecting that word of the upcoming invasion has reached Raglan and the British government, especially since East has not been captured. The information East has would lead the Brits to expect an attack on India in seven months, but Ignatieff reveals that it will actually be in four months. Instead of going south through Persia, they will cross the Caspian and Aral Seas and travel through “the Syr Daria country” (roughly, modern Uzbekistan) to Afghanistan. quote:“It is as well that you should know this,” went on Ignatieff, “so that you may understand the part which I intend that you should play in it. A part for which you are providentially qualified. I know a great deal about you—so much, indeed, that you “will be astonished at the extent of my knowledge. It is our policy to garner information, and I doubt,” went on this cocky bastard, “whether any state in Europe can boast such extensive secret dossiers as we possess. I am especially aware of your activities in Afghanistan fourteen years ago—of your work, along with such agents as Burnes and Pottinger, among the Gilzais and other tribes. I know even of the exploit which earned you the extravagant nickname of ‘Bloody Lance’, of your dealings with Muhammed Akbar Khan, of your solitary survival of the disaster which befell the British Army—a disaster in which, you may be unaware, our own intelligence service played some part.” Ignatieff says that having a British officer, who's known among the Afghan tribes, could help them convince the Afghans that it's in their interests to side with Russia over Britain. quote:“It is possible, of course, that you will prefer death—even by the knout—to betrayal of your country. I doubt it, but I must take into consideration the facts which are to be found in your dossier. They tell me of a man brave to the point of recklessness, of proved resource, and of considerable intelligence. My own observation of you tends to contradict this—I do not judge you to be of heroic material, but I may be mistaken. Certainly your conduct at Balaclava, of which I have received eye-witness accounts, is of a piece with your dossier. It does not matter. If, when you have been taken to Afghanistan with our army, you decline to make what the Roman priests call a propaganda on our behalf, we shall derive what advantage we can from displaying you naked in an iron cage along the way. The knouting will take place when we arrive on Indian soil.” Finally done Bond-villaining his plan, Ignatieff has Flashman locked up again and chained hand and foot. quote:You may not credit it, but my feelings as they thrust me down into my underground pit, clamped chains on my wrists and ankles, and slammed the door on me, were of profound relief. For one thing, I was out of the presence of that evil madman with his leery optic—that may seem small enough, but you haven’t been closeted with him, and I have. Point two, I was not only alive but due to be preserved in good health for at least four months—and I was old soldier enough to know that a lot can happen in that time. Point three, I wasn’t going into the unknown: Afghanistan, ghastly place though it is, was a home county hunt to me, and if once I could get a yard start, I fancied I could survive the going a sight better than any Russian pursuers. Flashman also suspects Ignatieff is deluding himself about how easy it will be to take an army through Afghanistan – and he's certainly got some experience in that field, doesn't he? quote:And one thing was certain, the Afghans hated the British, and would join in an attack on India like Orangemen on the Twelfth. It would be all up with the Honourable East India Company then, and no bones about it. Not that Flashy really cares about any of this, but all he can do right now is wait and watch for his chance to escape. quote:You may think it strange, knowing me, that even in the hellish mess I found myself, with the shadow of horrible death hanging over me, I could think ahead so clearly. Well, it wasn’t that I’d grown any braver as I got older—the reverse, if anything—but I’d learned, since my early days, that there’s no point in wasting your wits and digestion blubbering over evil luck and folly and lost opportunities. I’ll admit, when I thought how close I’d been to winning clear, I could have torn my hair—but there it was. However fearful my present predicament, however horrid the odds and dangers ahead, they’d get no better with being fretted over. It ain’t always easy, if your knees knock as hard as mine, but you must remember the golden rule: when the game’s going against you, stay calm—and cheat.
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Aug 22, 2020 04:29
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quote:You must remember the golden rule: when the game’s going against you, stay calm—and cheat. Did the Afghans really need Russian assistance to drive the British out? Doubt they've ever needed prompting to fight, and the British incompetence did the rest.
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Aug 22, 2020 07:37
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Cobalt-60 posted:That one's going in the quote book.
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Aug 22, 2020 08:07
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Xander77 posted:No no no - British stupidity and the natural consequences of trying to colonize a free people couldn't possibly had resulted in "revolts" in Afghanistan and India. It had to be the nefarious Russkies, who definitely had an incredibly competent intelligence service in the 18-bloody-40's. The Afghans might not of needed Russian aid to drive out the British, but they probably got it anyway and it made the task a little easier.
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Aug 22, 2020 12:48
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Xander77 posted:No no no - British stupidity and the natural consequences of trying to colonize a free people couldn't possibly had resulted in "revolts" in Afghanistan and India. It had to be the nefarious Russkies, who definitely had an incredibly competent intelligence service in the 18-bloody-40's. Yes, this is all deliciously pulpy stuff, but it's not quite what I'd want out of a Flashman story.
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Aug 23, 2020 21:39
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Everyone posted:The Afghans might not of needed Russian aid to drive out the British, but they probably got it anyway and it made the task a little easier. True or not Ignatieff is 100% going to tell Flashy that to try and overawe him a bit more.
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Aug 23, 2020 22:22
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Viola the Mad posted:Yes, this is all deliciously pulpy stuff, but it's not quite what I'd want out of a Flashman story. The series is weird that way, it's a mix of Fraser's detailed and journalistic retellings of history paired with deliberately pulpy subplots and characters. I kind of feel like you can give each book a ratio of history:pulp, and this one is more skewed pulp than most.
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Aug 24, 2020 19:55
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Notahippie posted:The series is weird that way, it's a mix of Fraser's detailed and journalistic retellings of history paired with deliberately pulpy subplots and characters. I kind of feel like you can give each book a ratio of history:pulp, and this one is more skewed pulp than most. That's a good point. I'm not exactly complaining about the pulp, mind you. But the thoroughly researched history is what drew me to the books in the first place back in high school.
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Aug 30, 2020 06:58
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Time for a travelogue, as Flashman, Ignatieff, and Flashy's Cossack escorts travel 1,250 miles or so. They re-cross the Arabat Spit to Yenitchi and head down the coast. Flashman is kept constantly in chains and vigilantly guarded by the Cossacks. quote:Cossacks, of course, never wash (although they brush their coats daily with immense care) and I wasn’t allowed to either, so by the time we were rolling east into the half-frozen steppe beyond Rostov I was filthy, bearded, tangled, and itchy beyond belief, stinking with the garlic of their awful food, and only praying that I wouldn’t contract some foul disease from my noisome companions—for they even slept either side of me, with their nagaikas knotted into my chains. It ain’t like a honeymoon at Baden, I can tell you. From Yenitchi, they pass through Astrakhan... quote:Astrakhan city itself is a hell-hole. The land all about is as flat as the Wash country, and the town itself lies so low they have a great dyke all round to prevent the Volga washing it into the Caspian, or t’other way round. As you might expect, it’s a plague spot; you can smell the pestilence in the air, and before we passed through the dyke Ignatieff ordered everyone to soak his face and hands with vinegar, as though that would do any good. Still, it was the nearest I came to making toilet the whole way. They land at a town called Tishkandi (which, Flashy says, no longer exists, thanks to the Caspian's frequently shifting coast), collect a lancer squad for an escort, and spend five days crossing the Ustyurt Plateau to the Aral Sea. The natives of the area strike Flashman as familiar – their looks and way of dressing remind him of Afghanistan. Another steamer carries them across the Aral Sea to a fort on the Syr Daria River, where Russian troops are gathering for the expected invasion of India. Ignatieff points out some gallows holding the remains of local bandits who tried to raid the fort. Ignatieff goes off with the fort's commander, and Flashman is taken by guards and tossed into a secure cell, which he finds already occupied. quote:I started with astonishment, for suspended flat in the air in the middle of the cell, spreadeagled as though in flight, was the figure of a man. As my eyes grew accustomed to the dimness I drew in a shuddering breath, for now I could see that he was cruelly hung between four chains, one to each limb from the top corners of the room. More astonishing still, beneath his racked body, which hung about three feet from the floor, was crouched another figure, supporting the hanging man on his back, presumably to take the appalling strain of the chains from his wrists and ankles. It was the crouching man who was speaking, and to my surprise, his words were in Persian. The crouched man asks Flashman for help, and then faints. quote:The hanging man gave a sudden cry of anguish as his body took the full stretch of the chains; he hung there moaning and panting until, without really thinking, I scrambled forward and came up beneath him, bearing his trunk across my stooped back. His face was hanging backward beside my own, working with pain. As has been mentioned before, Fraser eventually softened Flashman's behavior in later books, and we have a prime example here. Can you imagine the Harry Flashman of the first three books instinctively moving to help someone at his own expense? Flashman explains briefly who he is and how he came here. quote:“I am Yakub Beg,” whispers he, and even through his pain you could hear the pride in his voice. “Kush Begi, Khan of Khokand, and guardian of…the White Mosque. You are my…guest…sent to me…from heaven. Touch…on my knee…touch on my bosom…touch where you will.” The other man finally wakes up, and Yakub Beg introduces him: quote:“That ancient creature who grovels on the floor is Izzat Kutebar,” says he. “A poor fellow of little substance and less wit, who raided one Ruski caravan too many and was taken, through his greed. So they made him ‘swim upon land’, as I am swimming now, and he might have hung here till he rotted—and welcome—but I was foolish enough to think of rescue, and scouted too close to this fort of Shaitan. So they took me, and placed me in his chains, as the more important prisoner of the two—for he is dirt, this feeble old Kutebar. He swung a good sword once, they say—God, it must have been in Timur’s time!”  Yakub Beg (1820-1877) was an Uzbek soldier, and later king of East Turkestan and Kashgar, a short-lived independent state in central Asia. He spent much of his life fighting against Russian and Chinese attempts to extend their rule into his territory, but was eventually forced off the throne by the Chinese in 1876 and died soon after (some claim he was poisoned). Izzat Kutebar (no picture available, 1800?-?) was a Kyrgyz bandit who raided extensively against Russian outposts in the Ust-Yurt region in the 1820s-1850s. He finally surrendered -- to Count Ignatieff, as it happens -- in 1858 and gave up his war with Russia; no one seems to know what happened to him after that.
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Aug 31, 2020 06:42
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I'm honestly surprised that the Flashman of this book went out of his way to help someone.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:03
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Maybe he knew deep down his chances of surviving depended on making friends.
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Sep 2, 2020 11:48
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His Divine Shadow posted:Maybe he knew deep down his chances of surviving depended on making friends. One thing to recall is that at this point Flashman is in his 30s with quite a bit of life experience. So, he's aware that "The enemy of my enemy is
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Sep 3, 2020 01:15
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Everyone posted:One thing to recall is that at this point Flashman is in his 30s with quite a bit of life experience. So, he's aware that "The enemy of my enemy is Flashman has a keen understanding of group dynamics, been in plenty of tight spots by this time, and has spent the last month trying to think of a way to escape. He's been in captivity often enough to know that it's always good to make friends. These two guys are the closest inkling to an opportunity that has come his way in a month, so why not pitch in and help out and make some new friends? Seems to have a better likely payoff than sulking alone in the corner of the cell. Yakub and Kutebar are probably my favorite characters in the entire series - they have so much fun giving each other poo poo with their mutt-and-jeff routine and it's always hilarious. The whole section in Central Asia is a high point, and is why Charge is one of my two favorite novels (Dragon is the other).
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Sep 3, 2020 16:37
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