Same, except for the "having dove in already" part. I'm looking forward to starting this.Amory Blaine said:Just picked up a copy and dove in. Gonna try to catch up tonight
Amory Blaine said:I'm getting a huge kick out of the wording.
"I spied an officer walking under the trees with a lady, arm in arm. It was Bernier, and I looked to see what heifer he was ploughing with. In fact, she was no heifer, but a wicked-looking little black-haired piece with a turned-up nose and a saucy smile."
Awesome
Amory Blaine said:whoops, sorry bout that
Cyan said:End of Chapter Three
Expulsions: 2 (well, sort of)
Ladies slept with: 4
Flashy is ice cold, holy shit. Sleeps with another officer's mistress, taunts him about it, then arranges a fixed duel when the guy goes after him! Fun times.
And the twist of the knife with Bryant. Gets the guy to essentially act as an accomplice in murder, then leaves him hanging. So, so cold. Odds Bryant pops up again to stab Flashy in the back?
Interesting to read the footnotes. Did Fraser deliberately leave some errors of fact in the main text, just for verisimilitude?
Also... since we're apparently talking about The Princess Bride in this thread too, anyone else think of the "mawwiage" scene whenever Cardigan started talking?
Cool, just added myself. Damn, forgot I'd signed up for the 52 book challenge. I'm falling behind already!nakedsushi said:Oh yeah BTW, if anyone is updating their Goodreads status, you can see everyone in the bookclubs' status here:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show_book/19035.NeoGAF?group_book_id=345568
coldvein said:flashman really is a bastard.
Salazar said:In later novels, he encounters bastards of much greater bastardish intensity. That offsets, somewhat, his own bad form.
Love the duel scene. Goddamn Flashy is such a manipulative and opportunistic prick. I've never really read a character like him or at least not the protagonist.Cyan said:End of Chapter Three
Expulsions: 2 (well, sort of)
Ladies slept with: 4
Flashy is ice cold, holy shit. Sleeps with another officer's mistress, taunts him about it, then arranges a fixed duel when the guy goes after him! Fun times.
And the twist of the knife with Bryant. Gets the guy to essentially act as an accomplice in murder, then leaves him hanging. So, so cold. Odds Bryant pops up again to stab Flashy in the back?
Interesting to read the footnotes. Did Fraser deliberately leave some errors of fact in the main text, just for verisimilitude?
Also... since we're apparently talking about The Princess Bride in this thread too, anyone else think of the "mawwiage" scene whenever Cardigan started talking?
Tawney Bomb said:Going to try and find a copy of this today and catch up ASAP.
In an old reading thread, Flashman was talked about as a classic and enjoyable character. I put the first book on my reading list, but never got around to actually reading it. And it sounded like it would be fun, which I thought would be good for the first Book Club thread.Amory Blaine said:Btw cyan, how'd you come to choose this book? I had never heard of it before this thread.
Done!coldvein said:p.s., cyan, you should put a list of next-month recommendations in the OP.
Sorry to hear that, but I get it.nakedsushi said:Sorry guys, I'm calling it quits on reading the book. I'm about 1/3 of the way in and find myself hating the guy. There are too many good books with enjoyable characters for me to waste my time on this one.
Yeah, I'm curious about that too. His casual nastiness towards women might be more of a turnoff for them when reading. Was there a particular turning point for you?I'm wondering if there are other NeoGAF women reading this book and what they're opinion of it is.
Cyan said:Sorry to hear that, but I get it.
It's the quintessential antihero problem, isn't it--do their few positive traits make up for the nasty shit they do?
In Flashy's case, his self-awareness and wry sense of humor are usually cited as the traits that cause readers to like him. But if that's not enough for you, if that just can't balance out his bad side, I can see you might have a hard time reading. So far I'm enjoying the read, though I'm not quite as far as you. We'll see how the guy holds up.
Yeah, I'm curious about that too. His casual nastiness towards women might be more of a turnoff for them when reading. Was there a particular turning point for you?
I think this might be the intention of the author. The book is written as a memoir and Flashman strikes me as someone who would brag at a party at all the women he has slept with. Flashman is also an unreliable narrator. His moments of cowardice are either describe as moments of cleverness on the part of Flashman or he just didn't understand he was being a coward. I guess what I'm getting at is Flahman may not be as unresistable as he thinks he is.nakedsushi said:My low opinion of the book isn't that it's written poorly. The prose is wonderful and I have to admit the first couple of mini-adventures gave me a chuckle or two, but I'm afraid the subject matter just isn't to my tastes. It reads more like male-fantasy. It reminds me of that asshole you always meet at parties who's always loudly bragging about his last lay.
coldvein said:i'm still finding this book entertaining as hell. flashman continues to make me smile. can't believe he got married. so, are we thinking that he really cares about his wife at all? last sentence of the chapter seems to imply that he does. hmm.
and i can't believe nakedsushi threw in the towel on this. yeeeeeesh.
There are several quotes from what I've read so far that suggest he does care about Elspeth, in his own way. At one point (right after they first have sex) he expresses an emotion as close to genuine affection as he's probabaly capable of when he talks about her innocence. He also gets defensive when his father implies he doesn't care for her. And I'm pretty sure when he's sulking about being forced into marriage, he reasons to himself that he can't think of any other woman he'd rather have as a wife.nakedsushi said:Hah, of course he doesn't care about his wife at all. Didn't you read about how he tried everything to weasel out of that deal. I'm glad someone finally put him in his place. Although, I would have preferred some punches and bullets to be thrown in his direction.
Yeah, I threw in the towel and I'm proud of it =P Reading about his exploits was making me angry because I could be wasting my time on other books!
It certainly vanished in a hurry!Amory Blaine said:He's still a dick, but he seems to have at least a vague concern for his new bride.
Cyan said:End of Chapter Four
Expulsions: 2 (fo' reals now)
Ladies slept with: 5
And Flashman begins to "reap the consequences of his folly." Ha! Make one little mistake and you get forcibly married and then shipped off to India. Amazing how quickly Flashy gives into pressure--both from Abercrombie and his dad. A coward indeed.
Still entertaining, so far. Eager to see what happens once he hits India!
bengraven said:This is where I'm at right now. Motherfucking Abercrombie had him by the balls.
Vard said:The story is pretty ridiculous so far but I'm enjoying reading it. I'm starting to dislike Flashy more and more though. Interested in finding out what sort of "explosion" he has to deal with in Chapter 6.
No doubt Kathleen also understood Flashmans huge appeal to women. This may seem odd, given how casually Flashman uses his women in the first book he descends to rape but, according to the author Jilly Cooper, few girls can resist a cad. Partly it is the same intrinsic maso-chism that drives men to get turned on by bitches and wicked ladies; and partly its because as a woman you always imagine that once youve bagged your cad youre going to be the one that reforms his rakes progress.
Cyan said:The headmaster literally read them the Riot Act, and they were taken down by a group of British soldiers.
nakedsushi said:I'm usually okay with reading books with antiheroes, but the best part about those books is when they have to face their consequences. So far, I haven't seen that happen with Flashy. Ultimately, since he's a character that goes on to other books of the series, it's impossible for anything *really* bad to happen to him.
I do enjoy the prose and the storytelling. Maybe I'll try to read something else by the author. I just can't stand the main character.
I don't think there was really one turning point in Flashy's treatment of women that made me say, "Okay, that's it, I'm not going to read anymore." It was mostly just a build up. He finds women to bed almost everywhere that he goes, which I don't have much of a problem with, but the way he compares them to horses and the low opinion of them doesn't really endear me to him. From how far I've read, there's only one slightly "strong" woman in the book (Judy) and even then she never gets the last word.
The in-character explanation would be that he doesn't get too in depth in descriptions of sex anywhere. The narrative explanation is that it'd just be too brutal. He'd be completely unlikeable for the rest of the book.coldvein said:as for the rape thing.... ehh. definitely the lowest Flash has sunk so far. interesting to note that he goes into far greater detail dealing with other crappy stuff that he's done, like screwing over his buddy at the duel scenario..he'll explain how and why he did that and why he thought it was justifiable, but the rape scene is really just two sentences..like "i raped her, done" and he moves on. why is that?
Cyan said:Having done my reading up, I know what's coming next for the British once they get under way. Which leaves the question, how the hell will Flashy survive this?