Farewell, Flashy
The sad sad news arrived yesterday that George Macdonald Fraser has died at 82. The author of The Flashman Papers, possibly the finest historical fiction ever penned, is gone. His legacy is stunning as well as entertaining. If you want to know the truth about 19th century empiricism, look no further than the footnotes of his various novels. But don't pass up reading of the endless misadventures and bad behavior of the villain of Tom Brown's Schooldays, who like the trickster, Coyote, never seems to learn his lesson.
Fraser also wrote the definitive film version of Dumas' The Three Musketeers (The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers, directed by Richard Lester), which adhere remarkably to the novel (especially when compared to any other adaptation). His wit and skill, and the dark laughter his stories provoked, shall be missed.
GF out
Fraser also wrote the definitive film version of Dumas' The Three Musketeers (The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers, directed by Richard Lester), which adhere remarkably to the novel (especially when compared to any other adaptation). His wit and skill, and the dark laughter his stories provoked, shall be missed.
GF out