Flashman's Retreat

At my time of life

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:31:00 +0000

I’ve too many vivid memories of Central Asia; at my time of life Scarborough is far enough east for me.

Flashman at the Charge, p.288, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Central Asia, Scarborough.

Deeply-felt sentimental mood

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:41:00 +0000

And then they were thundering away back on the Samarkand road, cloaks flying, and Kutebar turning in the saddle to give me a wave and a roar. And it’s odd – but for a moment I felt lonely, and wondered it I should miss them. It was a deeply-felt sentimental mood which lasted for at least a quarter of a second, and has never returned, I’m happy to say.

Flashman at the Charge, p.287, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Samarkand, farewells.

A golden road

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:22:00 +0000

‘This is the great Pathway of Expectation, as the hill people say, where you may realize your hopes just by hoping them. The Chinese call it the Baghdad Highway, and the Persians and Hindus know it as the Silk Trail, but we call it the Golden Road.’ And he quoted a verse which, with considerable trouble, I’ve turned into rhyming English:

        To learn the age-old lesson day by day:
        It is not in the bright arrival planned,
        But in the dreams men dream along the way,
        They find the Golden Road to Samarkand.

Flashman at the Charge, pp.286-7, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Silk Road.

Songs and dreams

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:06:00 +0000

‘All holy songs are made of dreams,’ says he.

Flashman at the Charge, p.286, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,holy song, dream.

A windy streak

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:56:00 +0000

I’ve often wondered since, if chaps like Chinese Gordon and Bobs and Custer always went about feeling the way I did that night – not knowing what fear was? It would account for a lot, you know. But God help anyone who’s born that way; I’m sorry for ’em. You can’t know any real peace of mind, I think, unless you’ve got a windy streak in you.

Flashman at the Charge, p.284, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes.

All men fear

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

It is no sin to be fearful, any more than it is a sin to be one-legged or red-haired. All men fear – even Yakub and Kutebar and all of them. To conquer fear, some need love, and some hate, and some greed, and some even – hasheesh.

Flashman at the Charge, pp.283-4, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,fear, sin.

As only a coward can

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:33:00 +0000

I detested her in that moment, as only a coward can when he hears the truth to his face.

Flashman at the Charge, p.283, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,coward, detest.

Seeking sorrow and raving heroically

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:21:00 +0000

The terrible thing was that I remembered the battle very clearly, and my own incredible behaviour – I knew I’d gone bawling about like a Viking in drink, seeking sorrow and raving heroically in murderous rage, but I couldn’t for the life of me understand why. It had been utterly against nature, instinct and judgement – and I knew it hadn’t been booze, because I hadn’t had any, and anyway the liquor hadn’t been distilled that could make me oblivious of self-preservation. It appalled me, for what security does a right-thinking coward have, if he loses his sense of panic?

Flashman at the Charge, pp.281-2, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,viking, coward.

Blue touch paper

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:35:00 +0000

‘Stand clear, boys and girls,’ I sang out. ‘Papa’s going to light the blue touch-paper and retire immediately!’

Flashman at the Charge, p.274, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,blue touch paper, Papa.

Infidel professors of Anglistan

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:54:00 +0000

‘What science is here! Wisdom beyond that of the great astronomer of Samarkand has gone into the making of these fine instruments. I salute you Flashman bahadur, and the genius of your infidel professors of Anglistan.’

Flashman at the Charge, p.272, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,science, Anglistan.

Sweet phrase

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Remember the Persian saying: “Lick up the honey, stranger, and ask no questions”.

Flashman at the Charge, p.265, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Persian, honey.

Sex kitten

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

I’ve seduced – and been seduced – in some odd ways, but never before with a kitten pressed into service as a pimp.

Flashman at the Charge, p.262, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,seduced, pimp.

Wattling, no doubt

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

I stood there, wattling no doubt, and trying to think of a cutting retort – but interrupting a conversation between a woman and a cat ain’t as easy as it might seem. One tends to look a fool.

Flashman at the Charge, p.261, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,cat, conversation.

Lessons from tribulation

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

One thing tribulation teaches you, and that is to wear the mask when there’s nothing else for it.

Flashman at the Charge, p.259, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,tribulation, mask.

An off-hand grin

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:18:00 +0000

…here they looked at me with reverent eyes, and I managed an off-hand grin that any dentist would have recognized first go.

Flashman at the Charge, p.258, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,dentist, grin.

A quiet morning for Flashman

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:30:00 +0000

…I was lounging in the camp’s little market, improving my Persian by learning the ninety-nine names of God (only the Bactrian camel knows the hundredth, which is why they look so deuced superior) from an Astrabad caravan-guard-turned-murderer…

Flashman at the Charge, p.251, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Bactrian camel, Persian.

High yet husky

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Ko Dali’s daughter spoke for the first time, and I was surprised how high and yet husky her voice was – the kind that makes you think of French satin sofas, with the blinds down and purple wall-paper.

Flashman at the Charge, p.247, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,voice, husky.

Damned beyond doubt

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:23:00 +0000

I don’t hold with oaths, much, and I’m not by nature, a truthful man, but on the three occasions that I’ve sworn blood brotherhood it has seemed a more solemn thing than swearing on the Bible. Arnold was right; I’m damned beyond a doubt.

Flashman at the Charge, p.244, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,blood brother, bible.

Demon kings and fools

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:04:00 +0000

I suppose he was a bit of a demon king, with his forked beard and skull-lock, and that rare thing in Central Asia, which they say is a legacy of Alexander’s Greek mercenaries – the bright blue eyes of the European. And he had the happiest smile, I think, that ever I saw on a human face. You only had to see it to understand why the Syr Daria tribes carried on their hopeless struggle against the Russians; fools will always follow the Yakub Begs of this world.

Flashman at the Charge, p.242, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Yakub Beg, fools.

Couldn't be talking about Flashman

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:10:00 +0000

‘Between warriors let a word of thanks be like a heart-beat – a small thing, hardly heard, but it suffices,’ says he, and then grinned sheepishly. ‘what do I say? The truth is, we all owe our chief debt to that wild witch, Ko Dali’s daughter. She whom they call the Silk One.

Flashman at the Charge, p.238, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,thanks, warriors.

Trees must fall

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:33:00 +0000

‘To build the house, trees must fall,’ says Kutebar complacently. I agreed with him entirely, mind you.

Flashman at the Charge, p.232, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,house, trees.

Personal habits

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:07:00 +0000

…I fell the last ten feet, landing on top of the man beneath, who gave a brief commentary on my parents, future, and personal habits as only a Hillman can…

Flashman at the Charge, p.231, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,hillman.

A nice dark corner

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Old dungeon-fighters like myself – and I’ve had a wealth of experience, from the vaults of Jotunberg, where I was sabre to sabre with Starnberg, to that Afghan prison where I let dear old Hudson take the strain – know that the thing to do on these occasions is find a nice dark corner and crawl into it.

Flashman at the Charge, p.227, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,dungeon, sabre.

Sky-blue wolves

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:15:00 +0000

‘Bhisti-sawad!* The sky-blue wolves are in the fold!’

*Heavenly!

Flashman at the Charge, p.225, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes.

The sudden raid

Flashmansretreat@gmail.com (Speedicut) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:18:00 +0000

…these fellows were much the same as Afghans, and I knew their way of working. The sudden raid, the surprise attack, the mad hacking melee (I shuddered at the recollection), and then up and away before civilized troops have rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

Flashman at the Charge, p.224, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Afghans, raid.