Talking book

Talking like a book, as usual, and keeping her head.


Flashman on the March, p.134, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, book.

Chicken broth and flannel

. . .  I'd shared Langtry with him, behind his back, and done my duty by pretty Daisy — as who hadn't ? Not La Keppel, though; she was after my time, worse luck, not heaving into view until I'd reached what Macaulay calls the years of chicken broth and flannel, when you realise how dam’ ridiculous you'd look chasing dollymops young enough to be your daughter, and seek solace in booze, baccy, and books. Regrettable, of course, but less tiring and expensive.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.223, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


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Couldn’t abide Dickens

...she couldn’t abide Dickens because his books were full of coincidences.



Flashman and the Mountain of Light, p.318, Fontana Paperback edition, 1991.



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Doctor Thorne, I presume

Elgin himself looked ten years younger, now that he’d cast the die, but I thought exuberance had got the better of him when he strode into the saloon later, threw The Origin of Species on the table and announced:
      “It’s very original, no doubt, but not for a hot evening. What I need is some trollop.”
      I couldn’t believe my ears, and him a church-goer, too. “Well, my lord, I dunno,” says I. “Tientsin ain’t much of a place, but I’ll see what I can drum up —”
      “Michel’s been reading Doctor Thorne since Taku,” cried he. “He must have finished it by now, surely! Ask him, Flashman, will you?” So I did, and had my ignorance, enlightened.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.170, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, Anthony Trollope.