About book The Exploits And Adventures Of Brigadier Gerard (2001)
December 2010"Save for two or three men and a score or two of women, you are the first who have ever heard the story."Etienne Gerard, hero of France, is the kind of man who challenges a dozen men to a dozen duels (in a row, while promising to spend no more than five minutes with each so that the others are not kept waiting), only to show up late to the dueling ground because he was busy infiltrating a fortified Spanish town in order to end a siege--and then, just so he won't miss breakfast, he offers to fight all twelve men at once. And he fully expects to win.Reckless, brave, charming (especially with the ladies), eternally optimistic, slightly ridiculous, perhaps a little bit vain, and completely clueless, Gerard is the finest swordsman and best horseman in Napoleon's entire Grand Armee...or so he claims, safely separated from the events by several decades and just as many bottles of wine--and who is there to contradict him? Here, in Gerard's own words, are the best of his adventures in Napoleon's army: how he lost Germany to Napoleon's enemies (over a woman), how he lost his ear in Venice (over a different woman), how he nearly lost his life at the Castle of Gloom (over another woman), how he heroically tried, but failed, to resupply the starving troops on the long march back from Moscow (there was a woman involved), and how he fought a duel in England (ditto). But not all of his adventures were thwarted by women: on the rare but notable occasions where no women were involved, and save for a brief imprisonment in England, Gerard managed to be noble, heroic, and spectacular, and always arrived to save the day, save the army (while participating in an English fox-hunt behind enemy lines, in one memorable adventure), and even save Napoleon himself. Indeed, Gerard is convinced (but would never boast outright) that Napoleon only lost at Waterloo because he, Gerard, was occupied elsewhere and was unable to fight in the battle--although he did show up later, just in the nick of time, to prevent his beloved Emperor from being captured. Perhaps Gerard is a bit full of himself, perhaps he is stretching the truth just a little bit, perhaps he's not nearly as clever as he thinks he is...but his tales are so entertaining, it hardly matters. Vive Gerard!I hated this book.Oh, don't get me wrong; the stories were great. Fantastic. But the book itself--well, the book is like those annoying spam-mails you get reminding you how imperfect you are. Tiny dick? Tiny muscles? Tiny love life? Ha! Loser! Only this questionable link to this questionable pill will help you now! Likewise, this book brings out similar anxieties, only this time it's reader envy instead of penis envy. Arthur Conan Doyle is, of course, famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories--but I haven't read 'em. Also, this edition (collecting all seventeen stories from "The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard" and "The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard", plus one contradictory, not-exactly-canon tale), is introduced by George MacDonald Fraser, of Flashman fame--also books I haven't read yet. Lastly, this is a New York Review of Books publication, and a brief glance at their catalogue reveals several hundred more books I haven't read yet--but more on that in this review (with pictures!).On top of the endless lists of books I haven't read yet, this book is a reminder of more books I haven't read yet, and leaves me feeling small and inadequate in comparison. I'm getting old (I'm almost twenty-four! Gosh, when did I become almost twenty-four?), and I'm not very well-endowed well-read, and there are so many books out there I have yet to read. Sherlock Holmes, Flashman, hundreds more. No excuses, I guess. Best get readin'.Update: Sherlock Holmes FINISHED
What do you get if you take Flashman, remove the streak of yellow from his back and make at least some of the adventures ones entered into knowingly by the participant? Why, you get Brigadier Etienne Gerard, of course! Gerard is a creation of Arthur Conan Doyle, sadly languishing in the shadows with all of his other characters not called "Sherlock Holmes". He is a dashing hussar in Napoleon's Grande Armée who, in his old age, is recalling to the reader the adventures of his youth. The comparison to Flashman is an instructive one, especially in that while Flashman is committed to strictly telling the truth he ultimately becomes more and more a bounder and cad in our eyes, while Gerard (well I certainly won’t call him a liar, but let’s just say he has a spotty memory at best and isn’t the most observant fellow) is a somewhat less than objective reporter, and yet each tale shows him to be a goodhearted man of high ideals.These are tales filled with derring-do, close escapes and not a few romantic entanglements...I think I see where George MacDonald Fraser got at least part of his inspiration from. Gerard is a very likeable character and narrator for all that he is so full of himself that it's a wonder the hot air doesn't make him float away. His voice is urbane and charming and all of his adventures are rousing good tales. At the beginning of each adventure one almost sees the sunlit café table at which we sit and can almost taste the cognac in our coffee as we listen to the Brigadier reminisce. He really is a charming old campaigner, though not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Still, for loyalty and sheer bravado one could do worse than having a Brigadier Gerard in one’s army, for while he “has the thickest head he has also the stoutest heart” of all of Napoleon’s men.I was actually a bit surprised at the very real violence and horror of war hinted at occasionally in these stories. Despite being adventure stories of the Victorian era they don't necessarily shy away from some of the less palatable aspects of their subject matter, even if Gerard tells of them with a very wry nonchalance. I was, for example, a bit surprised by the horrific death of one of Gerard's soldiers, buried alive, as related to him by a bandit chieftain, or the recounting by Gerard of a military tribunal of French POWs who punish a traitor in their midst such that "In the morning, when [the English] came for their man with papers for his release, there was not as much of him left as you could put upon your thumb-nail."When I started this book in tandem with Doyle’s _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_ I was asked which I liked better. I had immediately given the nod to Sherlock Holmes, if only for his iconic and fascinating character, but now I’m not so sure. Holmes is great, but Gerard is very charming indeed and there is not a dud amongst his tales. Doyle has really impressed me with his range in these two creations alone and I look forward to the further adventures of both characters, not to mention a look at some of Doyle’s other fiction. I highly recommend the Gerard stories to anyone interested in historical fiction and adventure, especially when it is tinged with good humour.Also posted at Shelf Inflicted
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George MacDonald Fraser wrote the excellent introduction to this edition of the collected Brigadier Gerard stories, in which he observed what a different sort of character is Gerard from Conan Doyle’s more famous creation, who need not be named. Gerard is French, not English; an interesting choice for a good Victorian imperialist such as Conan Doyle. And Gerard’s stories are set earlier; the conceit is that he is an old man telling tales about his time as a Hussar in Napoleon’s army. Gerard is as arrogant as his literary “brother”, but sweeter as well, chivalrous, loyal, romantic, brave and incredibly, comically dense.Gerard’s obliviousness is one of the primary charms of the character and chief amusements of these collected stories. He constantly mistakes the derision of others for approbation. Anything that does not conform with his own high opinion of himself gets contorted by his perception so that he remains the hero, not just of his own, but of everyone’s story. [SPOILER ALERT] In one hilarious instance, Gerard is meant to be performing undercover recognizance and ends up participating merrily in a fox hunt with English soldiers. He gets so carried away with the pursuit that he speeds ahead of everyone, even the dogs, and slices the fox in two with his sword. Gerard clearly misunderstands the whole endeavor and imagines he has “won” the hunt. Moreover, when he sees the English soldiers erupt in histrionic shouting, he perceives this as enthusiastic congratulations instead of the enraged decrying it was. This, incidentally, was probably my very favorite moment in the entire set of stories. As he outpaces the dogs, feeling quite self-congratulatory indeed, he shouts at the fox: “Aha, we have you now then, assassin!” He has so completely given himself to the hunt that he has forgotten his recognizance mission (only for the moment) and single-mindedly focused on his new “foe” whom he is about to dispatch tidily. And that is quite characteristic of Gerard. Comically myopic, absurdly confident of his every move, of his own rightness, and – for all his ridiculousness - actually quite a good soldier and sport. He is dog-like, in the best sense of that comparison. You like Gerard even while you laugh at him. And you can always trust him to be himself.I am not much for adventure stories, generally preferring a good mystery, but the Brigadier Gerard stories are vividly detailed and very very funny. I am also growing increasingly interested in the Napoleonic era as a predecessor to the “world” conflicts at the beginning of the 20th century, and it is intriguing to read an Englishman’s sympathetic take on a Frenchman during this period. In any event, these stories deserve to be better known than they are. And, for my money and time, I’d much rather spend an afternoon hanging out with Gerard than with that other fellow concocted by Conan Doyle.
—Sara
Brigadier Gerard is a brave and gallant officer in Napoleon's army, and is convinced that there is no man more brave, resourceful, skillful with the sword and attractive to the ladies than himself. His adventures describe how he gets into the tightest places, and somehow, by luck, gallantry or bravery escapes.Though Gerard is a colorfully depicted character, I found him tiresome very soon. He is a caricature of a Frenchman in the sense that he is overly emotional (frequently "shedding tears" when disappointed, rolling on the ground in laughter at his cleverness--and, of my favorites, his shock when the English general does not "weep" upon his shoulder after a passionate speech, "as any Frenchman would have done"). Still, he is brave, though I caught myself doubting if perhaps he had glorified the real facts.....
—Lia Turnbull
This really wasn’t my cup of tea. It was a review copy which I dutifully read but if it had been a Xmas present I probably wouldn’t have – the Flashman I got as a ‘secret Santa’ about ten years ago is still lying unread. It’s not bad – far from it – but just because a thing is well written isn’t reason enough to read it in my book. Gerard is an endearing character and is often unintentionally funny in just the same was a Sherlock Holmes is funny and it says a lot about Conan Doyle’s skill as a writer that he can present us with two such carefully drawn characters although Gerard teeters on the brink of caricature far more often than Holmes. If you enjoyed Holmes it's worth having a look at this but read one online first, that’d be my advice.You can read my full review on my blog here.
—Jim
