"UNDER TWO FLAGS" by Ouida (B)

This is an interesting Victorian adventure romance novel that, although dated, might be right up your literary alley. I have wanted to read this book for decades, and I finally did so recently. I loved it, although I will admit that it really is dated to the point of literary extinction. However, it does possess great characterizations, and, by the time that I was done, I really felt like I knew and understood each of its main characters. This is one of those books that provides a long, leisurely trip to another time and a distant, fascinating place and lifestyle that no longer exists. 

You might remember it as having been on your reading list in high school or in college, maybe on your required reading list for summer vacation and the followup dreaded book report. If you had decided to read it, you probably hated it, as it is filled with dense prose and long, descriptive passages that are beyond the intellect or interest of most kids.

It's not written in our style today, and some might ridicule the author for her florid Victorian writing manner and this book as well with its highly romanticized subject matter of courage, honor, and integrity, or the lack thereof, of the upper classes of England when that country was at its pinnacle as a world power.

Don't laugh here, but my interest in reading this novel came from having read the story in a Classics Illustrated comic while I was a child back in the days when some comic books actually aspired to elevate their readers. I read many of the Classic comic books, and I usually read the book if I found that the story captured my interest. Somehow, I never got around to reading this novel.

It was a good thing that I didn't read this book, since I never would have been able to wend my way through the dense prose that is the hallmark of Ouida's writing style. Needless to say, this book was written way before Hemingway introduced the modern literary style with its short, concise sentences and a spare, conversational literary structure.

It is a very long read at almost a thousand pages, and it is written in an antique style where sentences sometimes run on for a half a page. I can only imagine some sadistic grammar school teacher having a class try to diagram one of those sentences.

Ouida's real name was Maria Louisa de la Ramée. Like Jane Austen, she had to write under a nom de plume to get her works published. Her literary name "Ouida" came from her baby sister mispronouncing her middle name.

Ramée is an extraordinarily literate and knowledgeable woman, and she must have traveled extensively for a woman in those days. Her many passages describing distant lands resound with the authenticity of someone who must have been there. She also appears to be fluent in several languages. French phrases, descriptions, and bon mots are tossed off regularly, although each, thankfully, is translated at the bottom of the page. Ouida also wrote the more popular novel, "A Dog of Flanders," which has been made into a movie several times.

In "Under Two Flags," her hero, Bertie Cecil, is a handsome, young, and dashing English aristocrat who comes from an impoverished line of English nobility. He excels at everything he puts his mind to, especially at winning the horse races that take place at the country estates of the landed gentry. Women idolize him, but he is too lazy to get married, and, besides, he is carrying on an illicit affair with the young wife of a duke.

Other than the constant lack of money, Bertie's problems seem to be few, and, like his money troubles, he puts them on the back burner for later attention. His elderly widowed father detests him for a reason that he keeps to himself, and he has disinherited Bertie from the future title and the income from the lands in favor of his younger brother. His younger brother is even worse than Bertie at paying attention to his diminished budget, and, unlike Bertie, he has a severe gambling problem at cards. Bertie gambles as well, but only on winning his horse races, and his regular success at that allows him to keep his brother away from the money lenders.

But Bertie's financial support is never enough for his selfish younger brother, who resents having to come to him all of the time hat in hand for another bailout. He forges two signatures, including that of Bertie, for a gambling debt, and the honorable Bertie decides to take the fall to protect him. He flees all that he knows and loves to enlist as a private in the French Foreign Legion.

During his twelve years in Africa, Bertie Cecil, now living under an assumed name, excels at every military campaign, and he enjoys the undying loyalty of the troops under his command. However, he is held back for promotion from the lowly rank of private by a captain who has become bitterly jealous of his many talents. Bertie keeps his emotions under tight control, but it is obvious that these two men will come to blows over something, most likely a woman. That will mean the death of Cecil by a firing squad, since a soldier can never strike his commanding officer.

That fight over a woman could be over the vivacious Cigarette, a scamp of the Legion and an honorary Legionnaire. Brave to the point of recklessness, she fears nothing and she loves to rescue "her men" from the heat of battle. They return the favor by idolizing her, especially when she is singing at the local cantina. Cigarette finds something noble about this quiet soldier that fascinates her. Perhaps it is because he is immune to her charms. Whatever it is, she starts to fall in love with him, and the Captain finds another reason to hate Cecil and to prevent him from ever being promoted.

"Under Two Flags" is long out of print, but it can probably be found in a library associated with a liberal arts college or high school. I would recommend it highly for those of you who may be into this kind of literature.

Enjoy a good read whenever you can! Carl