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The African Queen
As World War I reaches the heart of the African jungle, Charlie Allnutt and Rose Sayer, a dishevelled trader, and an English spinster missionary, find themselves thrown together by circumstance in German Central Africa. Fighting time, heat, malaria, and bullets, they make their escape on the rickety steamboat The African Queen... and hatch their own outrageous military plan. Originally published in 1935, The African Queen is a tale replete with vintage Forester drama - unrelenting suspense, reckless heroism, impromptu military manoeuvres, near-death experiences - and a good old-fashioned love story to boot.
257 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
About the author
C.S. Forester
410 books886 followersCecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 599 reviews
October 26, 2023
In the remote German colony of East Africa, now Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, comprising 7 million natives and ten thousand Europeans, today 75 million, they finally learn war has begun in faraway Europe, this is August 1914, the most lethal conflict in history, twenty years later a bigger one commences, but that is another story, you'd think nobody cares here about distant Europe...wrong, people bring their loyalties, suspicions and loathings with them. The Great Lakes area of central Africa in the Rift Valley is larger than North Americas, still not many people know it exists, this, is where the action starts. On the Ulanga River appears the African Queen a small steam- powered launch owned by a Belgian gold mining corporation in the where else, the Belgian Congo, the only person onboard, Charles Allnutt 30, ( is this a pun?) he prefers Charlie, a Cockney mechanic working in the mine, likes to take a drink or two
for medicinal purposes only, lets give him the benefit of the doubt, ( the boat owners also do a little trading on the side) flowing down the stream, I say this since the wood fueled vessel's top speed is 4 knots. The grubby looking man feels concern about fellow citizens, the British missionary couple Samuel and sister Rose Sayer, age 33, he travels to the mission to find out their situation. The German campaign has just come through here, destroying anything which could be a possible threat, looting and capturing Africans living at the mission, others fled, as did the "Captain's" Mr. Allnutt's crew, all two members. Ten years of hard work for nought, illness and failure cause Samuel's death...The new passenger on the African Queen has a preposterous idea, insane maybe, go down the dangerous Ulanga River, still unmapped, the patriotic lady urges the quite reluctant Englishman, forget the hazards, remember your duty, we need to journey, plenty of wood in the forests and river for fuel and initiate action...revenge will be sweet.
Through the numerous, ominous rapids, primeval jungles on both banks, risking their lives, in insect infested swamps, malaria sure to follow and the always present bugs, unceasing mosquitoes biting , sucking your precious blood , past a German fort that will give no quarter to man or woman, go to fictitious Lake Wittelsach, if a connection is discovered, sink a well armed large gunboat the Luisa, Rose surprisingly is made of harder substance than Charlie the dubious, soon agrees though, helping good old England to win the war... The highlight is shooting the endless rapids on the wide, wild river, soaked to the gills...yes they have explosives and begin to really, really like each other, the dirtier their clothes become , the little left they wear, when the bodies unpleasant scents permeates the atmosphere, so the affections accelerate. A magnificent romantic nonsense, which thrills lovers of books, as a new couple form an unlikely alliance, a happy ending is for the reader to imagine. . And I believe in happy endings....A few changes from the classic film be warned, but Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn were brilliant. Watching them on screen is such a pleasure and I hope the curious will read and view the two versions of this excellent product...
for medicinal purposes only, lets give him the benefit of the doubt, ( the boat owners also do a little trading on the side) flowing down the stream, I say this since the wood fueled vessel's top speed is 4 knots. The grubby looking man feels concern about fellow citizens, the British missionary couple Samuel and sister Rose Sayer, age 33, he travels to the mission to find out their situation. The German campaign has just come through here, destroying anything which could be a possible threat, looting and capturing Africans living at the mission, others fled, as did the "Captain's" Mr. Allnutt's crew, all two members. Ten years of hard work for nought, illness and failure cause Samuel's death...The new passenger on the African Queen has a preposterous idea, insane maybe, go down the dangerous Ulanga River, still unmapped, the patriotic lady urges the quite reluctant Englishman, forget the hazards, remember your duty, we need to journey, plenty of wood in the forests and river for fuel and initiate action...revenge will be sweet.
Through the numerous, ominous rapids, primeval jungles on both banks, risking their lives, in insect infested swamps, malaria sure to follow and the always present bugs, unceasing mosquitoes biting , sucking your precious blood , past a German fort that will give no quarter to man or woman, go to fictitious Lake Wittelsach, if a connection is discovered, sink a well armed large gunboat the Luisa, Rose surprisingly is made of harder substance than Charlie the dubious, soon agrees though, helping good old England to win the war... The highlight is shooting the endless rapids on the wide, wild river, soaked to the gills...yes they have explosives and begin to really, really like each other, the dirtier their clothes become , the little left they wear, when the bodies unpleasant scents permeates the atmosphere, so the affections accelerate. A magnificent romantic nonsense, which thrills lovers of books, as a new couple form an unlikely alliance, a happy ending is for the reader to imagine. . And I believe in happy endings....A few changes from the classic film be warned, but Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn were brilliant. Watching them on screen is such a pleasure and I hope the curious will read and view the two versions of this excellent product...
June 12, 2017
For the first time in 2017 I participated in bingo in the group catching up on classics. One square is read a classic romance and initially I was thrown for a loss because I do not even read contemporary romance as a genre. After typing classic romance into lists one of the books offered was The African Queen by C. S. Forester. I had been exposed to the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn many times because it is one of my mother's favorite movies, but had never read the 1935 classic until now.
It is 1914. Rose Sayers is deep in the African Congo when World War I arrives on the continent. Germans fighting the British for control of the interior of the territory murder her brother Samuel. Immediately help arrives in the form of cockney mechanic Charlie Allnut who had been working for the Belgians in Nigasi. After burying Samuel, Rose and Charlie concoct a plan to avenge his death. Guiding Allnuts's small steamer the African Queen over the waterfalls of the Ulanga River to a Lake, most likely Victoria, they will torpedo the German fighter Konigin Luise and gain superiority for the British.
The plot comes with many pitfalls, mainly that the African Queen is ill suited for much more than lazy river travel. The boat breaks down and the couple has to repair it many times over, not before falling in love while in close quarters. Charlie and Rose share a "honeymoon," and I could envision Bogart and Hepburn here as I quickly read through to find a resolution.
I found the book to be dated. Even though it was three hundred pages in length, they were short pages, and the novel read fast. Forester employs simplistic language, and role of both men and women is indicative of the era in which he wrote. Yet, the story was fun, with Forester turning the plot into both an adventure of good versus evil and a racy romance starring the protagonists. If he did not intend the novel to be a screenplay, it is evident that the story translated well to the silver screen, with the roles of Charlie and Rose being earmarked for the stars of the day.
Most likely, I would not have read The African Queen if classic romance was not a bingo square. Romance is a genre I tend to avoid as it overlooks positive character traits of both men and women in favor of romantic undertones. The story behind this classic story was a fun adventure by an author whose work I would be willing to revisit. The African Queen was a fun 4 star read for a lazy afternoon, and I am eagerly awaiting to see the film again.
It is 1914. Rose Sayers is deep in the African Congo when World War I arrives on the continent. Germans fighting the British for control of the interior of the territory murder her brother Samuel. Immediately help arrives in the form of cockney mechanic Charlie Allnut who had been working for the Belgians in Nigasi. After burying Samuel, Rose and Charlie concoct a plan to avenge his death. Guiding Allnuts's small steamer the African Queen over the waterfalls of the Ulanga River to a Lake, most likely Victoria, they will torpedo the German fighter Konigin Luise and gain superiority for the British.
The plot comes with many pitfalls, mainly that the African Queen is ill suited for much more than lazy river travel. The boat breaks down and the couple has to repair it many times over, not before falling in love while in close quarters. Charlie and Rose share a "honeymoon," and I could envision Bogart and Hepburn here as I quickly read through to find a resolution.
I found the book to be dated. Even though it was three hundred pages in length, they were short pages, and the novel read fast. Forester employs simplistic language, and role of both men and women is indicative of the era in which he wrote. Yet, the story was fun, with Forester turning the plot into both an adventure of good versus evil and a racy romance starring the protagonists. If he did not intend the novel to be a screenplay, it is evident that the story translated well to the silver screen, with the roles of Charlie and Rose being earmarked for the stars of the day.
Most likely, I would not have read The African Queen if classic romance was not a bingo square. Romance is a genre I tend to avoid as it overlooks positive character traits of both men and women in favor of romantic undertones. The story behind this classic story was a fun adventure by an author whose work I would be willing to revisit. The African Queen was a fun 4 star read for a lazy afternoon, and I am eagerly awaiting to see the film again.
April 17, 2023
I listened to the audio version of The African Queen, which was offered at a big discount on Audible. I’ve read a number of C.S. Forester’s books down the years, and I had seen the famous 1951 film version of this novel. For anyone unfamiliar with it, it’s an “odd couple” story set in “German Central Africa” at the beginning of WW1. Rose Sayer is the 33-year-old, strait laced, intensely religious and patriotic sister of a recently deceased missionary, whilst Charlie Allnutt is a Cockney mechanic and skipper of the eponymous steam launch, and someone who “looks out for No.1”. His African crew deserted to avoid being conscripted as bearers by the German colonial army. Rose persuades (or rather, orders) Allnutt into a madcap scheme where they will use the African Queen to attack a German gunboat, Königin Luise, which controls one of the lakes of the Rift Valley.
Forester almost always provides a decent adventure story. There were a few other aspects to this I enjoyed. One was the humour, derived of course from the contrasting characters of Rose and Allnutt. Forester gently sends up the attitudes of Edwardian Britain. Early on in the book, Rose casts her mind back to the outbreak of the Boer War:
“She had read the newspapers occasionally at the time. It was excusable for a girl of 20 to do that in a national crisis.”
When proposing her scheme to Allnutt, one of the latter’s many objections is that it would lead to the two of them “being blown to Kingdom Come.”
“Rose thought, with an unwonted rapidity and lucidity. She was sizing up Allnutt’s mental attitude to a nicety…As for going to Kingdom Come, as Allnutt put it with some hint of profanity, she had no objection at all.”
A big theme of the book is how both characters change. Allnutt becomes much less self-serving, whereas Rose undergoes an even bigger transformation. She has been brought up from childhood to regard men as the decision makers in all things, and has spent 10 years as her brother’s housekeeper, submerging all of her own wishes. For the first time in her life she now has freedom and decision making power. This aspect gave the novel quite a modern feel, especially for a book published in 1935.
The film version follows the novel quite closely until the last few chapters, but the ending of the novel is very different from the film. I think I preferred Forester’s version.
Forester almost always provides a decent adventure story. There were a few other aspects to this I enjoyed. One was the humour, derived of course from the contrasting characters of Rose and Allnutt. Forester gently sends up the attitudes of Edwardian Britain. Early on in the book, Rose casts her mind back to the outbreak of the Boer War:
“She had read the newspapers occasionally at the time. It was excusable for a girl of 20 to do that in a national crisis.”
When proposing her scheme to Allnutt, one of the latter’s many objections is that it would lead to the two of them “being blown to Kingdom Come.”
“Rose thought, with an unwonted rapidity and lucidity. She was sizing up Allnutt’s mental attitude to a nicety…As for going to Kingdom Come, as Allnutt put it with some hint of profanity, she had no objection at all.”
A big theme of the book is how both characters change. Allnutt becomes much less self-serving, whereas Rose undergoes an even bigger transformation. She has been brought up from childhood to regard men as the decision makers in all things, and has spent 10 years as her brother’s housekeeper, submerging all of her own wishes. For the first time in her life she now has freedom and decision making power. This aspect gave the novel quite a modern feel, especially for a book published in 1935.
The film version follows the novel quite closely until the last few chapters, but the ending of the novel is very different from the film. I think I preferred Forester’s version.
April 2, 2019
This 1935 classic is a wonderful old-fashioned love story full of adventure and suspense. Set deep in the African jungle with WWI about to break loose, prim and proper missionary Rosie Sayer and scruffy trader Charlie Allnut, an unlikely pair to say the least, escape down the Ulanga River in his old beat-up boat The African Queen to escape the Germans.
While enduring infestations of biting flies, masses of mosquitos, bouts of malaria and flying bullets to boot, Rosie and Charlie fall in love and concoct an idiotic plan to do their part for the war effort AND avenge her brother's death.
This fast-paced read is much like the grand old movie with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart........except for the ending. Enjoyed it!
February 19, 2018
This novel by C.S. Forester was published in 1935. The more famous movie was filmed in 1951. I saw the movie first, so when I read the book I pictured, in my mind, Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Nothing unusual about that, I imagine everyone does the same. But it has been many years since I saw the movie, and then only once, so I don’t remember if the movie followed the book, or not so much. So, the point of all this rambling is, as I read the book all the scenes were playing in my mind like a movie, with Katherine and Bogey as big as life, which I think made the book more enjoyable foe me.
February 26, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2010
If you do a quick scan through reviews for this book, quite a number of them read something like this:
...this is one case where the movie was better.
...I should have just stuck with the movie and not bothered with the book
...The book pales in comparison with the movie
...and so on
That's all fine and well. Yes, the movie is excellent. Yes, books brought to life are often much more interesting than the original work itself. But can't books just be reviewed on their own, without having to compare them to their cinematic counterparts? Or is that impossible nowadays? -sigh- Oh well. It is what it is, right? For now, let's move along.
It's 1914 and the German Army is attempting to claim central Africa. Its local leader has come to a small mission station on the Ulanga River in what was at that time known as the Belgian Congo, and has taken away the converts, food, materials, anything the Army might need to succeed. The stress of it all has killed British missionary Samuel Sayer, leaving his spinster sister Rose on her own. Luckily, she manages to convince Charlie Allnut, the cockney-speaking skipper of the African Queen, to take her on as a passenger. Her grand plan is to take this rambling wreck of a boat downriver to where the German ship Königin Luise sits, and use the explosives Charlie has stored to make the African Queen one giant floating torpedo and blow it up. In her mind, she'll kill two birds with one stone: she'll get revenge for Samuel's death and they'll be doing "their bit" for England. So off they go on their journey -- and along the way they come to learn exactly what stuff they're made of.
The African Queen is really more character driven than plot driven, focusing on Charlie and Rose, but mostly on Rose. Brought up in England, now in her 30s, Rose first lived under the thumb of her father and of English society, then traded that for life with her proper missionary brother. But once all of the restraints placed upon her have disappeared, and have no meaning out there in the middle of the jungle, Rose begins to really live for the first time. Many people who have commented on this novel find her newly-found freedom from such deeply-instilled mores a bit unrealistic, and perhaps her behavior on the African Queen is a bit out of character for someone so repressed, but Rose behaving badly works here. And why not? Her plan all along was to go down with the African Queen when it blows up the the Königin Luise, so really, what has she got to lose? But life, like the Ulanga River, takes some interesting twists and turns, creates obstacles to be overcome, circles back, and catches Rose and Charlie in its flow.
This book was written in 1935, so modern readers may find it slow going. However, if it is at all possible to read the book and not think of the movie, and to get under the surface here, there's a lot to like about it.
...this is one case where the movie was better.
...I should have just stuck with the movie and not bothered with the book
...The book pales in comparison with the movie
...and so on
That's all fine and well. Yes, the movie is excellent. Yes, books brought to life are often much more interesting than the original work itself. But can't books just be reviewed on their own, without having to compare them to their cinematic counterparts? Or is that impossible nowadays? -sigh- Oh well. It is what it is, right? For now, let's move along.
It's 1914 and the German Army is attempting to claim central Africa. Its local leader has come to a small mission station on the Ulanga River in what was at that time known as the Belgian Congo, and has taken away the converts, food, materials, anything the Army might need to succeed. The stress of it all has killed British missionary Samuel Sayer, leaving his spinster sister Rose on her own. Luckily, she manages to convince Charlie Allnut, the cockney-speaking skipper of the African Queen, to take her on as a passenger. Her grand plan is to take this rambling wreck of a boat downriver to where the German ship Königin Luise sits, and use the explosives Charlie has stored to make the African Queen one giant floating torpedo and blow it up. In her mind, she'll kill two birds with one stone: she'll get revenge for Samuel's death and they'll be doing "their bit" for England. So off they go on their journey -- and along the way they come to learn exactly what stuff they're made of.
The African Queen is really more character driven than plot driven, focusing on Charlie and Rose, but mostly on Rose. Brought up in England, now in her 30s, Rose first lived under the thumb of her father and of English society, then traded that for life with her proper missionary brother. But once all of the restraints placed upon her have disappeared, and have no meaning out there in the middle of the jungle, Rose begins to really live for the first time. Many people who have commented on this novel find her newly-found freedom from such deeply-instilled mores a bit unrealistic, and perhaps her behavior on the African Queen is a bit out of character for someone so repressed, but Rose behaving badly works here. And why not? Her plan all along was to go down with the African Queen when it blows up the the Königin Luise, so really, what has she got to lose? But life, like the Ulanga River, takes some interesting twists and turns, creates obstacles to be overcome, circles back, and catches Rose and Charlie in its flow.
This book was written in 1935, so modern readers may find it slow going. However, if it is at all possible to read the book and not think of the movie, and to get under the surface here, there's a lot to like about it.
September 9, 2015
If you think the movie was good, wait until you read the book! The book was written in 1935, so while Germans were the bad guys, they weren't the villains of the 1951 movie. It made for a much better ending.
This was basically a 2 character book & they were very well done. Rose spent the first 30 years of her life oppressed by religion. She wasted away for the past decade to no purpose other than her 'duty' to her brother, a cold fanatic. His death & the war freed her. What a magnificent woman she became, too! While she didn't give up her religion completely, she certainly got some more elbow room.
Charlie isn't a heroic guy. He's easy going to a fault, without ambition or any sort of plans for the future. He's not particularly honest, brave, nor sober, if he can't help it, but he needed someone to give him direction. Rose proved to be that person & he becomes the definition of uxorious (A word I'd never heard before reading this. It means "having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one's wife".) which makes him her perfect tool.
Their relationship is rather hilarious. She was raised to be submissive to men & is to Charlie in most things, however not when it comes to her grand purpose. In that, she is the leader. Together, they become a sum greater than the parts. Rose's determination was incredible, even if it was fueled by complete ignorance. Charlie's devotion to her made him forget what was possible, so he just figured out how to do what she wanted done - what had to be done. Forester's details of their adventures are excellent. He obviously did a lot of research.
It's not a very long book & I highly recommend it to one & all.
This was basically a 2 character book & they were very well done. Rose spent the first 30 years of her life oppressed by religion. She wasted away for the past decade to no purpose other than her 'duty' to her brother, a cold fanatic. His death & the war freed her. What a magnificent woman she became, too! While she didn't give up her religion completely, she certainly got some more elbow room.
Charlie isn't a heroic guy. He's easy going to a fault, without ambition or any sort of plans for the future. He's not particularly honest, brave, nor sober, if he can't help it, but he needed someone to give him direction. Rose proved to be that person & he becomes the definition of uxorious (A word I'd never heard before reading this. It means "having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one's wife".) which makes him her perfect tool.
Their relationship is rather hilarious. She was raised to be submissive to men & is to Charlie in most things, however not when it comes to her grand purpose. In that, she is the leader. Together, they become a sum greater than the parts. Rose's determination was incredible, even if it was fueled by complete ignorance. Charlie's devotion to her made him forget what was possible, so he just figured out how to do what she wanted done - what had to be done. Forester's details of their adventures are excellent. He obviously did a lot of research.
It's not a very long book & I highly recommend it to one & all.
March 7, 2022
I have seen the 1951 film The African Queen several times over the last thirty years and loved it each viewing mainly because of the actors Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. When I noticed the book is on Guardian’s 1000 Books to Read list, I decided to read it. This was my first book by C.S. Forester who is known for his Hornblower Saga, nautical war stories (and unknown to me). I don’t tend to read war-related books, but the focus of The African Queen is more on finding one’s inner strength and patriotism than military descriptions.
The story revolves around Rose Sayer (33), sister to a British Anglican missionary in German East Africa, who has lived and worked alongside her brother for ten years. When World War I began, the German army conscripted all the natives, leaving the village deserted. Unfortunately, her brother dies of sickness shortly after. Now alone, Rose is angry and blames German.
About this time, Charley Allnutt (30s) arrives to the village. He’s an East Londoner working for a Belgian mining company, whose job is the mechanic and skipper of a boat named African Queen. Rose has known Allnutt for several years because he delivered the mission’s supplies as he traveled the Ulanga River. With worry about danger and war, Allnutt brings Rose with him to the boat where they discuss what to do.
Being overly familiar with the plot of the film, I was unsure about what insight the book might deliver. It was the characterization that the books showed clearer, even though Bogart and Hepburn are iconic figures in this film. Rose had led a sheltered life despite being a missionary in Africa for ten years. Her brother had been domineering and Rose didn’t realize her inner strength and love for adventure until it emerged because of the situation in which she finds herself. She feels free and alive for the first time ever. Allnutt had always been carefree and mellow and maybe mildly cowardly. The book highlights the driving force behind the plot, and that’s Rose. She is the clear leader and motivator of the proposed plan. Allnutt, or as he becomes known to Rose, “Good ole, Charley”, doubts their success. He is the clear follower but seemed to grow more assured with Rose in charge. Some of their adventures include battling the elements, like water and environment, mechanical issues, sickness, and evading capture and bullets.
The writing flowed easily and had vivid descriptions about the challenges Rose and Charley faced. I appreciated the logical solutions they employed to problem solve. At times, the story would grow suspenseful when they were in dangerous situations. Other times, you could feel the mounting despair about keeping on task.
Like I said, I’ve seen the movie many times and loved it. Imagine my disappointment when the ending of the book was similar yet lackluster when compared with the film. It wasn’t bad just not as defined and assured. The film's ending is more romantic and I will just pretend that’s how the book ended.
It was a delightful story with adventure and some suspense. And it regulated war stuff to the sidelines to focus on the characters and their plight. Readers should know it contains some racism, sexism, and intimate scenes (closed door).
The story revolves around Rose Sayer (33), sister to a British Anglican missionary in German East Africa, who has lived and worked alongside her brother for ten years. When World War I began, the German army conscripted all the natives, leaving the village deserted. Unfortunately, her brother dies of sickness shortly after. Now alone, Rose is angry and blames German.
About this time, Charley Allnutt (30s) arrives to the village. He’s an East Londoner working for a Belgian mining company, whose job is the mechanic and skipper of a boat named African Queen. Rose has known Allnutt for several years because he delivered the mission’s supplies as he traveled the Ulanga River. With worry about danger and war, Allnutt brings Rose with him to the boat where they discuss what to do.
Being overly familiar with the plot of the film, I was unsure about what insight the book might deliver. It was the characterization that the books showed clearer, even though Bogart and Hepburn are iconic figures in this film. Rose had led a sheltered life despite being a missionary in Africa for ten years. Her brother had been domineering and Rose didn’t realize her inner strength and love for adventure until it emerged because of the situation in which she finds herself. She feels free and alive for the first time ever. Allnutt had always been carefree and mellow and maybe mildly cowardly. The book highlights the driving force behind the plot, and that’s Rose. She is the clear leader and motivator of the proposed plan. Allnutt, or as he becomes known to Rose, “Good ole, Charley”, doubts their success. He is the clear follower but seemed to grow more assured with Rose in charge. Some of their adventures include battling the elements, like water and environment, mechanical issues, sickness, and evading capture and bullets.
The writing flowed easily and had vivid descriptions about the challenges Rose and Charley faced. I appreciated the logical solutions they employed to problem solve. At times, the story would grow suspenseful when they were in dangerous situations. Other times, you could feel the mounting despair about keeping on task.
Like I said, I’ve seen the movie many times and loved it. Imagine my disappointment when the ending of the book was similar yet lackluster when compared with the film. It wasn’t bad just not as defined and assured. The film's ending is more romantic and I will just pretend that’s how the book ended.
It was a delightful story with adventure and some suspense. And it regulated war stuff to the sidelines to focus on the characters and their plight. Readers should know it contains some racism, sexism, and intimate scenes (closed door).
July 1, 2017
I was a big fan of C.S. Forester's Hornblower series and had become completely enthralled by that world. So reading The African Queen and other Forester works like The General directly after finishing the Hornblower series felt strange. I still enjoyed them. Forester was a very solid writer. But those books were their own thing, separated by time and setting. It took some switching of gears to get into them and then they were done. Finished before I could get invested in the characters as I had with Hornblower.
December 30, 2013
[7/10]
The launch hardly seemed worthy of her grandiloquent name of African Queen . She was squat, flat-bottomed, and thirty feet long. Her paint was peeling off her, and she reeked of decay. A tattered awning roofed in six feet of the stern; amidships stood the engine and boiler, with the stumpy funnel reaching up just higher than the awning.
Two people are thrown together into this derelict boat by the fortunes of war. It is 1914 and the events in Europe are echoed in the middle of Africa as the German colonists on the East coast mobilize to oppose the Allies (Belgian and English) on the West. Rose and Allnutt are both English, but even they are engaged in a private little war of domination : they come from different backgrounds at a time where class differences were the defining element of the British social structure. Rose is a middle aged spinster from a reasonably wealthy background doing missionary work with her dominating elderly brother. Allnutt is an upstart Cockney drifter who sailed the high seas as a stoker until he landed a realtively safe job as a currier on the Ulanga river, based on his nautical and mechanical experience. Gender politics also come into play in the duel of wills between Rose and Allnutt. He wants to stay out of trouble, she wants to do a grand gesture striking at the Germans who destroyed her cosy household with her brother, at the same time affirming and validating her new found independence. So the two imcompatible partners set out to descend the Ulanga River and attack a much stronger German gunship ( Konigin Louise ) guarding the access to West Africa. As we have come to expect from romantic comedies, the initial repulsion will turn into something more passionate as the couple spend more time together and get to know each other.
The story should be familiar to most of us from the famous Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn movie directed by John Huston. I believe the movie is almost flawless, due to the genius of the two leads to inhabit their characters and to transmit their passion to the viewers, something the book only partially manages through unconvincing psychological speculations and a heavy dose a patriotic fervor. Yet the book has its merits, and I would recommend giving it a try, even for those who, like me, have seen the movie about a dozen times.
There could be no monotony on the river, with its snags and mud bars, its bends and its backwaters, its eddies and its swirls. Perhaps those few days of active happiness were sufficient recompense to Rose for thirty-three years of passive misery.
C S Forester is clearly better at writing nautical adventures than at exploring character motivations, and the highpoint of the book is the perilous journey on the Ulanga river, depicted in vivid detail, especially when it comes to riding the white water cataracts and the gruelling traverse of the delta labyrinth. An added bonus for me was to discover some technical engineering passages (I actually work in pumps, turbines, compressors repairs) and the details on improvised repairs on the African Queen :
Under the urgings of necessity, and with the stimulus given him by Rose's confiding faith in his ability, Allnutt devised all sorts of ways of dealing with that boiler tube; it might be almost be said that he reinvented some of his processess.
A significant difference between the book and the movie can be found in the conclusion, with Hollywood going for a safe, conventional tryumph of love and courage, and Forester preferring a more subtle, ambiguous resolution. Actually, the book ending compensates for the overt nationalistic claims in earlier passages ( If English explorers had turned back at the sight of apparent impossibilities the British Empire would not be nearly its present size.) I was tempted to laugh when the author not only turned introvert, shy Rose into a white water master pilot overnight, but later compared her to Napoleon and Nelson in her efforts to strike a blow at the German foes. Yet both Allnutt and Rose end up as fallible, credible and dissillusioned people, with even their passion probably insufficient to steer them into a safe harbour. And I liked them better for it than in the above mentioned Hollywood cliche. Forester himself chooses to qualify his shaky psychological speculations towards he end of the story, accepting both the inscrutable in human motivations and the hollowness of the patriotic fever:
Perhaps no one can really understand the state of mind of a man who volunteers in war for duty that may lead to death, but that such volunteers are always forthcoming has been proved by too many pitiful events in history.
Conclusion: check out both - movie and book, they complete each other.
The launch hardly seemed worthy of her grandiloquent name of African Queen . She was squat, flat-bottomed, and thirty feet long. Her paint was peeling off her, and she reeked of decay. A tattered awning roofed in six feet of the stern; amidships stood the engine and boiler, with the stumpy funnel reaching up just higher than the awning.
Two people are thrown together into this derelict boat by the fortunes of war. It is 1914 and the events in Europe are echoed in the middle of Africa as the German colonists on the East coast mobilize to oppose the Allies (Belgian and English) on the West. Rose and Allnutt are both English, but even they are engaged in a private little war of domination : they come from different backgrounds at a time where class differences were the defining element of the British social structure. Rose is a middle aged spinster from a reasonably wealthy background doing missionary work with her dominating elderly brother. Allnutt is an upstart Cockney drifter who sailed the high seas as a stoker until he landed a realtively safe job as a currier on the Ulanga river, based on his nautical and mechanical experience. Gender politics also come into play in the duel of wills between Rose and Allnutt. He wants to stay out of trouble, she wants to do a grand gesture striking at the Germans who destroyed her cosy household with her brother, at the same time affirming and validating her new found independence. So the two imcompatible partners set out to descend the Ulanga River and attack a much stronger German gunship ( Konigin Louise ) guarding the access to West Africa. As we have come to expect from romantic comedies, the initial repulsion will turn into something more passionate as the couple spend more time together and get to know each other.
The story should be familiar to most of us from the famous Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn movie directed by John Huston. I believe the movie is almost flawless, due to the genius of the two leads to inhabit their characters and to transmit their passion to the viewers, something the book only partially manages through unconvincing psychological speculations and a heavy dose a patriotic fervor. Yet the book has its merits, and I would recommend giving it a try, even for those who, like me, have seen the movie about a dozen times.
There could be no monotony on the river, with its snags and mud bars, its bends and its backwaters, its eddies and its swirls. Perhaps those few days of active happiness were sufficient recompense to Rose for thirty-three years of passive misery.
C S Forester is clearly better at writing nautical adventures than at exploring character motivations, and the highpoint of the book is the perilous journey on the Ulanga river, depicted in vivid detail, especially when it comes to riding the white water cataracts and the gruelling traverse of the delta labyrinth. An added bonus for me was to discover some technical engineering passages (I actually work in pumps, turbines, compressors repairs) and the details on improvised repairs on the African Queen :
Under the urgings of necessity, and with the stimulus given him by Rose's confiding faith in his ability, Allnutt devised all sorts of ways of dealing with that boiler tube; it might be almost be said that he reinvented some of his processess.
A significant difference between the book and the movie can be found in the conclusion, with Hollywood going for a safe, conventional tryumph of love and courage, and Forester preferring a more subtle, ambiguous resolution. Actually, the book ending compensates for the overt nationalistic claims in earlier passages ( If English explorers had turned back at the sight of apparent impossibilities the British Empire would not be nearly its present size.) I was tempted to laugh when the author not only turned introvert, shy Rose into a white water master pilot overnight, but later compared her to Napoleon and Nelson in her efforts to strike a blow at the German foes. Yet both Allnutt and Rose end up as fallible, credible and dissillusioned people, with even their passion probably insufficient to steer them into a safe harbour. And I liked them better for it than in the above mentioned Hollywood cliche. Forester himself chooses to qualify his shaky psychological speculations towards he end of the story, accepting both the inscrutable in human motivations and the hollowness of the patriotic fever:
Perhaps no one can really understand the state of mind of a man who volunteers in war for duty that may lead to death, but that such volunteers are always forthcoming has been proved by too many pitiful events in history.
Conclusion: check out both - movie and book, they complete each other.
August 30, 2021
Germany Central Africa in the mist of World War 1. In the chaos of war you have the unthinkable pair of a spinster English missionary, Rose Sayer, and Charles Allnutt an English meachnic taking on the war ship Konigin Luise. This book reminds me of the pride one has in the belief of their country.
Further, it shows what you can accomplish when you are inhabited from a way of life and thinking to chart your on course. Read how Rose and Allnutt start to believe in their own strength and merit for a common good. They became creative in tackling the elements of Central Africa on their voyage down the Ulanga river. The writing is breathtaking and superb. I felt the heat, mosquitoes whining, sounds of the frogs, and the stillness of the lake. Read what happens when you start to believe in yourself.
Quotes:
Rose could see, in the moment before she devoutly closed her eyes, how thin and transparent those hands were, and how the bones of the wrists could be seen with almost the definition of a skeleton's.
"Coo!" said Allnutt again. Their was something infectious, something inspiring, about the notion of "doing something for England."
No one in his senses would have taken a stream launch into the cataract, and a reserve officer's training does not teach a man to guard against cases of insanity.
They were of the generation and class which had been educated to think that all good food came out of tins, and their years in Africa had not undeceived them.
Further, it shows what you can accomplish when you are inhabited from a way of life and thinking to chart your on course. Read how Rose and Allnutt start to believe in their own strength and merit for a common good. They became creative in tackling the elements of Central Africa on their voyage down the Ulanga river. The writing is breathtaking and superb. I felt the heat, mosquitoes whining, sounds of the frogs, and the stillness of the lake. Read what happens when you start to believe in yourself.
Quotes:
Rose could see, in the moment before she devoutly closed her eyes, how thin and transparent those hands were, and how the bones of the wrists could be seen with almost the definition of a skeleton's.
"Coo!" said Allnutt again. Their was something infectious, something inspiring, about the notion of "doing something for England."
No one in his senses would have taken a stream launch into the cataract, and a reserve officer's training does not teach a man to guard against cases of insanity.
They were of the generation and class which had been educated to think that all good food came out of tins, and their years in Africa had not undeceived them.
October 9, 2016
As World War One breaks out, the two lead characters in this book are deep in German Central Africa. The first, the spinster sister of the reverend, who has spent ten years at his side is left alone after her brother passes away. The second is an engineer from a Belgian gold mine two hundred miles further upstream.
Two English people, in the circumstances of the war, they have little other option but to band together to try and find a way out, in the small near derelict launch named The African Queen. Rose and Charlie, an unusual pair soon find their positions in the new relationship, and determine that the only option is to take on the barely navigable Ulanga river to the distant lake, where the German steamer patrols. Their ambitious plan includes improvising torpedos from the mining explosives the launch is loaded with!
So the story unfolds, with the virgin spinster taking control, and the cockney engineer doing as he is told with a 'yes miss'. Obstacles, rapids and cataracts, mosquitoes and malaria, mechanical breakdowns, gender politics, action and drama. Written in 1935, it is classic action rather than modern action, but a short enough book that you wouldn't notice.
Very entertaining, quick read. 4 stars.
Two English people, in the circumstances of the war, they have little other option but to band together to try and find a way out, in the small near derelict launch named The African Queen. Rose and Charlie, an unusual pair soon find their positions in the new relationship, and determine that the only option is to take on the barely navigable Ulanga river to the distant lake, where the German steamer patrols. Their ambitious plan includes improvising torpedos from the mining explosives the launch is loaded with!
So the story unfolds, with the virgin spinster taking control, and the cockney engineer doing as he is told with a 'yes miss'. Obstacles, rapids and cataracts, mosquitoes and malaria, mechanical breakdowns, gender politics, action and drama. Written in 1935, it is classic action rather than modern action, but a short enough book that you wouldn't notice.
Very entertaining, quick read. 4 stars.
May 24, 2018
Before I go into this review, I feel like I should mention that I probably wouldn't have read this book if I wasn't in a particular challenge that features read books set in Africa. Now that doesn't mean that I didn't like the book or that I hated it - because that's not the case. It was new and different for me and I thought it was just an okay kind of read. However, I will blame work for me not liking it as much as I probably should've because I work with annoying people all day, every day.
When I mentioned that I was going to read this book to my family, my dad and mom both mentioned that this was turned into a movie. I've never seen it personally and I don't think they have either but I'm kind of glad I haven't seen it. This book was just meh to me.
The African Queen is about two people who are thrown into some situations. Now I don't want to spoil a bunch about this book but I feel like we also don't really deal with this sort of thing nowadays. So it's around 1914, and Rose and Allnutt, who are both English, are engaged in a little game: war domination. Sounds like a game of Risk, right?
Rose and Allnutt come from different backgrounds but ultimately come together to solve some unnecessary tension. Of course they don't agree on how to attack or handle the situation at hand. Of course there's also some sexual tension between these two.. which I honestly didn't care for. I could've gone without the romance side of this book.
One thing I did like: the adventure. The African Queen will take you on a wonderful journey that does end up being a page tuner.. or a page tapper if you have a kindle. However, it does have it's flaws. I found myself being quite bored through some parts and I even stopped it to read a different book. I probably would've liked the book a lot more if I wanted to read it on my own or if I didn't read the reviews beforehand.. but I wanted to know what people though before I dove into it. Of course I would definitely come up with my own opinion in the end.. but I don't really know. I had high expectations.. but at the same time I didn't?
When I mentioned that I was going to read this book to my family, my dad and mom both mentioned that this was turned into a movie. I've never seen it personally and I don't think they have either but I'm kind of glad I haven't seen it. This book was just meh to me.
The African Queen is about two people who are thrown into some situations. Now I don't want to spoil a bunch about this book but I feel like we also don't really deal with this sort of thing nowadays. So it's around 1914, and Rose and Allnutt, who are both English, are engaged in a little game: war domination. Sounds like a game of Risk, right?
Rose and Allnutt come from different backgrounds but ultimately come together to solve some unnecessary tension. Of course they don't agree on how to attack or handle the situation at hand. Of course there's also some sexual tension between these two.. which I honestly didn't care for. I could've gone without the romance side of this book.
One thing I did like: the adventure. The African Queen will take you on a wonderful journey that does end up being a page tuner.. or a page tapper if you have a kindle. However, it does have it's flaws. I found myself being quite bored through some parts and I even stopped it to read a different book. I probably would've liked the book a lot more if I wanted to read it on my own or if I didn't read the reviews beforehand.. but I wanted to know what people though before I dove into it. Of course I would definitely come up with my own opinion in the end.. but I don't really know. I had high expectations.. but at the same time I didn't?
July 6, 2019
African Queen by C.S. Forester.
It’s WW1 and Rose and Charlie, two Brits, meet by happenstance behind enemy lines. Rose is the more refined and Charlie the miner with his cockney accent is less so. Both are attempting to escape German controlled East Africa by boat. The only way of escape is to run a series of unnavigable rivers. They don’t relish the thought of ending up in German hands.
The plot quickly morphs into a love story amidst the rapids. Shortly after developing their relationship, plans change to a coordinated one of revenge for Rose and Charlie. The seeds of revenge are the death and destruction that have the Germans have perpetrated on the miners, Charlie’s associates, and the Christian mission that was destroyed and to which Rose and her deceased brother had dedicated their lives.
They intend to use their boat as a torpedo, complete with mining explosives, in a suicide mission to blow up the German cruiser which patrols the seaside entrance to the major arteries of East Africa. But they have to make it through the rivers first.
4.5 stars. One of the better WW1 related novels that I have read. I loved the ending. Perhaps it could have been five stars once upon a time. Surprisingly progressive book for the 1930s with a female character who is the hero.
It’s WW1 and Rose and Charlie, two Brits, meet by happenstance behind enemy lines. Rose is the more refined and Charlie the miner with his cockney accent is less so. Both are attempting to escape German controlled East Africa by boat. The only way of escape is to run a series of unnavigable rivers. They don’t relish the thought of ending up in German hands.
The plot quickly morphs into a love story amidst the rapids. Shortly after developing their relationship, plans change to a coordinated one of revenge for Rose and Charlie. The seeds of revenge are the death and destruction that have the Germans have perpetrated on the miners, Charlie’s associates, and the Christian mission that was destroyed and to which Rose and her deceased brother had dedicated their lives.
They intend to use their boat as a torpedo, complete with mining explosives, in a suicide mission to blow up the German cruiser which patrols the seaside entrance to the major arteries of East Africa. But they have to make it through the rivers first.
4.5 stars. One of the better WW1 related novels that I have read. I loved the ending. Perhaps it could have been five stars once upon a time. Surprisingly progressive book for the 1930s with a female character who is the hero.
October 8, 2018
I loved this story of Rose & Charlie going down an African river (with rapids!) in an old beat up boat -- "The African Queen." Their goal is to get to the lake in central Africa where a German ship patrols (WWI) and try to torpedo it "for England!" As they travel down the river they encounter many exciting adventures, and also enjoy a very interesting, and sweet, relationship.
I liked it a lot, but I was not quite satisfied with the ending, and thought "Why didn't Forester write the ending as......" Well, come to find out I have seen the movie (45-50 years ago!!!), and as I looked up the movie ending, I found that that was the ending that I longed for! So, even though I do not remember much of the movie, something must have stuck.
And although I kept imagining Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, the characters in the book did seem to have their own personalities (not just copies of the movie actors).
One thing that I think the book had (and could delve more deeply into) that the movie didn't, was Rose's blossoming into a woman, realizing that her missionary brother was not the only kind of man in the world, and her appreciation for Charlie. Also, understanding Charlie's need for Rose's particular kind of love and bravery was heartwarming.
All-in-all, there was much more to this book than just an adventurous trip down an African river! I highly recommend it!
I liked it a lot, but I was not quite satisfied with the ending, and thought "Why didn't Forester write the ending as......" Well, come to find out I have seen the movie (45-50 years ago!!!), and as I looked up the movie ending, I found that that was the ending that I longed for! So, even though I do not remember much of the movie, something must have stuck.
And although I kept imagining Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, the characters in the book did seem to have their own personalities (not just copies of the movie actors).
One thing that I think the book had (and could delve more deeply into) that the movie didn't, was Rose's blossoming into a woman, realizing that her missionary brother was not the only kind of man in the world, and her appreciation for Charlie. Also, understanding Charlie's need for Rose's particular kind of love and bravery was heartwarming.
All-in-all, there was much more to this book than just an adventurous trip down an African river! I highly recommend it!
July 31, 2014
The African Queen is one of those few ass-kicking novels that comes along and reminds me that there is the occasional sparkling gem of classic genius buried beneath the massive dung heap of contemporary fiction.
Don't read this book to find the movie in written form. The book and the movie are two different things. The film features Katharine Hepburn in varying states of gorgeous as she travels wild-eyed down a river with the inimitable Humphrey Bogart in an opposites-attract love story. The novel is much, much more, and it's way better.
From the first sentence of the book, we know that Rose Sayer isn't exactly the docile and unwaveringly virtuous missionary woman she's supposed to be. "Had she been weak minded enough to give up" and give in to a bout of malaria, she'd be in bed; instead, she stubbornly resists her illness, praying with her brother and quietly pondering "the absence of her corset" and thinking about the fact that she's "wearing no under clothing at all beneath her white drill frock." (Obviously, this is a chick who's going to go wild the second she's no longer under male supervision. Thank God).
Enter Charlie Allnut, a machinist and a boat captain in Central Africa who should be, by rights, courageous and practical. From the second Charlie appears on the page, we learn that he's "philosophical," "passive," and "content to follow orders."
As soon as Charlie and Rose are alone together, they begin to transform. That is, when order collapses and they're forced to abandon the institutions they've been born into -- rigid Christianity for her and banal practicality for him -- Charlie and Rose become who they really are at their core, and they discover what it really means to live.
After thirty years of "passive misery" in deferring to men, Rose finally makes decisions. Allnut, who has spent his life trying to avoid trouble, learns to face danger, follow a passion, and develop a sense of higher purpose. Even the smaller changes they undergo are charming: Allnut turns to prayer going down the rapids, while Rose's mind "work[s] like a machine" as she navigates; Rose gets buff from all of the manual labor on the African Queen, and Charlie, for once in his life not slacking, almost works his small frame to death; and both, when faced with "the wild beauty of the Ulanga," develop a sense of accomplishment and "seethe with life."
Well.
Throw in a pulse-racing adventure down an African river, plus one of the hottest sex scenes I've ever read (precisely for what it doesn't say), and you've got one hell of a novel on your hands.
As for the writing? Worthy of a smirk, an eyebrow raise, and admiration:
"A woman sewing has a powerful weapon at her disposition when engaged in a duel with a man. Her bent head enables her to conceal her expression without apparently trying; it is the easiest matter in the world for her to simulate complete absorption in the work in hand when actually she is listening attentively; and if she feels disconcerted or needs a moment to think, she can always play for time by reaching for her scissors. And some men--Allnutt was an example--are irritated effectively by the attention paid to trifles of sewing instead of to their fascinating selves."
(Just more proof that British writers are ever superior to their American counterparts).
And let's not forget what I can only call "river porn," or, the most suggestive piece of nature writing I've ever seen:
"There was sheer joy in crashing through those waves. Rose, with never a thought that the frail fabric of the African Queen might be severely tired by those jolts and jars, found it exhilarating to head the launch into the stiff rigid waves which marked the junction of two currents, and to feel her buck and lurch under her, and to see the spray come flying back from the bows."
(Whoa. Is it any wonder that, just 3 pages later, she sleeps with a guy without knowing his first name?)
Obviously, there's a reason I read this book in one sitting on a Friday night, only to begin it again on Monday morning. I adore the writing, I find the adventure thrilling, and I think the love story is touching.
Most of all, I enjoy the fact that two people, when forced to abandon their societal roles, discover the beauty of the natural world, and of life itself. We learn that they're fundamentally good people, and by living as who they really are, they become better people.
It's rare to find this much going on in a novel, and that's precisely why The African Queen is one of the few great works of fiction that truly stands out among the garbage.
KICKED ASS so much that I'll probably read it a third time. And a fourth.
Don't read this book to find the movie in written form. The book and the movie are two different things. The film features Katharine Hepburn in varying states of gorgeous as she travels wild-eyed down a river with the inimitable Humphrey Bogart in an opposites-attract love story. The novel is much, much more, and it's way better.
From the first sentence of the book, we know that Rose Sayer isn't exactly the docile and unwaveringly virtuous missionary woman she's supposed to be. "Had she been weak minded enough to give up" and give in to a bout of malaria, she'd be in bed; instead, she stubbornly resists her illness, praying with her brother and quietly pondering "the absence of her corset" and thinking about the fact that she's "wearing no under clothing at all beneath her white drill frock." (Obviously, this is a chick who's going to go wild the second she's no longer under male supervision. Thank God).
Enter Charlie Allnut, a machinist and a boat captain in Central Africa who should be, by rights, courageous and practical. From the second Charlie appears on the page, we learn that he's "philosophical," "passive," and "content to follow orders."
As soon as Charlie and Rose are alone together, they begin to transform. That is, when order collapses and they're forced to abandon the institutions they've been born into -- rigid Christianity for her and banal practicality for him -- Charlie and Rose become who they really are at their core, and they discover what it really means to live.
After thirty years of "passive misery" in deferring to men, Rose finally makes decisions. Allnut, who has spent his life trying to avoid trouble, learns to face danger, follow a passion, and develop a sense of higher purpose. Even the smaller changes they undergo are charming: Allnut turns to prayer going down the rapids, while Rose's mind "work[s] like a machine" as she navigates; Rose gets buff from all of the manual labor on the African Queen, and Charlie, for once in his life not slacking, almost works his small frame to death; and both, when faced with "the wild beauty of the Ulanga," develop a sense of accomplishment and "seethe with life."
Well.
Throw in a pulse-racing adventure down an African river, plus one of the hottest sex scenes I've ever read (precisely for what it doesn't say), and you've got one hell of a novel on your hands.
As for the writing? Worthy of a smirk, an eyebrow raise, and admiration:
"A woman sewing has a powerful weapon at her disposition when engaged in a duel with a man. Her bent head enables her to conceal her expression without apparently trying; it is the easiest matter in the world for her to simulate complete absorption in the work in hand when actually she is listening attentively; and if she feels disconcerted or needs a moment to think, she can always play for time by reaching for her scissors. And some men--Allnutt was an example--are irritated effectively by the attention paid to trifles of sewing instead of to their fascinating selves."
(Just more proof that British writers are ever superior to their American counterparts).
And let's not forget what I can only call "river porn," or, the most suggestive piece of nature writing I've ever seen:
"There was sheer joy in crashing through those waves. Rose, with never a thought that the frail fabric of the African Queen might be severely tired by those jolts and jars, found it exhilarating to head the launch into the stiff rigid waves which marked the junction of two currents, and to feel her buck and lurch under her, and to see the spray come flying back from the bows."
(Whoa. Is it any wonder that, just 3 pages later, she sleeps with a guy without knowing his first name?)
Obviously, there's a reason I read this book in one sitting on a Friday night, only to begin it again on Monday morning. I adore the writing, I find the adventure thrilling, and I think the love story is touching.
Most of all, I enjoy the fact that two people, when forced to abandon their societal roles, discover the beauty of the natural world, and of life itself. We learn that they're fundamentally good people, and by living as who they really are, they become better people.
It's rare to find this much going on in a novel, and that's precisely why The African Queen is one of the few great works of fiction that truly stands out among the garbage.
KICKED ASS so much that I'll probably read it a third time. And a fourth.
October 4, 2013
I really got into this wartime adventure romance even if it is sometimes on the corny side. I saw the Bogart and Hepburn movie version years ago, and I don't remember enough if it faithfully follows the novel. Rose Sayer, the thirty-three-year-old missionary's sister, is a tough heroine, sort of an early twentieth-century Laura Croft with a British accent. She and Charlie Allnutt make a great pair of protagonists in their far-fetched mission to take out the German warship on the African lake. The best fun was to follow their trek downriver and read how they overcame the various obstacles. C. S. Forester's prose style is fresh and vivid. The pace keeps things moving along, and I got swept up in their heroic adventure. Fine entertainment.
February 1, 2009
The only example I can think of where the movie is, hands down, better than the book.
Forrester can describe boats and nautical stuff better than anyone but he cannot write romance at all.
Forrester can describe boats and nautical stuff better than anyone but he cannot write romance at all.
January 20, 2024
Strange or not, sometimes you discover an author after seeing a movie. In this case we are are talking about a famous Oscar winner, (for Humphrey Bogart, but there were four nominations) so it is a real pleasure to read the novella. Adventure, romance, happy ending, some interesting dialogues, not a bad book at all.
Ps: the novella was written in 1935, before WWII, the movie was made in 1951, so the Germans are somehow more likeable in the book...
Ps: the novella was written in 1935, before WWII, the movie was made in 1951, so the Germans are somehow more likeable in the book...
May 30, 2009
The African Queen by C.S. Forester
What can I really say about the book The African Queen that isn’t already well-known as an award-winning movie? Originally published in 1935, this exceptional book was fairly closely reproduced in the movie in 1951 with relatively minor changes, the most obvious being that the main male character, Charlie Allnutt, was (and is) written as a Cockney character, whereas Humphrey Bogart, who played the role, was unable to carry this accent off and the character was rewritten. The time period of the story is the WWI-era in what is now called Tanzania. This book is a wonderfully exhilarating and inspiring story of faith, craftsmanship, relationship and adventure; a veritable roller-coaster ride.
The characters are very consistent in their growth and change, and Rose, the missionary’s sister left alone in Central Africa when her brother dies, shows her true spunk, tenacity and passion previously hidden in the type of life she had led in the past. Allnutt also grows in creativity, strength of character, and realization of self. The combination is volatile, electric, and passionate by turns and the interaction plays out well. Rose’s determination to “do her part for the Empire” so to speak, clashes with Allnutt’s wish to remain alive. He knows the rivers and the delicate condition of his boat, African Queen. He also is aware that nothing except a canoe has ever even attempted to go down the miles of rapids and cataracts she is proposing to do in order to reach Lake Wittelsbach. This is where the German gunboat Konigin Luise is patrolling to keep the British from gaining access to the German colony in Central Africa. Her proposal includes the destruction of this vessel.
Allnutt eventually agrees and with his engineering experience and handyman abilities, he decides that he after all can create torpedoes from items at hand. So begins the adventure of a lifetime. Malaria, torrential rains, lightning most nights, mosquitoes, flies and other insects in vast clouds around them, and damage to the boat, nothing gets in the way of their determination. I absolutely loved this book, the action, drama, excitement, and character was so complete, I almost felt myself running the rapids with them. Having loved the movie, I was surprised and delighted to find that the book had been reissued in 2006 and immediately purchased it. I am so glad I did. Once you get used to the cockney wording when Allnutt speaks, it reads beautifully. Adventure is definitely the most obvious, but the evolution of the characters is marvelous! I highly recommend this book for all the above reasons.
What can I really say about the book The African Queen that isn’t already well-known as an award-winning movie? Originally published in 1935, this exceptional book was fairly closely reproduced in the movie in 1951 with relatively minor changes, the most obvious being that the main male character, Charlie Allnutt, was (and is) written as a Cockney character, whereas Humphrey Bogart, who played the role, was unable to carry this accent off and the character was rewritten. The time period of the story is the WWI-era in what is now called Tanzania. This book is a wonderfully exhilarating and inspiring story of faith, craftsmanship, relationship and adventure; a veritable roller-coaster ride.
The characters are very consistent in their growth and change, and Rose, the missionary’s sister left alone in Central Africa when her brother dies, shows her true spunk, tenacity and passion previously hidden in the type of life she had led in the past. Allnutt also grows in creativity, strength of character, and realization of self. The combination is volatile, electric, and passionate by turns and the interaction plays out well. Rose’s determination to “do her part for the Empire” so to speak, clashes with Allnutt’s wish to remain alive. He knows the rivers and the delicate condition of his boat, African Queen. He also is aware that nothing except a canoe has ever even attempted to go down the miles of rapids and cataracts she is proposing to do in order to reach Lake Wittelsbach. This is where the German gunboat Konigin Luise is patrolling to keep the British from gaining access to the German colony in Central Africa. Her proposal includes the destruction of this vessel.
Allnutt eventually agrees and with his engineering experience and handyman abilities, he decides that he after all can create torpedoes from items at hand. So begins the adventure of a lifetime. Malaria, torrential rains, lightning most nights, mosquitoes, flies and other insects in vast clouds around them, and damage to the boat, nothing gets in the way of their determination. I absolutely loved this book, the action, drama, excitement, and character was so complete, I almost felt myself running the rapids with them. Having loved the movie, I was surprised and delighted to find that the book had been reissued in 2006 and immediately purchased it. I am so glad I did. Once you get used to the cockney wording when Allnutt speaks, it reads beautifully. Adventure is definitely the most obvious, but the evolution of the characters is marvelous! I highly recommend this book for all the above reasons.
June 21, 2017
I have never watched the movie (only brief clips) so I was fresh to the story. And what a great story! Some of the hottest, sexiest scenes conveyed in non-explicit language. He does what all great authors do, let you imagine you are there and fantasize.... 5 Stars
February 22, 2015
From BBC Radio 4 - Drama:
Samantha Bond and Toby Jones star in a new dramatisation of C.S. Forester's classic World War 1 novel.
Set in 1915, Rose Sayer's work as a missionary comes to an abrupt end when the village she and her brother, Reverend Samuel Sayer, live in is invaded by the German army. Samuel dies of fever and Rose blames the ungodly Germans for having ground him down and frightened off the entire village.
Patriotically, but naively, Rose conceives of blowing up a German warship thus helping the war effort. She convinces cowardly Cockney Charlie Allnut to lend his rickety steam-powered boat, The African Queen, for the cause. He has offered to give Rose a lift in his boat to get away from the village and the Germans, so reluctantly goes along with her plan. If they manage to survive German attacks, rapids, malaria and mechanical mishaps will they be able to survive each other?
The novel, The African Queen by C.S. Forester, was of course the basis for the highly popular Hollywood movie of the same name. Paul Mendelson's dramatisation goes back to the novel re-instating Forester's original ending and giving Charlie his Cockney identity back!
The African Queen
By C. S. Forester; dramatised for radio by Paul Mendelson
Music composed and played by Gary C. Newman
Producer/director: David Ian Neville.
Samantha Bond and Toby Jones star in a new dramatisation of C.S. Forester's classic World War 1 novel.
Set in 1915, Rose Sayer's work as a missionary comes to an abrupt end when the village she and her brother, Reverend Samuel Sayer, live in is invaded by the German army. Samuel dies of fever and Rose blames the ungodly Germans for having ground him down and frightened off the entire village.
Patriotically, but naively, Rose conceives of blowing up a German warship thus helping the war effort. She convinces cowardly Cockney Charlie Allnut to lend his rickety steam-powered boat, The African Queen, for the cause. He has offered to give Rose a lift in his boat to get away from the village and the Germans, so reluctantly goes along with her plan. If they manage to survive German attacks, rapids, malaria and mechanical mishaps will they be able to survive each other?
The novel, The African Queen by C.S. Forester, was of course the basis for the highly popular Hollywood movie of the same name. Paul Mendelson's dramatisation goes back to the novel re-instating Forester's original ending and giving Charlie his Cockney identity back!
The African Queen
By C. S. Forester; dramatised for radio by Paul Mendelson
Music composed and played by Gary C. Newman
Producer/director: David Ian Neville.
June 18, 2018
An excellent read from beginning to end. Could'nt help but remember the movie, that just put faces to the characters, no harm done, it added to the enjoyment. I have seen the movie, it differs from the books beginning and end, especially the ending. Personally I like both. Unlike the movie the book leaves it up to the reader to decide the future for Roise and Charlie. Will there be a happy ever after for them. Can their love survive now that the great adventure is over.
June 24, 2022
The film really captures the spirit of the book.
April 7, 2021
From 1935
I was curious to read this because I love the 1952 John Huston film. I was wondering if the book would have more set up, a fuller world starting out. It doesn't. In fact, the movie does. The book is well done if you like proper British writing and lots of boating (and action).. I didn't like it's abrupt beginning and lack of arc. Rose should have taken longer to learn to love (and be expert at) driving the boat. Also their love. There could be resistance, growth. The book does end as a romance, after all.
I was curious to read this because I love the 1952 John Huston film. I was wondering if the book would have more set up, a fuller world starting out. It doesn't. In fact, the movie does. The book is well done if you like proper British writing and lots of boating (and action).. I didn't like it's abrupt beginning and lack of arc. Rose should have taken longer to learn to love (and be expert at) driving the boat. Also their love. There could be resistance, growth. The book does end as a romance, after all.
September 7, 2017
The African Queen by C.S. Forester might be better known for the movie based on this excellent book. I've seen this movie, starring Kate Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart many times and I'm glad to finally have finally sat down to enjoy the book.
The book was originally published in 1935 and is set during the First World War in Central Africa. I've read a fair bit about WWI but generally it's been focused on the European theater. It was interesting to read a book set in this location. Rose Sayer and her brother Samuel have been many years in Tanzania, her brother a missionary and she his assistant and house keeper. The war has come to home as they are located in German South Africa and their workers and their goods have been taken by the German Army. This has broken her brother and Kate is now on her own. She joins Charlie Allnutt, a Cockney sailor who plies the Ulanga river for a Belgian mine. Allnut is also on his own and he allows Kate to take control and agrees to head downriver to try and sink a German cruiser that plies the Lake, hindering British efforts to push the Germans out of Africa.
There are many excellent features to this story; the journey and all its trials and tribulations, the growing of Kate as a person, one who had been under the thumb of her family and brother for the first 30+ years of her life; the budding relationship between Allnutt and Kate, etc. It's a fascinating story, made more interesting because it basically features two people in close quarters. The adventure is tense, their ingenuity at solving their issues as the sail downriver.
There are key differences to the movie, especially the ending, but the book is every bit as interesting and entertaining. The development of the characters and the challenges they face and work together to resolve make it all the more interesting. I've enjoyed so many of Forester's books; he writes such varied stories, the Hornblower tales, interesting mysteries, excellent war stories and of course, this. (5 stars)
The book was originally published in 1935 and is set during the First World War in Central Africa. I've read a fair bit about WWI but generally it's been focused on the European theater. It was interesting to read a book set in this location. Rose Sayer and her brother Samuel have been many years in Tanzania, her brother a missionary and she his assistant and house keeper. The war has come to home as they are located in German South Africa and their workers and their goods have been taken by the German Army. This has broken her brother and Kate is now on her own. She joins Charlie Allnutt, a Cockney sailor who plies the Ulanga river for a Belgian mine. Allnut is also on his own and he allows Kate to take control and agrees to head downriver to try and sink a German cruiser that plies the Lake, hindering British efforts to push the Germans out of Africa.
There are many excellent features to this story; the journey and all its trials and tribulations, the growing of Kate as a person, one who had been under the thumb of her family and brother for the first 30+ years of her life; the budding relationship between Allnutt and Kate, etc. It's a fascinating story, made more interesting because it basically features two people in close quarters. The adventure is tense, their ingenuity at solving their issues as the sail downriver.
There are key differences to the movie, especially the ending, but the book is every bit as interesting and entertaining. The development of the characters and the challenges they face and work together to resolve make it all the more interesting. I've enjoyed so many of Forester's books; he writes such varied stories, the Hornblower tales, interesting mysteries, excellent war stories and of course, this. (5 stars)
November 9, 2014
This falls somewhere around a 2.50 for me.
I liked the movie better, although it was a very long time ago I saw it. Parts of the book, particularly the arc of Rose’s character development, seemed highly unlikely. In ten days she goes from a repressed spinster and a woman completely subservient to men all her life, especially her minister brother, to an assertive, take-charge type who’s discovered her sensual side, completely forgetting her upbringing and conditioning of 33 years.
There was also a major plot point in the denouement regarding the actions of a German military officer that seemed too contrived and unbelievable -- a really lazy wrap-up.
I’ll have to watch the movie again soon and contrast and compare.
I liked the movie better, although it was a very long time ago I saw it. Parts of the book, particularly the arc of Rose’s character development, seemed highly unlikely. In ten days she goes from a repressed spinster and a woman completely subservient to men all her life, especially her minister brother, to an assertive, take-charge type who’s discovered her sensual side, completely forgetting her upbringing and conditioning of 33 years.
There was also a major plot point in the denouement regarding the actions of a German military officer that seemed too contrived and unbelievable -- a really lazy wrap-up.
I’ll have to watch the movie again soon and contrast and compare.
March 26, 2018
I've seen this film so many times (it's arguably the most perfectly cast film ever) it's impossible to take the images of Hepburn and Bogart out of one's head. The movie convinced me completely that what they do is possible, but oddly reading the book it was hard to believe that Rosie/Hepburn could instantly learn how to navigate a boat through cataracts and Allnutt/Bogart never went through alcohol withdrawal. And they actually filmed most of it in the middle of deepest Africa. There isn't a movie star on the planet that would go through that hell (The Making of the African Queen is a great read.)
August 28, 2016
A fun, fast book though the ending was different from the movie version. I must have seen Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in the film 10 times & it was interesting to get to know the characters a bit more in depth.
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