Customer Reviews

The African Queen

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

C S Forester knew his business. He knew a plausible method of turning an old river steamer into a torpedo, he knew the hellish consequences of losing a prop blade, of mooring in a mangrove swamp, of finding still water in a rapid.. And as he has proven so many times in the Hornblower novels, he knows the way of knaves and gentleman... This is a book for any age.

Some authors have the gift of putting words together in a way that entertains and enthralls the reader. C. S. Forester is one of the best. When Forester tells a story, the reader feels personally involved. We feel like we know the characters in a personal, intense way. If you have read Forester's Hornblower novels, you have read Forester at his best. The African Queen was made into a memorable movie starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. The book is more intense, darker, and far less triumphant than the movie. If you thrill to the successes of Horatio Hornblower in Forester's navel novels, you might find African Queen a little depressing at times. If you like depressing novels (and apparently many readers do) you might give this book five stars. The story is set during World War I and involves the attempt by a missionary lady and an alcoholic English boatman to travel down a river in Africa to do battle with the Germans. The interaction between the characters and the river creates a riveting story. Like Hemingway, "I recommend Forester..."

There is really not much to say except that the Hollywood movie is not really very much like the book. (Why does this not suprise me?) The story and the characters are much more human, possibly because they are not "Katharine H. and Boogie" and this is not Hollywood. The thundering falls, the hunger,the heat, the gloomy swamps, the smother lake of water lillies, the endless toil and hours...and then, in the end, to see their mission fail. As heart breaking and riviting as any book ever writen.

I will not reveal the ending; I will say only that it does not end with the German captain of the Louisa marrying the protagonists just as the ship impales itself on the overturned African Queen's torpedoes. C. S. Forester's ending requires less suspension of disbelief, less "deus ex machina." Throughout the voyage of refugees Rose Sayer and Mr. Allnutt down the Ulanga and Bora Rivers in German Central Africa at the outbreak of war, the reader is treated to C. S. Forester's literal, high resolution realism. Forester would not have felt the need to depart from that realism to enhance the final drama. Forester reveals the characters of protagonists Rosie and Allnutt as successive adversities beset them on their voyage. Their steam launch, The African Queen, is their vessel in both senses of the word: if course it is their boat, but it also represents a container in which the protagonists' spirits are blended in a purposeful collaboration. it is a touching human drama, and the realism is such that the reader's ears ring unceasingly with the high-pitched whine of mosquitoes.

When her village in German Central Africa is destroyed at the start of WWI, a missionary is rescued by a gin-loving river miner. Their perilous escape on the beat up launch, the African Queen,turns into an outright battle against nature, the Germans, and each other as the tempestuous pair realize they have fallen in love. With this love they conquer the impossible, and by a miracle they survive to see the destruction of their enemy

Throughout most of the book, I found myself thinking, "This is one case where I like the movie better." Although the plot for the first 3/4 of the book is the same as the movie's, the characterization is a bit different. For example, the movie portrays Rose as a determind, principled, yet prim woman who slowly learns to love; in the book, she comes across as a bit immature, supposedly the result of being repressed by men her entire life, and is so thrilled with the freedom earned by her brother's recent death that she decides to kamikaze a German boat. Personally, I found the movie's Rose more realistic and likeable; the book's Rose felt too much like a poster child of feminist propoganda.

In general, most of the novel is a bit heavy-handed is describing the character's motives, characters, and thought processes, and leaves very little to the imagination. Subtlety, apparently, is not Forester's strong point.

The only thing keeping me from giving this book a lower rating is the ending. Forester truly redeems himself in my eyes with the ending, which is far darker and more realistic than the movie's. The ending calls into question everythng that you assumed that Forester was trying to tell you -- all the notions of heroism, patriotism, and true love. The last line is probably one of my favorite of all last lines,


(Spoiler space)



forcing you to ask yourself: Are Charlie and Rose truly soulmates, or has an extreme situation simply brought them together and instigated passion? While in the movie it is clear that Charlie and Rose truly love another, the book suggests that their "love" may simply be due to the arousal that arises during a near-death situation. For me, this very human, bittersweet ending enabled me to forgive Forester for his earlier heavy-handed treatment of the characters.

I find it impossible to discuss this book without referring to the 1951 movie. The first 80 percent of the movie and the book are mostly similar. The endings are quite different. I slightly prefer the movie's improbable ending, although the endings of both have serious flaws.

Reading the first 80 percent of the book is a joy after having seen the movie. If you are like me, you will see and hear the movie in your mind as you read the book.

In the first 80 percent of the book, you will find more in the book than in the movie. C.S. Forester is able to tackle interesting themes in the book that were too delicate for Hollywood. Also, he employs an amazing mastery of the technical details in describing the African Queen's voyage down the Ulanga and Bora rivers into Lake Victoria. You will almost feel like you are reading science fiction from the time of H.G. Wells, as Allnut and Rose keep making something out of nothing.

To me, the best part of the book is that the contrasts between the "civilized" conventions and the "natural" instincts are drawn in extreme and fine detail. It will make you re-examine how you think about what is the right thing to do in your own life, which is what good literature should do.

To me, the weakness of the book is that the attitudes that The African Queen challenges are very far removed from our experience today. What was very scathing then now seems quaint. Somehow, the outrage behind the story is diffused into a dreamy period piece. Are there many women now of 33 who are so completely dominated by their brothers that they do not lead their own lives? Would many people today be inflamed by love of country to want to strike a personally fatal blow against the oppressor against all odds? Does the arrogance of colonialism seem believable, or just a silly notion to caricature?

Ultimately, Rose's instant rise from docile creature to Wonder Woman does seem to strain credibility. It's inspiring fun, though, like any book about brave heroines who are undaunted by the odds and convention.

After you read this book, think about where your assumptions about what you should be doing have not been re-examined by you in a while. What are you doing because someone else tells you it is a good idea? What should you be doing because you think it is a good idea?

Take the initiative to do the right thing with full speed ahead!

"The African Queen" is a very decent classic which I enjoyed very much. Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnut are very developed, hilarious characters who give you an understanding of classes, religion, technology and love. The boat-handling information is very thorough. This classic is for almost any reader; I was very satasfied.

I stumbled into "African Queen" from "Shantaram", the self indulgent mess of a book that purports to be an adventure based on the real life exploits of its author. I felt like Charlie and Rose, having escaped the lilies or the mangroves... Here is an author who knows when description is called for and when action must take the lead; when relationships must be built, and when the setting needs a nod. And Forrester does it so well. What a delight.

"The African Queen" is a road trip, where a cockney steam engineer and a British missionary's sister take a boat down a fictitious river, over countless literary waterfalls and onto a make believe lake with a gunboat that never existed; along the way, necessity insists that they discover themselves, and each other, and, being that it was written in 1935, there's not a lot of hullabaloo about it, they just look up, rather Monty Python-like and go "Oh, okay" and get on with it. And there you are, reading it all, and lapping it up. Unlike the movie, there is nudity, and sex. Unlike "Shantaram" both are very nearly erotic. Although I couldn't get Bogart and Hepburn out of my mind so I was somewhat impaired...

Sadly, by the last two chapters, the author has developed cold feet. It seems he feels wicked for leading us on this ridiculous tale and he attempts to make up for it by creating new characters and events that will make everything right, at least very realistic, albeit off the mark of the original plot. Forrester is so convinced that his story won't hold up, he wrote a new forward to the 1940 edition (which I read) saying how the editors removed the last two chapters, for the first printing, and celebrating how he put them back.

Forrester was SO wrong.

Fortunately, there is the movie. Where Forrester got cold feet, John Huston knew a story when he heard one, and the movie fixes the ending, although the book's version is still very nice.

"African Queen" is a very good story, very well written. For an English author of the period, it's also very concise and efficient, yet still melodic in its use of the English language. I enjoyed reading the book as the written word as much as I enjoyed the story.

Being a fan of Forester I thought I had read the African Queen a long time ago, turns out I had not. I did see the movie a couple of times so I could compare the book and film. Unlike many of todays movies it followed the book very closely until you get to the end. I like Forestor's version much better than the movie. I really enjoyed the book as I have everything else I have read of Forester.