Customer Reviews

Beau Geste (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Somehow I doubt that the generation of kids growing up today, whelped on Doom and Lara Croft, have the same romantic love of the French Foreign Legion that we did when we were kids. The concept of this fighting force made up of desperate men of all nations, given a new lease on life because they did not have to give their real name or background when they signed up, lent itself easily to fiction and to childhood fantasy. I don't remember all of the Foreign Legion movies we watched but Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950) and March or Die (1977) [bad movie, great tagline: "In the French Foreign Legion, you march or you die!"] spring to mind, and of course the greatest of them all was Beau Geste (1939). Directed by William Wellman and starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy and Susan Hayward, it was one of those movies you had to watch every time it was on. Happily, the original novel is nearly its equal.

The three Geste brothers, orphaned early in life, are raised by an Aunt. Their raucous youths are filled with the literature of adventure and ritualized horseplay centered around these myths and legends. So when the family's prized Blue Water sapphire turns up missing, each of the young men confesses to being the thief in order to protect the others and one by one they head off to join the French Foreign Legion. As luck would have it, they meet up in the deserts of Africa where they fall under the command of the malevolent Sergeant Lejaune. Not content to merely be a martinet, Lejaune sets his sights on stealing the jewel, which rumor holds to be in their possession. Meanwhile, the unruly troops he commands are planning a mutiny and the marauding Tauregs pin this badly outnumbered and bitterly divided unit of Legionnaires at Fort Zinderneuf. The ensuing drama plays itself out as the French forces battle overwhelming odds. Ultimately, only a handful of men survive to discover the truth behind the Blue Water's disappearance.

It just doesn't get any better than that central story. Wren combines a classic mystery and a desert adventure. The Gestes are living embodiments of the tales on which they were weaned--generous, noble, brave and loyal. My only real complaint is with the framing device which surrounds the story. The novel opens with a major who lead the relief column sent to Zinderneuf describing what he found there and concludes with an overlong dénouement getting the story back to England and the jewel mystery. But these are minor quibbles when set against the truly thrilling story at the heart of the novel. Read the book, but be sure to see the movie.

GRADE: A-

I first saw the 1966 (starring Telly Savalas as the evil Sergeant Major) remake of Beau Geste in my early teens. It was not the best version of the story, with only 2 brothers in the story, and no mention of the stolen jewel, but it was action packed and the uniforms were awesome to a young teenage boy. Since then I have seen the 1939 (far superior) movie version, read the boooks and then read anything else I could get my hands on about the Legion in the early 20th century.

This book is the epitome of grand adventure stories, rivalled only by two others: The Prisoner of Zenda and Kind Solomon's Mines. It's a book that appeals to your imagination and sense of adventure when you are young, and then you never outgrow it. I won't rehash the story here, but I suggest you get a copy, turn off all your modern, grown-up cycnicism and enjoy escapist literature at its very best.

The book was written so brilliantly. It was almost like reading poetry at times. Just the way Wren managed to convey his ideas with the right words was incredible. I highly suggest this book for people intrested in romance and war. A well rounded book. I only wish there were more books like this about the French Legionnary

This is a terrific novel. The first 20 pages are stuffy. But after the slow beginning Wren quickly moves into the action and intrigue, which don't let up until after you've put the book down. An excellent read! (It might even make you want to join the French Foreign Legion.)

"Beau Geste" is among the best fiction books that I have ever read. I first read the book in secondary school and it had a powerful and enduring effect upon me. I was so thrilled by the lofty ideals and values of loyalty, devotion, honour and duty displayed by the three Geste brothers, following the disappearance of the Blue Water sapphire.

When the Blue Water disappeared, each of the three Geste brothers confessed to having stolen it so as to protect the others. They then all proceeded to go and join the French Foreign Legion. The adventure then unfolds in its gory and moving detail. This is where the author demonstrates his genius in weaving a brilliant and moving adventure story that has withstood the test of time and has been enjoyed by several generations

I have read the book several times over the years but still get moved by this romantic and adventure story. I am always intrigued by the concept of the French Foreign Legion which was comprised of people of all nations where one did not need to reveal their true identity.

I highly recommend this exceptional book to anyone who loves adventure stories and those yearning to understand the values of honour, dignity, devotion, love, loyalty and bravery of yesteryear which are a rarity in these days of individual rights with no responsibilities.

I read this book as a freshman in high school and I was absolutely floored by it. My brother and I talked about it incessantly, and I went on to read its sequels, Beau Sabreur, and Beau Ideal. I very seldom read any book twice, but on July 1, 1961, I read Beau Geste again--I was then 6 years out of law school--and I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed it the first time.

Seems like every few years I sit down and read this book again. There is enough adventure to keep me interested in each re-reading and each time I pick up more little clues in "the mystery" that I missed in the last reading.

The first time I read it (some years ago) I thought the characters were a little too stereotyped--the americans for example, spoke with too many expressions like "you shore said a mouthful Bo." The British, too, are always correct and formal.
Yet the story is so delightful that, on subsequent readings, one notices that the americans, with all their cowboy talk, are the ones who can be trusted and have the know-how to save the day.
The British, for all their coolness, stick to their honour and their duty.

The book assumes some recognition of French, as it includes lots of expressions and phrases in French without translation.
Some like "Monsieur l'Adjutant" one can figure out. Some like "medaille militaire" take a second's thought. There are several others, though, sprinkled throughout the book that one has to infer from the context or look up. A great many are fairly clear from the context and really did not detract from the story.
I had to hunt the used book stores to find my own copy, but I thought it was worth it!

I remember getting this book for Christmas as a child and thinking, "oh great another boring book my parents want me to read to instill a habit of reading". For whatever reason though, that night I decided to read the first chapter. Needless to say, I didn't put it down till I finished it. I still recall the chills in my spine when Lawrence tells of Beaujolais arrival the the fort.

The book is written so wittily and with humor that even the dullest of parts are fascinating.

This book inspired me to do my 10th grade term paper on the FFL which I still would like to join someday. I recommend the two 'sequels' also, though they definitely lack the thrill of Geste. If you like the writing style though, pick them up (if you can find them. I searched for a long time).

You have joined the French Foreign Legion and you are stationed at the most desolate outpost in civilization: Fort Zinderneuf, in the Sahara desert. The days are unbearably hot and the nights offer only a dreary, slight relief. The work is back-breaking and tediously repetitive, and several of your comrades have gone insane. Your leader, Sergeant-Major Lejaune, is a vicious, sadistic, disciplinary maniac. The men--dregs of society culled from every dark corner in Europe--have decided to mutiny, and they are planning it the following day. Lejaune, however, learns of this, and decides to move first. And if things couldn't get any worse, both parties have come to believe--rightly or wrongly--that your brother, stationed with you in the fort, is carrying an extraordinarily expensive jewel. They have made plans to see that during the confusion he takes a bullet to his brain, so that this jewel can be stolen.

The sergeant strikes first, the sleepy men are disarmed, and he begins to move them out to the parade ground. At this point, the Arabs attack. A horde of them. Bloodthirsty, fanatical; they swarm down the sand dunes and begin to climb up the walls.

How our hero gets himself into this mess, and how he extricates himself from it, is the subject of this very enjoyable adventure novel. The copy I just read, which I found in the library, was printed in 1926. It is still in print today. What else do you need to know?

If you have a young man in your house who's not keen on reading, get him this book. That said, it's not a juvenile book. With one of the all-time great opening chapters, it draws you into a thrilling story of adventure and, above all, honor.

A French force speeding to relieve an embattled fortress finds its occupants all dead at their posts and fort's the commanding officer murdered, yet somehow the outpost remains unconquered. From this beginning, PC Wren weaves the story of how these strange events transpired, and their connection to the theft of a priceless Indian Sapphire. At the center of the tale are the Geste brothers, three heroes from another time--brave, tough, intelligent, funny, bound by duty and honor--and they are still worthy of our admiration. There is no glorification of violence here, nor any adolescent fantasies about indestructibility. The Geste brothers understand danger, yet they also understand the virtue and occasional necessity of maintaining a stiff upper lip (or even laughing) in the face of death. They are utterly devoted to each other and to upholding their gentlemanly honor--indeed, honor is at the center of the story. PC Wren writes with great verve, humor and humanity (excepting a few then-acceptable racial stereotypes). I was genuinely sorry to see it end.

A note on the Kindle Edition: I read the Thomas C. Breuer version, which as far as I can tell is the only version currently available for the Kindle. The formatting is excellent, with an active table of contents. Books like this--out of print in hard copy or unavailable in affordable editions--make the Kindle worthwhile. For $3.99 you'll be hard-pressed to find a good hard copy.