Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Enskede : TPB, 2006.
Description
Rose Sayer joins forces with the Cockney pilot of a dilapidated steam launch in a desperate journey along a Central African river.
User reviews
LibraryThing member varielle
One must banish the image of John Huston's 1951 epic, The African Queen, from the mind in order to fully enjoy the book. Considering the post-war, segregationist times in which the movie was made, allowance must be given. Unlike the movie the Germans ultimately acted with chivalry, there was sex
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and lots of it floating down that river, and the prospect of inter-racial relationships was taboo, but there was that too in the book. Unlike Bogart and Hepburn, Allnut and Rose were still relatively young, 30 and 32 respectively. Allnut still had a wife somewhere and grieved greatly that his African mistress had been carried off by the Germans. The ending of the movie was Hollywooded-up, while the book ended quite differently, and more believably. I felt quite badly for the Germans when all was done. One might think that traveling down a river might become tedious, but each fresh misadventure kept things moving. Ultimately, it is the story of relationships and social positions. The real African Queen was a quick and adventurous read. Show Less
LibraryThing member thepequodtwo
i quickly became engrossed by the african queen, drawn into a tale of harrowing adventure and survival with two very unconventional characters, a "spinster" sister of a missionary and a cockney mechanic of dubious virtue (he's portrayed as weak-willed, simple, and pusillanimous). rosie blossoms in
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newfound freedom after her brother's death and finds within herself such skills and strengths that i'm a little in awe of her dauntless courage as she embarks upon and assumes the leadership of their mission. i was honestly very surprised to find such a character in this book. rosie and charlie's relationship, as they seek to strike a blow against the germans for God and country, is an odd, but intriguing one to chart in its growth through the story and their journey down the river. they battle through so much together, and seem to truly come into their own, making each other better and stronger – charlie, for his part, finds his manhood - that i'm immensely pleased at the love that springs up between them. which is why i am more than a little dissatisfied with the ending forester metes out to them singly and as a pair. is it in concession to the impossibility of such characters, or, ironically, the impossibility of these characters' success beyond the sphere of africa/within the confines of "civilization," that forester brings their adventure to a perfunctory close that is anticlimactic and disillusioning? or does he treat these two (and, by extension, the cause of empire and religion to which rosie so fanatically adheres) ironically and a little disparagingly throughout, so that the last trick ends up being played on the reader in forester's withholding of a "happily ever after?" this is still a very interesting read, but the ending is nothing like the movie, so beware if you are of a romantic frame of mind. Show Less
LibraryThing member TadAD
A really good movie and a really good book. As is usually the case, the book can provide a bit more depth in certain areas because it's not limited by Hollywood constraints on movie length, and so the book seems better at times. Other times, Forester goes a little overboard in detailing the
Though ¾ of the story line is the same, I'll mention without spoilers that the endings are different. In my opinion, the book's ending is superior. Others will surely disagree.
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characters' thoughts and feelings, so the movie seems a bit more fun.Though ¾ of the story line is the same, I'll mention without spoilers that the endings are different. In my opinion, the book's ending is superior. Others will surely disagree.
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LibraryThing member lilithcat
I suppose there are people who have neither read this book nor seen the movie. For their sakes, herewith the plot.
It is the early days of World War I. For some years, Rose and her brother, the Reverend Samuel Sayer, have been toiling to save souls for the Lord in German Central Africa, "he for God
So this odd pair team up to flee the Germans. But Rose decides that they ought to strike a blow for the British, and talks Allnutt into a mad plan to go down the river, past a German stronghold and over cataracts, and with jury-rigged torpedoes blast the Königin Luise to the bottom of the lake it guards.
Their adventures, and their unlikely love story, adapted by James Agee, John Huston and Peter Viertel, made for a delightful comedic film. It is a much-praised classic (for which Bogart won an Oscar, and Hepburn, Huston and Agee were nominated), and deservedly so. But the book is even better.
The love story is actually less unlikely in the book than in the film. It is so because Forester can show us more of the characters' depths, describe their background and their sensibilities, which in many ways make Rose and Allnutt much more alike than they seem in the film. (Huston made Allnutt a Canadian, not a Cockney, and Rose a mite higher-class than the tradesman's daughter Forester created. Forester makes clear that there was no difficulty of difference of social rank between them.) The book is, therefore, able to make the sexual and emotional relationship between the two much more credible.
The difference between film and book can be summed up by the passage that occurs their first night on the boat, when Allnutt is drinking gin.
Film:
Allnutt: What about a cup o' tea, Miss?
Rose: I'd like a cup of tea.
Novel:
"What about a cup o' tea, Miss?"
Tea! Heat and thirst and fatigue and excitement had done their worst for Rose. She was limp and weary, and her throat ached. The imminent prospect of a cup of tea roused her to trembling excitement. Twelve cups of tea, each, Samuel and she had drunk daily for years. To-day she had had none -- she had eaten no food either, but at the moment that meant nothing to her. Tea! A cup of tea! Two cups of tea! Half a dozen great mugs of tea, strong, delicious, revivifying! Her mind was suffused with rosy pictures of an evening's tea drinking, a debauch compared with which the spring sowing festivities at the village by the mission station were only a pale shade.
"I'd like a cup of tea," she said.
The ending, too, is quite different from the film and, I think, better. (SPOILER ALERT).
In the film, The African Queen having been sunk in a storm, Allnutt and Rosie are captured by the Königen Luise and sentenced to hang. Allnutt asks the German captain to marry them, and as the brief ceremony ends, the Luise hits the remains of the Queen and is blown up by her torpedoes. The film ends with Rosie and Allnutt in the water, swimming for the eastern shore and safety.
In the book, though, the appearance of Rosie on the Luise prevents the German captain from executing Allnutt, as he could not kill one without the other and will not execute Rosie ("white women were so rare in Central Africa that he would have thought it monstrous"). Therefore, under a white flag of truce, he takes the two of them to Port Albert, Belgian Congo, and turns them over to the British forces there. It is British boats who, the next day, sink the Königen Luise. The book ends with Rose and Allnutt beginning "the long journey to Matadi and marriage. Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided".
It is the early days of World War I. For some years, Rose and her brother, the Reverend Samuel Sayer, have been toiling to save souls for the Lord in German Central Africa, "he for God
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only, she for God in him". But now the German troops have descended on their village, carried away souls both converted and unconverted to toil for the Army, and illness carries away Samuel. At that moment, Charley Allnutt, a cockney engineer employed by a Belgian mining company, arrives in The African Queen, a rickety steam launch. The launch is carrying blasting gelatine and other supplies for the mine, but that, too, has fallen to the Germans.So this odd pair team up to flee the Germans. But Rose decides that they ought to strike a blow for the British, and talks Allnutt into a mad plan to go down the river, past a German stronghold and over cataracts, and with jury-rigged torpedoes blast the Königin Luise to the bottom of the lake it guards.
Their adventures, and their unlikely love story, adapted by James Agee, John Huston and Peter Viertel, made for a delightful comedic film. It is a much-praised classic (for which Bogart won an Oscar, and Hepburn, Huston and Agee were nominated), and deservedly so. But the book is even better.
The love story is actually less unlikely in the book than in the film. It is so because Forester can show us more of the characters' depths, describe their background and their sensibilities, which in many ways make Rose and Allnutt much more alike than they seem in the film. (Huston made Allnutt a Canadian, not a Cockney, and Rose a mite higher-class than the tradesman's daughter Forester created. Forester makes clear that there was no difficulty of difference of social rank between them.) The book is, therefore, able to make the sexual and emotional relationship between the two much more credible.
The difference between film and book can be summed up by the passage that occurs their first night on the boat, when Allnutt is drinking gin.
Film:
Allnutt: What about a cup o' tea, Miss?
Rose: I'd like a cup of tea.
Novel:
"What about a cup o' tea, Miss?"
Tea! Heat and thirst and fatigue and excitement had done their worst for Rose. She was limp and weary, and her throat ached. The imminent prospect of a cup of tea roused her to trembling excitement. Twelve cups of tea, each, Samuel and she had drunk daily for years. To-day she had had none -- she had eaten no food either, but at the moment that meant nothing to her. Tea! A cup of tea! Two cups of tea! Half a dozen great mugs of tea, strong, delicious, revivifying! Her mind was suffused with rosy pictures of an evening's tea drinking, a debauch compared with which the spring sowing festivities at the village by the mission station were only a pale shade.
"I'd like a cup of tea," she said.
The ending, too, is quite different from the film and, I think, better. (SPOILER ALERT).
In the film, The African Queen having been sunk in a storm, Allnutt and Rosie are captured by the Königen Luise and sentenced to hang. Allnutt asks the German captain to marry them, and as the brief ceremony ends, the Luise hits the remains of the Queen and is blown up by her torpedoes. The film ends with Rosie and Allnutt in the water, swimming for the eastern shore and safety.
In the book, though, the appearance of Rosie on the Luise prevents the German captain from executing Allnutt, as he could not kill one without the other and will not execute Rosie ("white women were so rare in Central Africa that he would have thought it monstrous"). Therefore, under a white flag of truce, he takes the two of them to Port Albert, Belgian Congo, and turns them over to the British forces there. It is British boats who, the next day, sink the Königen Luise. The book ends with Rose and Allnutt beginning "the long journey to Matadi and marriage. Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided".
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LibraryThing member otterley
An epic journey through Africa, ostensibly driven by the patriotic desire to torpedo the German boat that stands in the way of the British war effort in Africa, but actually driven by two strong personalities. In Rose Forester creates a ferociously competent and driven female lead character, who is
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also both sensual and maternal to the cockeny Charly Allnut, who finally finds a purpose after a life of knocking about the empire. Forester drives the plot forward with the boat and this odd couple romance has an unusual savour and relish. Show Less
LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member Stbalbach
The African Queen is a physical trip down a river, but it also a spiritual journey of growth. The main characters begin the novel somewhat oppressed - she by her domineering brother who wouldn't let her ride in cars, punished with the "silent treatment", unable to appreciate the world. He is so
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accustomed to doing what other people say, he becomes easily cowered into a hopeless venture. Brought together on board the boat African Queen (a noble name), they grow and become more self-assured as they overcome adversity. Dormant feelings rise to the surface: pride, manhood, womanhood, honor. Ultimately the intended quest is never achieved, they don't sink the German ship as intended. Yet, they have achieved something greater, nobility where there was once compliance, and initiative where there was once insecurity. If only for trying, success can be found in ways never imagined. Show Less
LibraryThing member Feign
I will not compare the book with the movie. I will not compare the book with the movie. I will not compare the book with the movie. Oh, heck...
I confess, it took a few pages to accept that Charlie Allnutt was a short Cockney and not Bogart, but once I got over that, I was able to forget the movie
I confess, it took a few pages to accept that Charlie Allnutt was a short Cockney and not Bogart, but once I got over that, I was able to forget the movie
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and enjoy this novel as a gripping adventure story of woman, man and boat against the ravaging river. Show Less
LibraryThing member benjclark
An exciting read. I can now understand why the original publisher left out the last two chapters, but also why Forester, when presented the opportunity, had them published as he intended originally. They read like prologue, but a very good book. It was fun, it was certainly sad, but always
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engaging. I may read it again (which I never do). Show Less
LibraryThing member MicheleUtah
After Rose's Brother (the preacher) dies, Allnut whom supplies the mission with supplies rescues Rose. She decided to torpedo the Konigin Luise. They travel down the river and fall in love before they reach the lake. Much like the movie except they do not blow up the ship.
LibraryThing member readerbynight
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
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
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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.
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LibraryThing member la_femme_jennifer
I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this book, in large part because I saw the movie first (which I very much enjoyed) and the book was quite different. That's not to say that the book was bad, I think I just had different expectations. This is one of the very few times that I prefer
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the movie to the book, but I wonder if that would still be the case had I read the book first (as I often do). Show Less
LibraryThing member la_femme_jennifer
I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this book, in large part because I saw the movie first (which I very much enjoyed) and the book was quite different. That's not to say that the book was bad, I think I just had different expectations. This is one of the very few times that I prefer
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the movie to the book, but I wonder if that would still be the case had I read the book first (as I often do). Show Less
LibraryThing member carka
One of my favorite movies, and it was very faithful to the book.
LibraryThing member rashedchowdhury
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the adventure in it is enthralling. On the other, the descriptions of the minutiae of the manoeuvres the two main characters perform with their boat as they take it downriver can be dull to someone uninitiated into the art of navigation. On
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top of that, the narrator's jingoism, which he seems to share with the characters, even while laughing at them for it, can grate on the nerves somewhat. But then there's the adventure. Definitely worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bridgey
The African Queen - C S Forester **
I remember seeing the film years ago, but I had no idea it was based upon a book, and even less of an idea that it was the same author as the Hornblower series. Written in 1935 and set during the First World War, it tells the story of Rose Sayer (a missionary’s
This, for me, is one of the few books where I actually preferred the film. I don’t think it has aged all that well and was a very slow burner. There just wasn’t enough to hold my attention. The other thing that really grated on me was the way that Allnut’s speech was written in dialect, I know he is a cockney... this was made apparent very early on, do I really need to try and decipher everything he says? That has to be my pet hate in books, some people say it adds to the realism, and for me it just disrupts the flow. I got sick of reading: ‘ere, ‘ow, ‘is, an’, ‘asn’t..... just add the bloody extra letters and be done with it. And don’t get me started on altering whole words, substituting ‘awye’ for ‘away’ and ‘agine’ for ‘again’. The odd word may not bother me too much, but sometime it was nearly every word in a sentence.
Anyway... as I said, a lot of people seem to have read and enjoyed the book. I just wasn’t one of them.
I remember seeing the film years ago, but I had no idea it was based upon a book, and even less of an idea that it was the same author as the Hornblower series. Written in 1935 and set during the First World War, it tells the story of Rose Sayer (a missionary’s
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sister) and Charlie Allnutt a cockney mechanic and also captain of his own small vessel called the African Queen. The two unlikely characters find themselves thrown together when Rose’s brother dies and Allnuts crew desert him after rumours of conscription services in the war. The German occupation of the surrounding lands is fortified by a gunboat Königin Luise, and any British attack would probably be badly hampered or fail with this obstacle in their path. Rose decides to try and do her bit for the war effort and convinces Charlie to turn his boat into a kind of makeshift torpedo and ram the gunboat. The two personalities couldn’t be more different, but they will need to work together if they are to stand any kind of chance....This, for me, is one of the few books where I actually preferred the film. I don’t think it has aged all that well and was a very slow burner. There just wasn’t enough to hold my attention. The other thing that really grated on me was the way that Allnut’s speech was written in dialect, I know he is a cockney... this was made apparent very early on, do I really need to try and decipher everything he says? That has to be my pet hate in books, some people say it adds to the realism, and for me it just disrupts the flow. I got sick of reading: ‘ere, ‘ow, ‘is, an’, ‘asn’t..... just add the bloody extra letters and be done with it. And don’t get me started on altering whole words, substituting ‘awye’ for ‘away’ and ‘agine’ for ‘again’. The odd word may not bother me too much, but sometime it was nearly every word in a sentence.
Anyway... as I said, a lot of people seem to have read and enjoyed the book. I just wasn’t one of them.
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LibraryThing member .Monkey.
This was quite a remarkable book! Two characters, so opposite in nearly every way, coming together in extreme circumstances, and striving to do something above & beyond. It was a great ride!
LibraryThing member billsearth
This is a very good book.
There are three versions of the plot. This version, the second edition, was the original manuscript and is complete and published in 1940. The first edition, published in 1935 by a different publisher, ommitted the last two chapters, according to the author. The third
In this complete version, the plot ends with the following last two sentances;
"So they left the Lakes and began the long journey to Matadi and marriage. Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided."
This type of ending leaves the reader wondering, but free to imagine his or her own conclusion to the story.
I really liked the author's writing style, and the plot in general. The book keeps the reader wrapped up in the fascinating story and not wanting to put the book down.
This particular edition has no illustrations but the text is so good it does well without them. I personally would have liked a more firm ending and have given it a rating just below my top rating but many will find this bok in the highest rating category.
There are three versions of the plot. This version, the second edition, was the original manuscript and is complete and published in 1940. The first edition, published in 1935 by a different publisher, ommitted the last two chapters, according to the author. The third
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version was the movie. Each of these three versions has a different ending.In this complete version, the plot ends with the following last two sentances;
"So they left the Lakes and began the long journey to Matadi and marriage. Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided."
This type of ending leaves the reader wondering, but free to imagine his or her own conclusion to the story.
I really liked the author's writing style, and the plot in general. The book keeps the reader wrapped up in the fascinating story and not wanting to put the book down.
This particular edition has no illustrations but the text is so good it does well without them. I personally would have liked a more firm ending and have given it a rating just below my top rating but many will find this bok in the highest rating category.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
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.
LibraryThing member clue
Sixteen years before there was a move titled The African Queen, there was a book, a classic story of adventure and love. Set in German Southwest Africa at the beginning of WWI, it brings together Rose, a middle-class missionary's sister, and a cockney mechanic who works at a nearby mine.
Rose is a
Mismatched lovers, a wacky adventure, and an unlikely hero pulled me in quickly and gave me a day of pure reading pleasure. It's no wonder to me that The African Queen has become a classic.
Rose is a
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strong, patriotic woman and convinces the weaker Charlie that they should attack a German gunboat in his small and ailing steamboat. Against all odds she sways our hero to attempt the journey down a dangerous river full of fast rapids, thick vegetation, leeches and rocks to get to the lake where the German boat is on patrol. Mismatched lovers, a wacky adventure, and an unlikely hero pulled me in quickly and gave me a day of pure reading pleasure. It's no wonder to me that The African Queen has become a classic.
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LibraryThing member stevesbookstuff
The African Queen is set in the German East Africa of World War I. Rose Sayer, devoted sister of the British Anglican missionary Samuel Sayer, is alone with her brother at his mission when he passes on. Captain Charlie Allnut, a fellow Brit (Cockney in fact), who pilots the African Queen, regularly
And so begins C.S. Forester’s 1935 love story that later was the basis for the 1951 movie starring Humphrey Bogart as Allnut and Katharine Hepburn as Rose. It’s mostly a character study of Rose wrapped into enough of a plot to carry it off as a novel. For much of the book Rose and Allnut are the only characters, alone on the African Queen making their way through rapids and other challenges as they approach Lake Wittelsbach.
Allnut doesn't rise much above caricature - he’s a solidly built, mechanically-inclined man of few words, not given to thinking too much about things outside his immediate view. His significant trait is his pliability, demonstrated in his inclination to bend to Rose’s will from the start. This trait is remarked on by the author more than once. Forester builds out Allnut’s character with, perhaps, the comfort of the readers of the 1930s in mind. He is “all man”, and yet also welcomes Rose’s dominant role in the relationship and isn’t challenged by it.
Rose begins as the spinster sister of the missionary, to whom she has devoted her whole life, subsuming herself to be of service. But with her brother gone, and she alone far from home, she quickly sheds her old skin and transforms herself into a woman confident of her new goal and devoting all her energy to making it come to fruition.
For the reader, it’s certainly an interesting transition for Rose, and also a picturesque portrayal of the trip down the river for her and Charlie. But 87 years after its publication and more than 100 years after the events in the book, well, I have to say that while the book has its charms, it’s also showing its age.
Maybe I dislike how Allnut’s willingness to go along with Rose’s ideas has to be excused and made to seem a personal failing on his part. Perhaps I’m reacting negatively to the chauvinistic bias I hear in Forester’s depiction of Rose herself. Or, maybe it’s just that the writing style strikes my modern American ear as too formal, and too officiously British.
This is, after all, the same author so beloved for his Horatio Hornblower (of the British Navy) series of books, and who came to America during World War II to write propaganda to encourage the US to join the Allies. I do have to admit though, that the frank (for the 1930s) way in which Forester conveys that Charlie and Rose have fallen in love and had sex aboard the boat surprised me, even as I admired how well done the writing about it was.
On the subject of writing, the book has one of the best smile-inducing last lines, despite its officious British construction - “As to whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided.”
Altogether, a mixed reaction from me. More positive than negative. Not glowing. As it's a classic I am glad I finally got around to reading it. If you are more of a fan of the Romance genre than I am you’ll probably like this one. It doesn’t feel right to me to put Star ratings on classics like this one, so that simple recommendation will have to suffice.
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stops in to bring supplies to the mission, and shows up just in time to bury the Reverend. Rose mourns of course, but also finds her passions inflamed against the Germans whose actions caused the failure of her brother’s mission, and who she now blames for his death. With Allnut, she hatches a plan to take the African Queen down the river Ulanga to the lake where the German navy boat the Königin Luise patrols, and blow her up.And so begins C.S. Forester’s 1935 love story that later was the basis for the 1951 movie starring Humphrey Bogart as Allnut and Katharine Hepburn as Rose. It’s mostly a character study of Rose wrapped into enough of a plot to carry it off as a novel. For much of the book Rose and Allnut are the only characters, alone on the African Queen making their way through rapids and other challenges as they approach Lake Wittelsbach.
Allnut doesn't rise much above caricature - he’s a solidly built, mechanically-inclined man of few words, not given to thinking too much about things outside his immediate view. His significant trait is his pliability, demonstrated in his inclination to bend to Rose’s will from the start. This trait is remarked on by the author more than once. Forester builds out Allnut’s character with, perhaps, the comfort of the readers of the 1930s in mind. He is “all man”, and yet also welcomes Rose’s dominant role in the relationship and isn’t challenged by it.
Rose begins as the spinster sister of the missionary, to whom she has devoted her whole life, subsuming herself to be of service. But with her brother gone, and she alone far from home, she quickly sheds her old skin and transforms herself into a woman confident of her new goal and devoting all her energy to making it come to fruition.
For the reader, it’s certainly an interesting transition for Rose, and also a picturesque portrayal of the trip down the river for her and Charlie. But 87 years after its publication and more than 100 years after the events in the book, well, I have to say that while the book has its charms, it’s also showing its age.
Maybe I dislike how Allnut’s willingness to go along with Rose’s ideas has to be excused and made to seem a personal failing on his part. Perhaps I’m reacting negatively to the chauvinistic bias I hear in Forester’s depiction of Rose herself. Or, maybe it’s just that the writing style strikes my modern American ear as too formal, and too officiously British.
This is, after all, the same author so beloved for his Horatio Hornblower (of the British Navy) series of books, and who came to America during World War II to write propaganda to encourage the US to join the Allies. I do have to admit though, that the frank (for the 1930s) way in which Forester conveys that Charlie and Rose have fallen in love and had sex aboard the boat surprised me, even as I admired how well done the writing about it was.
On the subject of writing, the book has one of the best smile-inducing last lines, despite its officious British construction - “As to whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided.”
Altogether, a mixed reaction from me. More positive than negative. Not glowing. As it's a classic I am glad I finally got around to reading it. If you are more of a fan of the Romance genre than I am you’ll probably like this one. It doesn’t feel right to me to put Star ratings on classics like this one, so that simple recommendation will have to suffice.
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LibraryThing member kslade
Good story of prim missionary and lowlife small boat skipper getting together to fight the Germans in Africa in the first war. I read it a long time ago. Movie is great too. The author wrote the Hornblower series.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
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.
LibraryThing member addunn3
Ah, but for the ending...
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The African Queen by C.S. Forester is a book that I have long wanted to read. Originally published in 1935, this is a memorial WW I story that takes part in a remote corner of the world. German East Africa comprised what is now known as Burundi, Rwanda and part of Tanganyika (now known as
Rose and Charlie bury Samuel and head off down the Ulanga River in the African Queen. He is thinking of hiding from the Germans in a remote backwater, while she is burning to strike a blow for England against Germany. Nothing will answer but that they travel down the perilous river and blow the German gun-boat that guards Lake Tanganyika, called Lake Wittelsbach in this book, to kingdom come. As they travel together, feelings arise and their mutual admiration of each other soon grows into love. As Rose is a forceful, determined woman she soon takes the place of leader and Charlie becomes her faithful, admiring assistant.
Rose and Charlie are a wonderful pair of mis-matched people. Together they pilot the African Queen towards their goal. As Charlie puts it, “We’ve come along under steam, an’ we’ve paddled, an’ we’ve pushed, an’ we’ve pulled the ole boat along with our hands.“ The author brings these two unique characters to life and through them sets a wonderful story in motion. One of my favorite reads of the year.
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Tanzania). At the opening of the book the Germans have come to the mission of Rose and her brother Samuel and stripped the place of food and animals. The native people are conscripted and marched away, leaving Rose and her sick brother alone. Samuel succumbs to a fever but keeping Rose from being totally alone, Charlie Allnut, fleeing downriver from the Germans in a derelict boat called The African Queen arrives.Rose and Charlie bury Samuel and head off down the Ulanga River in the African Queen. He is thinking of hiding from the Germans in a remote backwater, while she is burning to strike a blow for England against Germany. Nothing will answer but that they travel down the perilous river and blow the German gun-boat that guards Lake Tanganyika, called Lake Wittelsbach in this book, to kingdom come. As they travel together, feelings arise and their mutual admiration of each other soon grows into love. As Rose is a forceful, determined woman she soon takes the place of leader and Charlie becomes her faithful, admiring assistant.
Rose and Charlie are a wonderful pair of mis-matched people. Together they pilot the African Queen towards their goal. As Charlie puts it, “We’ve come along under steam, an’ we’ve paddled, an’ we’ve pushed, an’ we’ve pulled the ole boat along with our hands.“ The author brings these two unique characters to life and through them sets a wonderful story in motion. One of my favorite reads of the year.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1935