The African Queen

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.

Seen the movie, now read the book. This is an adventure tale about Charlie Allnutt and Rose Sayer set in WWI and was written by C.S.Forester in 1935. The book has been over shadowed by the 1951 film which starred Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. The book stands on its own as a classic and centres on the relationship between the unlikely match of Charlie and Rose with the war as a backdrop. Charlie is a gin loving engineer and Rose is a religious missionary who manages to convince Charlie to take his rickety old boat, The African Queen, down a treacherous river to destroy a German gunboat patrolling the lake at the end of the river. The inter play between the two characters is developed beautifully as they influence each other to form a formidable team. Forester may have meant it to be many things, but to me it is a great love story. Two people who shine in the presence of each other. The novel is relatively short and keeps the suspense and sense of adventure high throughout. The ending of the book turns out to be more realistic and poignant than the film and just by reading it you will appreciate the brilliance of Bogart and Hepburn even more.

"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.

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.

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