Humphrey Bogart Book:

Editorial Review:
The African Queen is an old, dirty, ugly, unreliable steamboat. No one would take a boat like that down a dangerous river through the jungles of Central Africa during the First World War. But Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnut do just that. They come close to death many times, but no one would expect a missionary's sister and a rough, uneducated mechanic to fall in love ...The film of this famous love and adventure story, made in 1951, starred Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, and went on to become one of the most popular films ever made.

African Queen Reviews:
How did this ever get published?
2009-07-06 - This book is written in the most pedestrian prose I've seen in a published novel.

A good little adventure
2008-11-03 - Although personally I do not believe the writers best work (Hornblower is just incredible), it is still a fantastic read. One of the best writers I believe in anything associated with maritime and naval stories.
This story has only a few elements to work with but creates a great light read. The story is so good there is no need for any major complex twists, turns or tricks making it very digestible. A welcome read if you have just spent the last few books in heavy intense thrillers or of the like.
The writer obviously knew what they were talking about as some of the details are not only incredibly interesting, but also incredible at creating suspense. The details do not bore you at all and treats you like you are intelligent enough to understand what is being said, which is a massive relief from the spoon feeding of other writers.
The book is a well written breath of fresh air. Like tea on the porch in the fall. lol.


African Queen - too little for a book - but a fine screen play
2008-03-26 - The African Queen - C.S. Forrester. Weak. Good, but weak. The movie may have won an academy award but the book comes up short. More of a novella, or screenplay than a book. The author could have doubled the text and it may well have been a good book. I appreciate the drama of the two people pulled from separate worlds that are changed dramatically by unfolding events and raise themselves to previously unimagined feats of character and bravery. Still, it was a wasted effort, two little to hang it all on and a pointless ending.

in this case the movie was better
2007-04-13 - If I love a movie, I will often read the book with the expectation that it will be better.
In this case I think the movie is better than the book. Not that it is a bad book, I found it enjoyable enough. I just think that Bogey's and Hepburn's interpretation of the characters is what really brought this story to life.

The ending redeems itself
2007-03-18 - 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.