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Title: The African Queen
Author: C.S. Forrester
Genre: Historical fiction (WWI)
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: A missionary commanders a ramshackle boat and mechanic and sails down an unnavigable African river to blow up a German warship.
Thoughts: I'd always loved the Horatio Hornblower books; separately, I loved the Bogart/Hepburn film The African Queen. I had no idea that the latter was based on a book by the author of the former.
The majority of this book is charming. At the same time, it's an adventure tale and a romance. Rose the missionary's sister is a passionate, ingenious, and courageous woman who always smothered her own spirit in service to her brother's dreams. Allnut is a bit lazy, a bit of a coward, and not all that bright. In their adventure, they bring out the best in each other.
The film, however, has a rather different ending than the book. I'm not going to spoil either, entirely, except to say that the book ends on a rather tragic note while the movie gives the, well, Hollywood ending. The happy ending is unrealistic; however, perhaps because I saw the movie first, I have to say that I prefer it. The end of Rose's quest in the book completely undercuts the spirit of the preceding voyage and Rose's own growth as a character. Which, I think, is the point. But I'd grown to love Rose, and was heartbroken for her. I won't say the ending is bad, in an artistic sense. But I wish she had gotten Hepburn's Rose's fate instead.
Author: C.S. Forrester
Genre: Historical fiction (WWI)
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: A missionary commanders a ramshackle boat and mechanic and sails down an unnavigable African river to blow up a German warship.
Thoughts: I'd always loved the Horatio Hornblower books; separately, I loved the Bogart/Hepburn film The African Queen. I had no idea that the latter was based on a book by the author of the former.
The majority of this book is charming. At the same time, it's an adventure tale and a romance. Rose the missionary's sister is a passionate, ingenious, and courageous woman who always smothered her own spirit in service to her brother's dreams. Allnut is a bit lazy, a bit of a coward, and not all that bright. In their adventure, they bring out the best in each other.
The film, however, has a rather different ending than the book. I'm not going to spoil either, entirely, except to say that the book ends on a rather tragic note while the movie gives the, well, Hollywood ending. The happy ending is unrealistic; however, perhaps because I saw the movie first, I have to say that I prefer it. The end of Rose's quest in the book completely undercuts the spirit of the preceding voyage and Rose's own growth as a character. Which, I think, is the point. But I'd grown to love Rose, and was heartbroken for her. I won't say the ending is bad, in an artistic sense. But I wish she had gotten Hepburn's Rose's fate instead.
