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The African Queen cover art

The African Queen

By: C. S. Forester
Narrated by: Michael Kitchen
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Summary

Upon her brother's death, missionary Rose Sayer and Charles Allnutt, disreputable skipper of the African Queen, become allies as, marooned in German Central Africa during World War I, they fight their old launch downriver 'to strike a blow for England'.

©1935 C.S. Forester (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The African Queen

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great narration of a poignant story

I bought this audio book because Michael Kitchen was the narrator, as I think he is one of the best actors around, I was quietly confident that his narrating skills would be just as wonderful, and indeed they are. He is very much an actor who understands the importance of the voice and dialect when creating a character and because of this he really brings the characters and the sense of time and place to life. From listening to the book it seems that C.S Forester is a details author, taking great care in describing the difficult journey Rose and Allnut take, so it was probably best that I listened to the audio book rather than reading it.



The story itself is actually a rather tragic. Rose and Allnut are two characters who seem to have always been somewhat - inconsequential in world and with the outbreak of the First World War nothing has changed. Their attempt to strike a blow for England comes across as a desperate need for purpose than an heroic grand scheme and needless to say the tone of the book suggests early on that things may not go quite to plan.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Story

A great story, well written but for the ending which is very poor. The ending in the flim was better.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A gem!

I loved this book with it’s innocence and almost childlike story telling. All the time I had in mind Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart from the film watched long ago with my parents. I was unsure about Michael Kitchen’s clipped voice at first but then decided he suited the story well and captured the voice of Charlie Allnutt perfectly for me.
I loved this gentle book (although the racist sentiment especially a phrase at the end spoke of it is time).

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Perfect Pleasure!

I found this classic tale an absolute delight, it really has everything - adventure, romance, gentle humour a d perfect narration by Michael Kitchen. Highly recommended *****

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great little story

Like most people I have seen the movie many times so it was nice to hear the book.
Obviously slightly different to the movie but still very enjoyable.
As for the narration, Michael Kitchen is sublime, in fact it should be mandatory for this kind of reading
Thoroughly enjoyed it

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning

There was nothing to dislike at all , riveting from start too finish , the ending was different to the film

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very good in every way

this was very exciting to listen to.
I would like to say however that it was made for me so exciting by the quality of the narration. Wonderful.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

GOOD fead

good read look forward to further work A .just perfect night time work to relax

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

I enjoyed this story with it’s highs and lows as the main characters battle the challenges of Africa’s rivers.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Easy to listen too

Listening to Michael Kitchen’s narration brought the characters to life.
Shame the way the book ended but I guess it leaves us to imagine what happened.

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