Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

An Unexpected Treasure
Having loved the classic Greer Garson film of the same name, I was very much looking forward to reading the book upon which it was based.Imagine my surprise when I opened the first page to discover that the book is a series of articles based on Mrs. Miniver's largely peacetime life.I hasten to add that this isn't a criticism.What is found in this slim volume is a deeply-layered exploration of Mrs. Miniver's personal beliefs, quiet integrity and dry sense of humor.

Language is something to be treasured and savored here.Struther plays with words in a way that is, for lack of a better term, delicious.I found myself reading and re-reading segments because of the beautiful way in which they were phrased.The life that the Minivers lead consists of trips to their country home in Kent, dinners with friends, and holiday celebrations, all archly and candidly observed by Mrs. Miniver.The War, while looming on the horizon, does not take over until the very end of the book.

I got this book with the expectation that I'd read about the things I'd seen in the film.What I ended up with was something much different.It takes nothing away from my love of Greer Garson to say that I loved Jan Struther's original stories just as much as the movie that grew out of them.

A perennial classic
I re-read this book every year at the start of the holiday season.It reminds me of what they are about - family, home, and the quiet joys of tradition and domestic tranquility.I love her keen observances of people and everyday objects.And I feel the same way about engagement books!I have bought copies for all my favorite women.

Mrs. Miniver:A story of courage that, I hope, is not gone forever
Mrs. Miniver is a story of courage and love and family written in Britain during World War II.Most people today who know the story, know it from the Greer Garson classic movie.But books have always been special in my family, and I was delighted to discover it was still in print.

A quiet delight
Like so many other readers, I picked this book up expecting the written version of the Greer Garson film. As soon as I read the author's thanks to the Times for allowing her to republish a series of articles carried by that newspaper in the pre-war years, though, I realized that wasn't what I was about to read. So I adjusted my expectations, settled back, and thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Miniver in her original incarnation. The war doesn't begin until the book's final vignette, although its looming threat is hinted at many times in the earlier ones.

Jan Struther's articles share with us the life of Mrs. Miniver, a happily married Londoner who has a second home in Kent and three perfectly normal children. Like other women of her time and class, she has no need to be employed at anything but living the proper social life, and directing the activities of her servants so that husband Clem will have a haven to come to every night and a competent hostess to entertain their friends and business contacts. Clem appears to be a building contractor, which makes such contacts especially important.

So far, so boring. Except that Mrs. Miniver has a keen mind, and an equally keen awareness of her own emotions and the triggers that rouse them. Each article's vividly written descriptions of routine events in an average woman's life not only involve the reader's senses; they also offer, subtly and therefore effectively, philosophical comments that any thinking person can't help responding to with recognition. We've lived what Mrs. Miniver has lived, all of us, despite being separated from her world by gulfs of time and space. Between those moments (at least one, but usually several, per article) and Struther's beautiful use of everyday language, this book turns out to be a quiet delight.

Nothing like the movie.
This book shows the characterization of the woman in the film, but Hollywood definitely took some huge liberties with the plot line.As this is always the case, I expected some minor differences, but this is completely different.The novel was published before the Battle of Britain, and the author obviously didn't know the future.Hollywood at the time wanted to use headlines for film fodder, so it's only a matter of course that they should change the plot of the novel to suit the times.Both the movie and the novel are worthwhile. ... Read more

Product Description
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A good little adventure
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
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
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
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.

Was This A College Writing Assignment?
I was shocked to learn how bad this book really is.The title is so beloved by many as the Bogart/Hepburn classic, and one would expect the book to not only match the Hollywood translation but to dwarf it with typical literary superiority.Not so.The basic plot itself is brilliant enough in its simplicity: two unlikely characters (the archetypical Cockney grease monkey and the chaste maiden) have an adventurous float down an untamed river on a cocked-up mission to sink a German gunship.Ok so far.What Forester does with this promising seed is ridiculous and leaves the reader wondering whether this was all just a vehicle for Forester to deliver a little saucy "maiden-missionary-loses-her-virginity" stuff mixed in with his clearly evident views that missionaries are idiots.Forester's story is outrageous on all levels.From the timely and chance first meeting between Rose and Allnut, to the mere minutes that it took for Rose to hatch her ignorant plot to sink a German warship, to Allnut's agreement to participate, to the absurd success of the journey, to the ridiculous "Cockney ingenuity" with which Allnut fashions a propeller out of a coconut or some such stunt, Forester lays a number of eggs.The creme de la creme is Rose's glorious fall from grace.This whole angle of the book borders on soft porn, at least by 1930's standards.Are we to believe that this apparently devout missionary woman has maintained her purity for all these years just to give it all to this unbathed louse?Forester clearly delighted in this stuff: at one point, he actually describes Rose's 'chests' as literally levitating with her newfound vigor and energy - having replaced her former existence of Christian bondage with a new life of unbridled jungle boogie.Come on.Last criticism, with a SPOILER ALERT: the movie's ending is much better than the novel's.Whereas the movie made the boat (the very namesake of the book) into one of the main characters that ultimately sunk the German gunboat, Forester sinks the Afican Queen early and unceremoniously, and then takes the reader through an irrelevant account of Belgian naval manuevers and German military justice.Anyway, I've written enough: stick to the movie. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring all the classics as originally seen Santa Claus told and sung by Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney and Kris Keenan Wynn as "Winter. Rudolph is told and sung by Burl Ives. Little Drummer Boy voices by Greer Garson, Frosty voices by Jimmy Durante, plus Jingle Bells. All suitable for children of all ages. Color Cartoons. ... Read more

Product Description
The Valley of Decision (1945) is a film set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA which tells the story of a young house maid who falls in love with the son of the local steel mill owner. Their romance is endangered when her family, all steel mill workers, go on strike against his father. It stars Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore, Preston Foster, Marsha Hunt, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, Dan Duryea and Jessica Tandy.The movie was adapted by Sonya Levien and John Meehan from the novel by Marcia Davenport. It was directed by Tay Garnett.It was nominated for two Academy Awards (1946) for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Greer Garson) and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. ... Read more