White hunteer, black heart

by Peter Viertel

It was a stellar cast gathered to make an epic masterpiece...a movie that could be made only by a mad genius. And John Wilson was a cinematic genius sent dangerously out of control by the madness of Africa itself. The human cost would be awesome, reflecting the tragic legacy for Africa of the white man's ignorance, arrogance...and passion.

Genres: Film, Fiction, Africa

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Camy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pauline Kael was right. This really IS the best book ever written about the movie-making process (in all it's batshit-crazy glory).

The dialogue is so sharp, and the recall feels so authentic, that Viertel places you in every situation right alongside the characters (one of whom is based on himself). It's even more enjoyable if you've seen 'The African Queen', and know a bit about the real people (John Huston, Peter Viertel, Sam Spiegel, Humphrey Bogart, Kate Hepburn et al) the characters are based on. The veiling is actually SO thin, it feels like you're privy to private 'clips' of these greats at their very best - and very worst.

John Huston truly was a stunningly mad genius... but define 'mad'. If it really was what made him the uncompromising, creative power that he was, then I'll have it. Any day of the week. And this book just made me appreciate the man and his sometimes brazenly uncommercial body of work even more. I've since viewed classics like 'Blackboard Jungle' and 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' in a whole new light. His 'fuck you-ness' shines through in everything he did, and it's documented here with such humour, frustration and pathos that he comes across exactly as I imagine he'd have wanted to. As himself.

A must-read for any fan of the 'Golden Era' of Hollywood, and the best real 'fun' I've had with a book in a long time.

[Jon Boorstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the best book about the battle to make a picture, and the sadistic, egomaniacal pleasures of being a director. Modeled on John Huston, and the making of The African Queen.

[Jon Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

So very much better than the movie. Don't get me wrong, the movie is good. Clint Eastwood made a good film. But there was so much left out, that watching the movie again after reading the book was a huge letdown.

Viertel tells a great story. This is a fictionalized account of John Huston and the story surrounding his making of "The African Queen".

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not a fan of Clint Eastwood's movie of this book but in finally reading it, it makes me want to go back and take another look. This was the author's response to working on "The African Queen" with John Huston, and many of the characters are easily recognizable. "Wilson" (the Huston character) can be gracious one moment, brash the next, before finally turning into the obsessive monster of the latter part of the story. Some of the language -- particularly referring to the natives -- is harsh and racist, but always coming from characters with whom we have no sympathy, which was clearly the point. Although entirely set in Europe and Africa, this belongs on any shelf of the great Hollywood novels.

[Nancy Thormann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this book about four years ago and couldn't finish it. I watched the movie recently and decided to try reading the book again.

The one star is for Peter Viertel. His writing style is easy to read and he describes the people and the African culture quite well. I have no problem with Peter Viertel.

I have a problem with John Huston (known as John Wilson in the book). Many descriptions here will say that this book is a good overview of how The African Queen was made. That is only partly true. The book describes how John Huston and Peter Viertel talked about the script and revise it. John Huston said at least a dozen times throughout the book that he didn't care about the script or the movie. All he cared about was his stupid safaris and his hunting. He was obsessed beyond reason with killing an elephant.

Katherine Hepburn wrote a book called The Making of the African Queen. If you want to know how the African Queen was made, you'd be better off reading her book.

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really enjoying the movie version of this, but I found the book pretty dull by comparison. It's only when they start hunting in earnest, about 250 pages in, that I became at all engaged with the story - and to be honest the plaudits about how this is a great book about movie-making feel a bit like an inside joke to me: this is only like 10% about movie-making, and even then it's pretty much all pre-production schmoozing. I think the novel successfully makes the case for the Wilson character as some kind of enigmatic but brilliant madman, who seems to be pursuing some higher mission. I found it less interesting when it came to the narrator as his foil, and whatever it was trying to say thematically about Africa, courage, art, racism, and so on comes out fairly muddled. I did enjoy the story for the last 60 pages or so, though, and it ultimately thundered toward a pretty strong ending.

[Dze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg! What a great book!

I got this book because of the connection between the author and filming the African Queen. The story is loosely based on his experience with John Huston. Apparently Huston and Viertel had a falling out during the African Queen, but again it's based loosely on his experience.
I am so pleased to have discovered this gem.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I got it from our Little Free Library and started it as a gag, as Peter would write in the book, so didn't expect much. There was a lot of funny dialog, interesting stories.

The content shows the time it was written so there is naughty talk about women, racisism and all kinds of other things we don't tolerate these days.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to Africa, and into the mind of John Wilson, a movie genius out of control as the madness of Africa asserts itself on him and others. The arrogance, stupidity and passion of man is studied in this novel.

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good prose with great dialog, good characterization, good world building, good story, maybe a theme.

Hollywood director uses his position to alternately charm and abuse everyone and uses the movie he is about to make as an excuse for a shameful African safari. The title sums it up.

[Churchill Osimbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book and the film are equally good.

[David Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started well but once it goes to the jungle in Africa it becomes a little tedious.

[Manuel Baraja · Rating 3 out of 5]

No está mal, retrato de una época buena para unas cosas, no tanto para otras.

Es cierto que se me hizo pelín pesada de forma puntual ya que la acción se suele circunscribir a dar vueltas a la misma idea.

El mundo del cine está presente, aunque en un plano bastante secundario.

Uno de los personajes, de los más odiosos que haya leído nunca. Sí, te explican sus motivaciones, que puede tenerlas, pero conozco a gente así y no por estar justificados dejan de ser menos imbéciles.

[Beckey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the movie ... In my personal opinion...
Clint Eastwood is a great actor but the book portrays so much more about the story

[Ⰰⱃⰿⰰⱀⰴ Ⱆⰾⰴⰵⱃⰻⰽⱁ Ⱅⰵⱄⰾⰰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opet moram pročitat.