Percival Christopher Wren--Beau Geste (1924)

It is frequently observed (and almost as frequently disputed) that men in our time are something quite different from what they were formerly. I tend to be in the camp that believes some fairly drastic changes have occurred, due both to alterations in mode of life as well as biochemical influences. While a fantastical and somewhat out-of-date fiction even by the standards of its own day, Beau Geste, the huge best-seller of the 1920s, is animated nonetheless by infectious qualities of male spiritedness, camaraderie, acceptance of the possibility of death and craving for adventure, and a general attitude of celebration of the possibilities of upper class European manhood. The IWE felt compelled to note that "Wren was by no means a good writer" even as they were championing his book, and it is true that he lacks a smooth style or incisive insights or other literary qualities of that sort, but I found the book to be unique and interesting in many places. Even the construction of it is rather bizarre in that the first 80 pages involve a stereotypically suave and jaunty French officer relating a mysterious escapade in the desert to an old English chum of equal social and military rank, at which point the narrative finally shifts to the Geste brothers, the protagonists of the book, with the two characters who opened the book not seen again except for a few cameo appearances. And even within the brothers' story, the title character Beau, while the leader of the group and possessed of the most heroic qualities, is not really the central figure around whom most of the narrative is centered, that being John, the younger brother, who narrates the entire second portion of the book and whose movements we always remain with even during lengthy periods when Michael, or Beau, is offstage.

But as I said, there is much that is attractively lively in the book, and compared to most of the works on this program, it was a very fast read: it took me about 2 weeks to get through 418 pages, which is a pace I have not approached since before I had children.


At one point I thought I was going to get through this one with very sparse notes but I ended up filling a page with them.


From page 9, a sample sentence:


"And then as I wearily light a wretched cigarette babbling I know not what of a wretched Arab goum--they are always dying of fatigue, these fellows, if they have hurried a few miles--on a dying camel, who cries at the gate that he is from Zinferneuf, and that there is siege and massacre, battle, murder, and sudden death."


I assure you, I would have thought this just as wretched as everyone else does fifteen or twenty years ago.


p. 40 "Duty to my country came before my duty to these fellows, and I must not allow any pity for their probable fate to come between my and my duty as a French officer."


Do we argue so viciously now because we are all strangers pitted one against the other? The camaraderie of class/school/profession, when it takes hold, seems stronger in old books than anything of the sort that we know now.


p. 125 "'I've let Augustus take the blame all this time', she sobbed" "'Didn't notice him taking any,' observed Digby. 'Must be a secret blame-taker, I suppose.'"


When running away to join the French Foreign Legion the narrator raises money for the adventure by going to a Jewish pawnbroker, the portrait of whom is predictably unflattering. The IWE summarizer observed that "among other things" Wren's "effort to render American conversation was ludicrous even for an Englishman" though this was pointedly the only ludicrous rendition of conversation that was pointed out.


p. 155 "'I gotter live, ain't I?' he replied, in a piteous voice, to my cruel look." "Forbearing to observe 'Je ne vois pas la necessite', I laid my stick and gloves on the counter..."

p. 157 "Personally, I would always rather travel first class and miss my meals, than travel third and enjoy three good ones, on a day's journey. Nor is this in the least due to paltry exclusiveness and despicable snobbishness. It is merely that I would rather spend the money on a comfortable seat, a pleasant compartment, and freedom from crowding, than on food with cramped circumstances."


p. 175 "He was of a type of Frenchman that I do not like (there are several of them)..."


This drew an LOL from me.


p. 193 "I liked him less and less as the evening wore on, and I liked him least when he climbed on the zinc-covered counter and sang an absolutely vile song, wholly devoid of humour or of anything else but offence. I am bound to admit, however, that it was very well-received by the audience."


Another chuckle.


p. 197 " A huge greasy creature, grossly fat, filthily dirty in clothes and person, and with a face that was his misfortune, emerged from the cooking-house. he eyed us with sourest contempt."


Wren allows the reader to indulge his natural dislike of ugly, stupid people with terrible personalities.


To put the life of the no longer very well known Wren into some context, he was born in South London in 1875 and lived until 1941. His father was a schoolmaster, and he received a Master's degree from St Catherine's Society, described by Wikipedia as a non-collegiate institution for poorer students. He worked for the Indian Education Service from 1903 to 1917. He was appointed a reserve officer in East Africa for less than a year during the First World War. His supposed service in the French Foreign Legion, out of which experience this book and many of his other top-selling literary productions were thought to have sprung, appears never to have been confirmed. He appears to have begun publishing his adventure novels around 1914. He cut a preternaturally dashing figure in the few photographs of him that are known.

p. 208 "It struck me that community of habits, tastes, customs, and outlook form a stronger bond of sympathy than community of race; and that men of the same social caste and different nationality were much more attracted to each other than men of the same nationality and different caste..." The proto-globalism of the French Foreign Legion.


p.213 "'But why bother about the Americans? They are uncultivated people.' 'We're going to cultivate them,' punned Michael."


p. 234 "We made rapid progress and, after a time, made a point of talking Arabic to each other. It is an easy language to learn,  especially in a country where it is spoken." I have no idea whether this is true or not. In my life I don't know any Anglophones who have learned to speak it. It is of course necessary to the plot that the Geste brothers learn it.


p. 250 Another sample passage of the rip-roaring, swashbuckling variety: "Possibly we were going to take part in some complicated scheme of conquest, extending French dominion to Lake Tchad or Timbuktu. Possibly we were about to invade and conquer Morocco once and for all...We were keen, we were picked men, and nobody went sick or fell out. Had he done so, he would have died an unpleasant death, in which thirst, Arabs, and hyenas would have been involved."


p. 253 "I should have liked to admire him as much as I admired his military skill, and ability as a commander, and I began to understand how soldiers love a good leader when it is possible to do so." Well put, and an important idea to remember.


p. 289 "'Do you swear it by the name of God? By your faith in Christ? By your love of the Blessed Virgin? And by your hope for the intercession of the Holy Saints?' asked Bolidar." "'Not in the least,' replied Michael. 'I merely say it. I have not got a diamond--'Word of an Englishman.'" We had to have something like this get in at some point. It is humorous but not ironic or arch or any of that. I appreciate it.


p. 337 John to Beau when they are the last two men in the fortress alive as it is being besieged. "...it's been a great lark." Beau is an attractive character, but as noted above, not fleshed out or very deep, or even particularly prominent on a page by page basis in the story.

p. 364 "I did my best to make it a real 'Viking's Funeral' for him, just like we used to have at home. Just like he used to want it. My chief regret was that I had no Union Jack to drape over him."


I did make a note around this point asking What is this book about? but I am sure I was overthinking the question because it is about the romance of young male blossoming, adventure, daring, and death, a subject which, in this kind of treatment anyway, does not seem to be of much positive interest to the contemporary gatekeepers of the culture. It is of interest to me, however!


p. 368 "I greatly feared that our deeds of homicide and arson had raised us higher in the estimation of these good men than any number of pious acts and gentle words could ever have done."


I thought it was also noteworthy that it was not treated as terribly important that the high-spirited and eminently sharp and capable Beau should survive the adventure and return home to found a family line and take up a leading role in the affairs of his country. This is the role of his less immediately dynamic brothers, though the whole family was plenty resourceful and insouciant on their own.


Beau Geste has been adapted for numerous major movie and T.V. productions. The first was a silent version in 1926 starring Ronald Colman. My copy of the book was a companion to the release of this film and includes several still photographs from it among its pages. Another major Hollywood version came out in 1939, starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston, with direction by William Wellman. Hollywood did another remake in 1966 without big stars, although future TV legend Telly Savalas appeared as the sadistic commander. It then received an 8-episode BBC treatment in 1982, which appears to be the last attempt at bringing these characters and their times and adventures to the screen. There was also a spoof released in 1977 called The Last Remake of Beau Geste which included Peter Ustinov, James Earl Jones, and Ann-Margret among the cast, which indicates to me that the story was still well-known at that time.

My edition of the book ends with six pages of hype about the 1926 film. One note of interest to me was that a comparison of this production was made to "probably the finest picture ever produced, 'The Big Parade.'" (King Vidor-1925). This was a World War I drama that was a huge hit and is still highly regarded, and while I may have heard of the title, anything else about it has eluded my awareness up to now.


The Challenge


A rather strange and mostly obscure selection of contenders for this book.


1. Nora Roberts--Of Blood and Bone..........................................................................................658
2. Coughlin, Kuhlman & Davis--Shooter: Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper...246
3. Paul Theroux--The Great Railway Bazaar..............................................................................153
4. Frederic S. Durbin--A Green and Ancient Light........................................................................52
5. Alison Green--Ask a Manager...................................................................................................45
6. Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith--Stranger................................................................32
7. Russell Sullivan--Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times......................................................28
8. Allan Abbass--Reaching Through Resistance: Advanced Psychotherapy Techniques.............27
9. Letters Never Meant to be Read, Volume I.................................................................................19
10. Services and Prayers for the Church of England......................................................................4
11. Tia Lee--Vermilion Whispers.....................................................................................................4
12. Calameo--The History of Rome, Part I......................................................................................0
13. Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa--Tuareg...........................................................................................0
14. Joseph Jordania--Tigers, Lions and Humans.............................................................................0
15. Fiona Price--Re-Inventing Liberty..............................................................................................0
16. Samuel W. Duffield--The Latin Hymn-Writers and Their Hymns.............................................0


1st Round


#1 Roberts over #16 Duffield


No library presence for Duffield.


#2 Shooter over #15 Price


Same fate for Price


#3 Theroux over #14 Jordania


I have actually read the Theroux book some years back and even written about it on my home blog. There was a period back in the pre-Challenge days when I would read one of Theroux's travel books every summer, usually while sitting at my children's swimming lessons. I read this one, the sequel trip across Asia 30 years later in which some countries from the earlier trip had to be avoided due to political changes (while others closed off in 1974 were now open), the one going around the perimeter of England, the one about riding the train from Boston straight through to Argentina, the one making a full circuit of the Mediterranean Sea...I enjoyed all of these books.


#4 Durbin over #13 Vasquez-Figueroa
#5 Green over #12 Calameo


There is no point in advancing books that have no evident existence either in libraries or even on Amazon.


#6 Brown/Smith over #11 Lee
#7 Sullivan over #10 Services and Prayers
#8 Abbass over #9 Letters


Neither of the books in the 8-9 game are available in libraries.

Round of 8


#8 Abbass over #1 Roberts


Technically an upset, but I wouldn't have wanted to read the Roberts book anyway.


#2 Shooter over #7 Sullivan


Another upset, albeit a mild one. I don't think a sports-themed book has prevailed in the Challenge yet.


#3 Theroux over #6 Brown/Smith
#4 Durbin over #5 Green


This one was a toss-up, very little to differentiate the two contestants. I was not fired up to read either of these books.


Final Four


#2 Shooter over #8 Abbass
#3 Theroux over #4 Durbin


Championship


#2 Shooter over #3 Theroux


I would have gone with Theroux if I hadn't read it already. I probably should read something about the modern American military anyway.