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Beau Geste

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Beau Geste

By: P.C. Wren
Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
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About this listen

 A shot rang out. The Arabs surged forward under a savage fusillade of heavy fire. Nearer and nearer they came, shouting with hate and blood-lust. Geste rushed up and down his side of the roof, pausing only long enough to load his rifle and fire into the shrieking mob below, hoping to trick the Arabs into believing the fort was heavily manned. Load, aim, and fire, ignoring the cries and curses of the wounded, the dead sprawled out in their own blood. Of all those hard-bitten veterans who had yelled their defiance at the first Arab onslaught, who had shouted with joy at the order of "Aux Armes!", only 10 remained, 10 legionnaires against a thousand Arabs.

Beau Geste is the world-famous novel of suspense and adventure, love and glory, courage, and treachery. It is the thrilling story of three men who braved the hellish brutality and ruthless savagery of the French Foreign Legion to protect the honor of a woman they loved more than their lives.

(P)1997 Blackstone Audiobooks Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths World Literature Classics

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This is superb- a gripping mix of mystery, the sahara, the macabre and adventure- though more than anything else it is a celebration of esprit de corps and 'doing the right thing'.

In short it is everything that one might want from an audiobook- and the narration could hardly be better.

On the other hand, I was left with a bitter taste- (not to give the plot away)- I found the over-arching mystery less interesting and less significant than the second mystery that was caused by/ contained within it.

It's no plot spoiler to reveal that the first-person narrator survives to the end and that everything is cleared up- but it comes as rather an anti-climax and a hollow victory. I was left feeling rather annoyed with P.C Wren for having put my emotions through the wringer to, ultimately, so little purpose.

I expected that with an adventure story of this vintage and this classic status I would be reassured in the end that all the suffering was worthwhile- and I was cheated out of that comfort and the joy of 'boy gets girl' was not enough to blot out the (plot-wise rather needless) trauma of the last third of the adventure

Glorious, heroic- but traumatic too.

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Beau Geste is a rich mystery adventure story. The tragic heroic acts central to the narrative would not be out of place in a Dumas novel, with the title character's destiny being particularly heart-rending.

Although unconfirmed, speculation at the time of publication was that the author had himself served in the French Foreign Legion. His vignettes of life in the Legion are fascinating, entertaining and educational. A true classic in the boys own adventure genre.

The narration in this recording is excellent with the author coping admirably with the French and Arabic vocabulary.

Very highly recommended.

Superb reading of a classic adventure

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A very exciting story, gripping from beginning to end, performed perfectly. Both the English and the French are read very well. Fascinating detail of life in the Foreign Legion and Algeria. A very positive story. It makes you feel proud to be English. I’m sorry that I’ve come to the end of the book but I’m sure that I will listen to it again.

A brilliant book

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