I am undecided on whether or not I would recommend this book. I found it an interesting introduction to the murder mystery genre but ultimately unsatisfying. The end made the book feel kind of cheap and as if the story didn’t matter to me. I also got very annoyed by all the stereotyping of nationalities and faux diversity. Christie has all the characters go on about how diverse the people on the train are but they’re all just Europeans and Americans! They pass through Syria and Turkey and don’t encounter a single non-European person. Dumb. There’s also a ton of ridiculous statements people make like “Englishmen don’t stab.” Have you never heard of Jack the Ripper? Like there are so many moments where they remark on it being a womanly murder or with a “Latin temperament” and it really took me out of it. This detective is supposed to be a genius and he doesn’t think an Englishman will stab anyone? Now that I write all this down, I do not think I would recommend the book.
All that said,
I did fly through this book so it was definitely a page-turner. Christie’s
style keeps you moving through things fast even if the story is a little
confusing at parts. I was definitely very engaged by the book, but like I said,
the ending made me feel like it wasn’t worth it. I have two other books of hers
that I may or may not read.
Greetings, Jeremy. I proceed to write my counter-critic hoping to start a debate,but before I do, I appreciate the raw opinion you just gave. Hard to find one of those when reading about Agatha. Chapeau!.
ReplyDeleteWhen you try and criticize Agatha for her stereotypes, you miss the point, which is to portray the extremely judgemental and xenophobic culture she was surrounded by (she talks about this in some conferences and it gets clearer the more books of her you read). What you say about Poirot, that he claims to be the "best detective ever" (he is, you are still yet to be surprised) and he still falls in these judgemental arguments ("Englishmen don't stab", for instance), you have to understand it's just a part of his charisma as a character, he sometimes just follows his instincts and he usually is right (he also makes mistakes, again, give him some more reads to see him grow as a character).
Ultimately, despite the fact that this isn't her best book for me either, she does show little details of her writing style and her narrative thread, but here are nothing compared to her best books.
I see what you mean and it only makes sense since she is writing in the 1930's about the 1930's. I will most likely be reading another of her books soon.
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