Épisode Deux: Ze Simple Life

[Hercule Poirot]

Fortunately I've read a lot more of the standalones than Poroit novels, at least by percentage. I thoroughly recommend Crooked House but ESPECIALLY Endless Night, that one was incredible. I read most of my Christie novels in high school but those two were a lot more recent and stick with me. Also the first chapter of Towards Zero is incredible and definitely plays with the genre a bit more than others.

I 'ave 'eard fantastic things about both of these so zey are definitely on my list, but my library does not 'ave zem and I do not own copies, so zat ees ze only reason I 'ave not yet read zem. Ze next time I am in a used bookstore, I will check zem out.

[Hercule Poirot]

Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the bottom half of the list is downright criminal.

I was spoiled on eet when I first read eet, so zat ees likely affecting my ranking, but I was spoiled on several others zat I love too.

For me, eet was obviously an enormous literary innovation, but in terms of ze atmosphere and just ze overall reading experience, zere were books zat kept me more engaged throughout and zat 'ad more memorable characters and moods. Per'aps part of zis was knowing ze solution to ze mystery, 'owever. Not a personal favorite, but still very good.

[Burton Guster]

Have you seen any episodes of the show Poirot? I'm a bit tepid to watch it unless I already know the mystery, but if I already know the mystery, why watch the show?

[Joss Carter]

Have you seen any episodes of the show Poirot? I'm a bit tepid to watch it unless I already know the mystery, but if I already know the mystery, why watch the show?

Allow me to answer that in the form of spoiling you on the theatrical version of And Then There Were None...

In the play, it turns out that Vera and Philip weren't actually technically guilty of the murders they'd been accused of, so they defeat the real murderer when they are the last two left on the island and get rescued and fall in love.

What hack changed the ending to that garbage? Some bitch named... Agatha Christie.

She recognized that plays and shows are different media than books, and was fully on-board modifying things if she felt gave the acted version a better story for the medium. So yeah, a lot of the broad strokes are the same, but there's enough added or changed things to make it an enjoyable ride.

[close]

Heh, should probably make my own post instead of accidentally editing yours.

[Hercule Poirot]

Definitely will pick up Lord Edgeware Dies when I get the chance and agree that And Then There Were None is simply the best, it was also my first so I should reread it though

 Major And Then There Were None Spoilers

I was definitely angry about the killer being "killed" halfway through and talked about how Agatha "cheated" with that ending.

[close]

She usually ees good about zis and plays fair for ze most part, but I agree zat And Then There Were None ees not ze most "solveable" of 'er works. 'Owever, what it lacks in zat regard eet more zan makes up for with ze mood, ze psychology of ze characters, ze interesting thoughts about guilt and justice, and ze (in my reading) commentary about race and colonialism. I definitely wouldn't call Agatha Christie particularly progressive or revolutionary by any means, but I do think she 'as more going on in ATTWN zan she ees sometimes given credit for.

Eet ees by far 'er most literary work. Eet ees just fabulous, and eet absolutely deserves eet's place as one of 'er most popular (along with Murder on ze Orient Express, which also is fabulous but not quite as good).

[Hercule Poirot]

Have you seen any episodes of the show Poirot? I'm a bit tepid to watch it unless I already know the mystery, but if I already know the mystery, why watch the show?

I 'ave only ever watched episodes of Poirot after 'aving read ze books, so I can't comment zere, but I enjoy zem for David Suchet's marvelous acting and to see 'ow things are translated/if zey translate well. Sometimes mysteries work better as books because you can hide clues more easily. Also zey force Captain Hastings/Miss Lemon into many of ze Poirot episodes even if zey weren't zere in ze original stories, which eesn't my favorite but eet can work alright.

I also strongly recommend ze BBC adaptation of And Then There Were None. Zey do make some changes, particularly to some of ze characters' backstories, which I don't love because I think zey make ze characters less relatable, but overall eet ees incredibly strong. Although I will note zat... (Major ATTWN spoilers)

Spoiler

Charles Dance plays ze judge, and to me, if this was my first exposure to ze story, eet would 'ave been obvious eet was 'im because he plays eet incredibly suspiciously.

[close]

[Hercule Poirot]

Oh, that's nice!  Who is Agatha Christie, though?

Nom d’un nom d’un nom. What are zey teaching kids zese days? Only ze best-selling novelist of all time!

[Hercule Poirot]

My score was not ze worst so as far as I am concerned, I achieved my goal.

But zis ees sad. Eet's too bad zat we lost.

[Joss Carter]

My score was not ze worst so as far as I am concerned, I achieved my goal.

But zis ees sad. Eet's too bad zat we lost.

Not gonna lie, your post about your score hopefully not being too horrible went straight to the spectator quote thread.

[Hercule Poirot]

I am bad at challenges, tu comprends? Eet could 'ave been much more 'orrible zan zat, trust me. I use ze leetle grey cells, not ze reflexes.

[Hercule Poirot]

Pour moi, zat was not a 'orrible score.

[Joss Carter]

Pour moi, zat was not a 'orrible score.

At the time you said it only one other person was below 2000.

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Lucifer just told me zat "we all 'ave our strengths" trying to comfort me for doing so 'orribly. I suppose zat ees true, but if 'e expects me to suddenly be amazing at one of zese challenges, 'e ees going to find 'imself extremely disappointed.

At least I beat M. Grouch.

[Heiji Hattori]

It was a close call and looks like there is a tough decision ahead of you. Prior to the vote, could you give me an update ranking of the favorability of your tribemates?

[Hercule Poirot]

1. M. Grouch
2. Mlle Judy
3. M. Lucifer
4. M. Cheddar
5. M. Lance
6. Mlle Jenny

I slightly prefer Mlle Jenny go, and M. Grouch seems to prefer zat as well, just because I know zat Mlle Jenny actually ees messaging some people, just not me, and M. Quentin 'as mentioned zat 'e ees particularly busy and will be around more later. 'Owever, I do not care zat much and I think zat M. Quentin will probably be ze one to go unless 'e actually puts effort in. If he pitches 'is case to me, I will consider eet, because Mlle Jenny 'as given me no reason to want 'er in ze game.