![]() ![]() To me, it's the underlying thesis about the strange inequities of law and punishment that provides the depth, texture, and provocation that imbue And Then There Were None with the sophistication of a classic. I've reflected on this over the years, and recently, while preparing for a symposium at which I'll talk about the role of law in noir (my second novel, Five Dead Guys and a Girl, is about to come out, making me a crime fiction “expert” invited to “speaking engagements”), I got in touch with the feature of Christie's most riveting novel that I believe has earned it the mystery-reading community's undying respect. As Christie's secluded weekend guests discern with creeping certainty the deadly nature of the predicament they're in, likewise, the reader creeps toward full appreciation of Christie's creative brilliance in rolling out her serial killer's scheme, motive, and personality even as she maintains her grand secret: the ringmaster's identity.Īll good stuff, of course, but why wouldn't at least some of it be subject to the sort of accusations that have been leveled at so many of Christie's other constructs: the set-up sterile and contrived, the victims and suspects two-dimensional straw men maneuvered like chess pieces, the story concerned only about its clever twists and nothing about the organic evolution of character or plot? Somehow, the qualities that have subjected Christie's work to some level of scorn among literary critics do not dent the artistry and effectiveness of this star among whodunits. ![]() That said, like the characters, the reader becomes increasingly aware of the scaffolding. As such, the reader gets yanked deep into the tale from the start, with no letup through the entire reading experience. The telling is spare-there are no extraneous scenes, characters, or clues. Ten strangers lured to an isolated setting are accused of various murders and come to realize that their unseen host aims to execute them one by one. Well, the story is certainly tightly constructed and masterfully executed. So why the top-of-the-charts durability from all the way back then until now? This makes it old-for point of reference it was originally dubbed Ten Little Niggers, a title then considered acceptable in its native England. I've often wondered why so many of us, generation after generation, love that mystery novel first published in 1939. Since then, it's been a murder mystery life. ![]() But I went ahead, and he loved every non-explicit grisly bit of it. I mean, aside from the regularity of the killings, there's that revelation near the end that's kind of brutal…. That night, I started reading Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None to him. One day, I discovered my son sitting silently, studying the suspect cards of the board game Clue. We tried a couple of popular kiddie series, all assured to be addictive. But, being as his mother was a big reader and Dad stayed up nights writing novels, we kind of wanted him in the club. There were too many other exciting ways to absorb stories-including the endless escapades he would make up himself-so what was magical about reading? He rejected TV on the same basis, so points for the kid there. When my son was little, he wouldn't read.
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