If the Murderer killed people in Germany or Brazil instead of leaving an ABC he would leave an Atlas which would mean the Book would be called he Atlas Murders, That I think is what Hollywood would do which would be better than some things done by ITV
I loved this book .i was all into it even when the murderer sent messages insulting poirot I was angry and felt insulted but as I said because the version that I read wasn't exactly as the original one I didn't feel all that shock or the wow element that you guys have felt
I Think To some extent ITV became complacent and assumed that fans would be so pleased to have the series and they wanted to please the Gay Fans that they ruined the Adaptation when they could have just picked a less-loved book and gave a nod to the gay Audience which would not upset so many people.
This is one of my favourites. I am a very odd person and a lot of people have assumed bad things about me because of this. I could see that Alexander Bonaparte Cust would be suspected and I was really happy when he turned out not to be the murderer: he was an odd man but harmless and a nice guy. I liked that Poirot accepted him as he was and treated him with kindness. I know it's fictional but it gives me hope that there are accepting people in the real world too.
I don't think a nod to the gay audience is a bad thing but I would rather it didn't happen unless it gave a new and interesting dimension to the story, rather than just being done for the sake of it. The ITV Miss Marples seem to be full of lesbians! (I'm not anti-gay: I'm bisexual and I usually love stories about gay relationships.)
I thought the ABC Murders needed streamlining a bit. The masterpiece of streamlining, in my opinion, would be The Moving Finger, seconded by Murder At The Vicarage, where no detail seems extraneous. The murderer was fantastically well- drawn, but I felt a sense of parallel plots - the real one, and the one we were red-herringed into thinking was the plot with Cust as the murderer - and something of a failure of synthesis.
I felt the plot was slow getting going, and I felt it is difficult for modern readers to understand the lives of characters like Mr Cust, hard up, living in rented rooms, selling door to door. It was hard to engage with him - although I could see that the young engaged couple who were fond of him would have warmed the hearts of readers, today, when the book was written. I like the novels with the key characters all drawn from one middle class - a social group I feel Christie understood very well - eg, those in Mrs McGinty's Dead.
I normally read Agatha Christie in English or French or simply look at the BBC -TV adaptations.
For a change I decided to get an audio book. I selected the ABC Murders narrated by Hugh Fraser. I have watched this on television but I don't remember that much about it. With TV sometimes I have distractions, so that I usually buy the DVD anyway.
Well, I was completely surprised; I didn't expect this to be more entertaining for me than the DVD. But best of all, Hugh Fraser was quite marvelous. His versatility and acting range truly astonished me. I haven't been so entertained by an audio acting performance since I was in school and they used to play Edgar Allan Poe readings by Basil Rathbone. So I intend to buy more of these if they are available.
I also found that the use of the tablet made the listening more convenient than a DVD as well.
I found the ABC murders more difficult to follow in the TV adaptation. It was much easier to concentrate on it from the audiobook. This particular book seems a little more complex than average with there being a serial killer.
But, whatever the form of the media you use, Agatha Christie is still truly amazing.
As a blind person, I love listening to audio books and the ABC murders was one of my favourites. I liked it because it was such an unpredictable denouement. I enjoyed it as the tension built up for ABC and even after the incident in the police station, you could tell Poirot wasn't satisfied. I like the way he gathers all the people together as he does in so many of his cases and goes through the suspects, then all of a sudden the murderer is revealed.
Orient_Express, I agree that ABC Murders is one of the most clever solutions. It worked so well in building up suspense and involving numerous characters that the device has been used in nearly every detective and police series on television.
Orient_Express, I agree that ABC Murders is one of the most clever solutions. It worked so well in building up suspense and involving numerous characters that the device has been used in nearly every detective and police series on television.
Yeah. i think it's one of the most ingenious books. And inspired a lot series on television. I can read it over and over again and never get tired of it!
It is very ingenious, and one of the novels which, IMO, gives the strongest hint as to the identity of the murderer, and yet, because of the counter balance with another story line, SPOILER the fall guy stooge, we may not pick up on the clue. SPOILER I'm thinking of when the murderer starts make an itemised list of all the clues, and does it in a very systematic, ABC, or 123 fashion. Does anyone think, though, that there is not a single non-detective character who is overwhelmingly sympathetic and 'gettable' as a person, in this novel? We cannot always have Leonard and Griselda from Murder at the Vicarage, or Egg Lyton Gore, from Three Act Tragedy, (or Megan or Jerry from the sparkling The Moving Finger) but even so, the young resourceful woman in ABC Murders is more like the estate agent young woman in Mrs McGinty's Dead, a bit lesser-characterish. The other characters are rather dull and lesser order as the neighbours in Sittaford Mystery. This is what took the edge of the novel's greatness, for me. There is a dearth of wit and charm, and, overall, a kind of absence of humour in the novel, which is scarcely a state of affairs encountered, normally, unless counting the rather flatter, and less scintillating short stories.
Shame that when I read it, the book happened to fall open on the page where it mentions the murderer. I agree with the person above who said that he would have got a shock. It was a very good book. Different from the others, since the murderer had drawn attention to himself from the beginning. I like the blurb on the back of the book: a for.... b for... c for... The murderer is getting further and further into the alphabet. Where and When will it stop. But the murderer has already made a grave mistake. he has challenged Hercule Poirot!
Comments
This is one of my favourites. I am a very odd person and a lot of people have assumed bad things about me because of this. I could see that Alexander Bonaparte Cust would be suspected and I was really happy when he turned out not to be the murderer: he was an odd man but harmless and a nice guy. I liked that Poirot accepted him as he was and treated him with kindness. I know it's fictional but it gives me hope that there are accepting people in the real world too.
I don't think a nod to the gay audience is a bad thing but I would rather it didn't happen unless it gave a new and interesting dimension to the story, rather than just being done for the sake of it. The ITV Miss Marples seem to be full of lesbians! (I'm not anti-gay: I'm bisexual and I usually love stories about gay relationships.)
For a change I decided to get an audio book. I selected the ABC Murders narrated by Hugh Fraser. I have watched this on television but I don't remember that much about it. With TV sometimes I have distractions, so that I usually buy the DVD anyway.
Well, I was completely surprised; I didn't expect this to be more entertaining for me than the DVD. But best of all, Hugh Fraser was quite marvelous. His versatility and acting range truly astonished me. I haven't been so entertained by an audio acting performance since I was in school and they used to play Edgar Allan Poe readings by Basil Rathbone. So I intend to buy more of these if they are available.
I also found that the use of the tablet made the listening more convenient than a DVD as well.
I found the ABC murders more difficult to follow in the TV adaptation. It was much easier to concentrate on it from the audiobook. This particular book seems a little more complex than average with there being a serial killer.
But, whatever the form of the media you use, Agatha Christie is still truly amazing.