October 2013 Book of the Month: Murder on the Orient Express

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Comments

  • Well, i'm a recent Agatha Christie fan, i didn't read that much but immediatly i read one of her books, i fell in love, all of them were great until i read Murder on the Orient Express.... That was out of this world, the whole plot, the characters and the big finale WOW, i almost jump out of my chair when i finished, it was so shocking i couldn't stop thinking about it, all of my suspicions were so childish and so soooo wrong, this lady is a genius and this is one of the proofs of it, highly recommended guys!!! :)>- ^:)^ =D> :)

  • JenniferMJenniferM Puerto Rico
    The ending was very intense compared to most of her other stories.  It is not as sugar coated.  do not misunderstand, I am a HUGE fan, however, this was a curve ball that the reader did not expect and I believe it is why it is such a favorite.  Yes, I do agree with those who say that this would be a welcomed remake but I cannot imagine who could do justice to my dear Hercule Poirot.  David Suchet is my favorite.
  • Sad_CypressSad_Cypress Kauno Apskritis, Lithuania
    Who was Your favorite character? Excluding Poirot. Maybe you had several of them?
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

    Mine was the one played by Lauren Bacall in the Finney Film (I can never remember her name)

  • I agree -in the book Poirot sympathies a great deal with what all those people have suffered. That's why he let's them go. 
    But the Suchet adaptation was different. It had heavy emphasis on his internal struggle of his right and wrong and his Catholicism. I admit I would have liked the Suchet adapt to concentrate more on the suspects and less on Poirot. I seem to remember him shouting at someone the beginning and blood splatters. 






  • glalonzo0408glalonzo0408 Pennsylvania, United States
    Personally, I am of the opinion that the Poirot I know would not sympathize with murderers...what are your thoughts?
  • TheSunTheSun Andhra Pradesh, India
    The goosebumps you get when, you know that there are possibly two deductions. Awesome!
  • edited October 2013
    I think  he sympathies with victims who lost an innocent child at the hands of a ruthless killer. Sympathizes yes, but condones? no. I think that given the circumstances he turned a blind eye, it wasn't like all the people involved were going to do it again. If it was an individual person who carried out the murder, I think Poirot may have turned them in. Curtain  explores what Poirot's idea of justice really is, but I can say no more!

    what do others think? 
  • LucilleLucille Ontario, Canada
    I think Poiret felt that justice had been done and left it at that. It would have been so ironic for those people to be dragged through the courtroom and found guilty of murder when the real guilty one had been let off.
  • LucilleLucille Ontario, Canada
    Sorry, I meant to write Poirot! This is the second time I do that and it annoys me, you have no idea!
  • MariaMaria Pichincha, Ecuador
    Murder in the Orient Express was the first book of Agatha Christie that I bought for myself (not the first one I read since in highschool I read Mistress McGinty's dead) and I felt in love with Poirot! I have read other books, with other characters, but I like Poirot stories the best. I love the way he investigates, keeping some clues to himself, I love his insight on human nature and I love how he has a very strict sense of justice.

    I think that, in Murder in the Orient Express is where we can see this last point proven. It doesn't matter that he lets the culprits "get away" with the crime, because justice was served: it was served against an evil man who caused a lot of pain to a family and, who knows, maybe many more...

    I've read this book many, many times, and is my favorite. I just can't explain how much I love this book and Poirot! He made me see how much I liked detective novels and detective work.
  • Christopher_WrenChristopher_Wren Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
    Just out of curiosity - who did you guys suspect to be the murderer? :)
    Countess Andrenyi, because I saw the famous movie before I read the book. And since I'm from Germany, I got at once, that she's Mrs Armstrong younger sister, because of the translation of her maiden name.
  • kaberi.chakrabartykaberi.chakrabarty Illinois, United States

    Just out of curiosity - who did you guys suspect to be the murderer? :)
    Countess Andrenyi, because I saw the famous movie before I read the book. And since I'm from Germany, I got at once, that she's Mrs Armstrong younger sister, because of the translation of her maiden name.
    To Sad Cypress: Please elaborate a little.  It appears that you read the book in German? If so, how do they translate her maiden name? Or am I misunderstanding? How does the translation of her maiden name give away the fact that she was Mrs. Armstrong's younger sister?

    I prefer David Suchet's performance to that of Albert Finney, even though his adaptation did stray a little too far from the book for my taste, with the references to religion, etc. I don't think Finney captured Poirot's personality very well, my recollection is one of him doing a lot of angry shouting, which would not have been typical of Poirot.

    Also, Poirot makes a couple of references to the mysterious Mr. Harris, and at one point says that he believes that Mr. Harris will fail to show up because "I read my Dickens". Can anyone who is more familiar with Dickens' work explain this reference to me? In what Dickens' work did Mr. Harris show up (or not show up)?
  • edited November 2013


    Also, Poirot makes a couple of references to the mysterious Mr. Harris, and at one point says that he believes that Mr. Harris will fail to show up because "I read my Dickens". Can anyone who is more familiar with Dickens' work explain this reference to me? In what Dickens' work did Mr. Harris show up (or not show up)?
    I've been wondering about this too! I know there's a Mrs Harris who has an  friend who doesn't really exist. But that doesn't quite fit.
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

    The Changes annoyed me and the fact the denoumont was rushed, In the Schet version, because I knew the outcome before reading it I have never guessed who it was but it occurred to me that whoever you guess you are right.

  • A thought occurred to me, that could Poirot's assumption of Dicken's be wrong? As in other stories Poirot has mixed his English literature. I did think that Mr Harris was in  a Richard Sheridan play? Someone please tell us who this fictional mr Harris was??


  • Christopher_WrenChristopher_Wren Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Christopher_Wren said: Countess Andrenyi, because I saw the famous movie before I read the book. And since I'm from Germany, I got at once, that she's Mrs Armstrong younger sister, because of the translation of her maiden name.
    To Sad Cypress: Please elaborate a little.  It appears that you read the book in German? If so, how do they translate her maiden name? Or am I misunderstanding? How does the translation of her maiden name give away the fact that she was Mrs. Armstrong's younger sister?
     
    You probably meant me. In the book, Countess Andrenyi's maiden name is Goldenberg.

    However, as I said, I watched the Albert Finney movie before I read the book. And in the Albert Finney movie, she said, that her maiden name was "Grünwald". And later, the Princess Dragmomiroff told Poirot, that Sonya Armstrong's maiden name was "Greenwood". And "Grünwald" is the german translation for "Greenwood". So I knew from that moment, that the Countess was Daiys's aunt.
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