Thinking again about these comments on Endless Night, I wonder whether we enjoy a novel because there is a sense of good battling evil, and we can very clearly recognize what is good. With this novel, SPOILER ALERT, the unorthodox approach of seeing the action through the killer's eyes robs us of such certainty, because for a long while we are striving to establish our usual, nice feeling of empathy for the narrator. I found, the first time I read it, that certain things didn't make sense to me, the attitude of Mike's mother, but it all became clear at the end, which was very satisfying. It satisfies on a moral level but can never be enjoyable to read because Mike is never going to uncover those depths of vulnerability and sweetness that we so enjoy when we read the words of the male narrator in The Crooked House, or The Moving Finger.
This Novel was the third of AC that i've read, and i really loved it. I read it persistently waiting for something to happen when Mike and Ellie moved to their home at Gipsy's acre, i made theories in my head about what could happen but then Ellie dies, i was thrilled but what really got me is how the narrator is the killer and how with cold blood he handles it, and how he conffesses it. To be frank i never doubted he would be that kind of man, I never saw through him. As for Greta i knew she was too good to be true, i knew something emanating from her was lurking in the darkness. But I was shocked with the ending, and i really loved the story and plot. We had the chance to see a fraud from the con's own eyes, that which shocked me the most. @Lucille e i wanted to answer your question: Why didn't Mike ask money from Greta and not from his mother? Well i don't see why he would do that, the plot are supposed to shock us as readers about the relationship between Greta and Mike, for me i could've never expected it, so if he had borrowed the money from Greta i would've deduced that there's some kind of relation in there and i wouldnt have been shocked by the unexpected turn of events
Finished Endless Night yesterday, I thought it was pretty good. Despite the bizarre coincides that turned out to be more or less irrelevant, like the Hardcastle woman having known Ellie before and having been married to one of her trustees (was that anything but a diversionary tactic?), and being Santonix sister, I thought the plot was very well thought out and the characters well drawn. I kinda liked Mike straight away but never trusted him, but the smooth gear change when he reveals his true nature was superbly handled. I don't think though that after all that he wouldn't at least try to get away with killing Greta. But it is Santonix who overshadows all the proceedings. In my opinion pretty much an aspect of the Mr Quinn being, he warns and points things out but doesn't interfere, just lets things happen and people make their own choices whilst having some preternatural idea of how things will play out. I even began wondering if the names where supposed to give a hint, Santonix, possibly 'without tonic' = 'no Quinnine = not Quinn. But decided I was overthinking it. By the way, does anyone think that Maria Santonix, the mysterious internet gambling ledgend/myth is a Christie fan?
Comments
This Novel was the third of AC that i've read, and i really loved it. I read it persistently waiting for something to happen when Mike and Ellie moved to their home at Gipsy's acre, i made theories in my head about what could happen but then Ellie dies, i was thrilled but what really got me is how the narrator is the killer and how with cold blood he handles it, and how he conffesses it. To be frank i never doubted he would be that kind of man, I never saw through him. As for Greta i knew she was too good to be true, i knew something emanating from her was lurking in the darkness. But I was shocked with the ending, and i really loved the story and plot. We had the chance to see a fraud from the con's own eyes, that which shocked me the most.
@Lucille e i wanted to answer your question: Why didn't Mike ask money from Greta and not from his mother?
Well i don't see why he would do that, the plot are supposed to shock us as readers about the relationship between Greta and Mike, for me i could've never expected it, so if he had borrowed the money from Greta i would've deduced that there's some kind of relation in there and i wouldnt have been shocked by the unexpected turn of events