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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
The narrative drags throughout the book; the story itself is boring, it feels like nothing is happening all the time; and ending is, unlike "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", SO UNSATISFYING! no plot twist, no amazingness, no nothing. If this was the first Poirot story I've ever read, I'd completely hate it and not understand why Agatha Christie is so praised.
Seriously: this is not good.
Seriously: this is not good.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
Book: **
Performance: ****
A Departure from the Usual Fare
This story was originally published as 12 short stories for “The Sketch” magazine and latter cobbled together with an overarching plot based upon a cabal of “The Big Four” (4) uber villains bent on world domination … with the elusive Number Four (4) being an English master of disguise showing up in most of the stories. The other three (3) are a Chinese master mind, a French scientist and an American tycoon. Considering these were written at a time when the author was struggling to write, these were actually pretty good … if you are not a stickler for how Poirot was previously portrayed (the style here is less criminal detective and more international espionage similar to the famous Sherlock vs Moriarty matchup) … or if you don’t particularly like short stories (I actually find these classic detective stories well suited for the short story format). The benefit of the short format is that each part almost stands on its own with just the conspiracy of The Big Four tying it all together … the disadvantage is that there is very little discernible plot movement until the very end which feels a little forced and not really all that clever … making this story a fairly average classic (not her best work) that is actually made much better with the solid audible narration.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheBigFour #FreeAudiobookCodes
Performance: ****
A Departure from the Usual Fare
This story was originally published as 12 short stories for “The Sketch” magazine and latter cobbled together with an overarching plot based upon a cabal of “The Big Four” (4) uber villains bent on world domination … with the elusive Number Four (4) being an English master of disguise showing up in most of the stories. The other three (3) are a Chinese master mind, a French scientist and an American tycoon. Considering these were written at a time when the author was struggling to write, these were actually pretty good … if you are not a stickler for how Poirot was previously portrayed (the style here is less criminal detective and more international espionage similar to the famous Sherlock vs Moriarty matchup) … or if you don’t particularly like short stories (I actually find these classic detective stories well suited for the short story format). The benefit of the short format is that each part almost stands on its own with just the conspiracy of The Big Four tying it all together … the disadvantage is that there is very little discernible plot movement until the very end which feels a little forced and not really all that clever … making this story a fairly average classic (not her best work) that is actually made much better with the solid audible narration.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheBigFour #FreeAudiobookCodes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Melko raskas luettavaksi, vaikka ohkainen onkin. Sekalaista, hyppelehtivää kerrontaa, jossa Poirot ja Hastings sompailevat überroistojen luomassa verkossa. Christie on yrittänyt tässä aivan liikaa ja myös roistot ovat lähes yliluonnollisia, ja kuinka monta kertaa lähelle kuolemaa kaapattua sankaria voidaan kauan kuljettaa? Vastaus: monta. Kun vielä roistojen motivaatio on jokseenkin...tyhmä, ei tämä ollut edes jännittävä lukukokemus.
Like many others have said, this seems like a few independent stories, not a great single work. I feel like if Agatha Christie had wanted to truly write a "Moriarity" to Poirot, she could have done a much better job.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Es un libro para pasar la tarde, sin más. No es de los mejores de Agatha Christie.