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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I enjoyed the variety of cases here - most of which do not involve murder - even though some are definitely on the more fantastical end than usual for Poirot.
I wanted to give this a better rating based on how clever Christie was when she came up with twelve cases that each corresponded to one of the labors of Hercules, but for some reason I just wasn't into this one.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So as I am reading this I thought: I am pretty sure Poirot would approve. I liked the namesake aspect. The redoing of Hercules 12 labors....I mean...only a few people are vain and smug enough to even think about recreating them. Overall, this collection screams Poirot on every level.
Took me weirdly long to get through this short story collection!
Thought it would be a nice accompaniment to my non-fiction readings, a story here and there, but it turned out I didn't find it all that easy to tune into the whimsical tone repeatedly, since I was rarely in the right mood for it.
But I respect Christie for choosing the slightly dark-comedy sort of tone and sticking with it. And after all, it worked marvellously in TV form with David Suchet's Poirot.
I rated the stories separately, but now that I've read them all, I think a weak-to-solid 4/5 is probably a fair rating for the collection. I personally could have done without the Labors of Hercules framing...felt sort of shoehorned in in places. (Plus as interested as I am in ancient history, and as big a fan of Endeavour Morse as I am, I'm actually largely ignorant of the "classics" as the Brits call them.)
27 books in, this collection will certainly not crack my top 10, but it's still a well-written, occasionally funny, highly quotable piece of detective fiction writing!
Thought it would be a nice accompaniment to my non-fiction readings, a story here and there, but it turned out I didn't find it all that easy to tune into the whimsical tone repeatedly, since I was rarely in the right mood for it.
But I respect Christie for choosing the slightly dark-comedy sort of tone and sticking with it. And after all, it worked marvellously in TV form with David Suchet's Poirot.
I rated the stories separately, but now that I've read them all, I think a weak-to-solid 4/5 is probably a fair rating for the collection. I personally could have done without the Labors of Hercules framing...felt sort of shoehorned in in places. (Plus as interested as I am in ancient history, and as big a fan of Endeavour Morse as I am, I'm actually largely ignorant of the "classics" as the Brits call them.)
27 books in, this collection will certainly not crack my top 10, but it's still a well-written, occasionally funny, highly quotable piece of detective fiction writing!
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
I like the idea of the 12 mysteries that Poirot must solve and how they match up with the labours of Hercules. It is a fun concept.
The short stories are not on par with the full length books, missing depth and enough time to make the twists work.
The short stories are not on par with the full length books, missing depth and enough time to make the twists work.