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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Enjoyable but a little too long. Lot of unnecessary chapters and banter that do nothing for the story. Not the best Christie novel.
After reading Agatha Christie's top three best-sellers, I decided to dive into yet another book of hers featuring Hercule Poirot "Elephants Can Remember". This book had been published in 1972 and is one of the late ones penned by Agatha Christie.
The crime is a double suicide by a married couple some 10-12 years ago. The cause was non-existent at that time. Ariadne Oliver with Hercule Poirot tries to dig into this cold case and wants to know if those were actual suicides or the killer set those up.
Not sure if I have been reading so many crime stories or thrillers, I was able to guess the climax. As always, Christie set the background work brilliantly by throwing pieces here and there in the story.
Ariadne Oliver makes me think of Agatha Christie by her unsatisfied way of reaching out to seek the truth and as an author of crime fiction. Hercule Poirot is not introduced in the book until later which I found something unusual. Christie has referenced her other books smartly in the narration and I am going to read those through next.
Christie books hit me with nostalgia as they reference systems before the digital age. What fascinates me is Christie writes crime and makes her way through the murderer within 200 pages and that too without advanced technology.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan or a mystery book lover, you should read this!
The crime is a double suicide by a married couple some 10-12 years ago. The cause was non-existent at that time. Ariadne Oliver with Hercule Poirot tries to dig into this cold case and wants to know if those were actual suicides or the killer set those up.
Not sure if I have been reading so many crime stories or thrillers, I was able to guess the climax. As always, Christie set the background work brilliantly by throwing pieces here and there in the story.
Ariadne Oliver makes me think of Agatha Christie by her unsatisfied way of reaching out to seek the truth and as an author of crime fiction. Hercule Poirot is not introduced in the book until later which I found something unusual. Christie has referenced her other books smartly in the narration and I am going to read those through next.
Christie books hit me with nostalgia as they reference systems before the digital age. What fascinates me is Christie writes crime and makes her way through the murderer within 200 pages and that too without advanced technology.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan or a mystery book lover, you should read this!
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Actually the only Agatha Christie book I've read where my theory (formed around half-way through) turned out to be not too far off the mark! *pats self on the back*
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Reviewed for Books and livres
And once again, an audiobook narrated by the excellent Hugh Fraser, nothing wrong on his behalf. I also want to say that I have read all the Agatha Christie novels when I was a teenager, so I'm not planning on being surprised as to who murdered who ! I just felt like re-reading her books for fun and reading those under the pen name of Mary Westmacott (I've only read one).
I truly enjoyed the beginning of the book, I love Ariadne Oliver as a character, she is such fun ! I love the usual Poirot/Hastings relationship but I also enjoyed the Oliver/her secretary relationship, how intent she is to get her out of her way. I think I prefer Ariadne Oliver to Poirot or Miss Marple - and I like them a lot.
My only problem with this book is that it is one of her latest, I remembered that I didn't find them as good as the firsts, but mostly I found it repetitive. The different characters were very good but they kept saying more or less the same thing with a few nuances. And I found irritating that Poirot kept repeating that sometimes, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie - I don't agree, even if I can understand his point of view.
But all in all, I enjoyed listening to it, it felt like meeting an old friend again, even if it's not one of your favourites.
And once again, an audiobook narrated by the excellent Hugh Fraser, nothing wrong on his behalf. I also want to say that I have read all the Agatha Christie novels when I was a teenager, so I'm not planning on being surprised as to who murdered who ! I just felt like re-reading her books for fun and reading those under the pen name of Mary Westmacott (I've only read one).
I truly enjoyed the beginning of the book, I love Ariadne Oliver as a character, she is such fun ! I love the usual Poirot/Hastings relationship but I also enjoyed the Oliver/her secretary relationship, how intent she is to get her out of her way. I think I prefer Ariadne Oliver to Poirot or Miss Marple - and I like them a lot.
My only problem with this book is that it is one of her latest, I remembered that I didn't find them as good as the firsts, but mostly I found it repetitive. The different characters were very good but they kept saying more or less the same thing with a few nuances. And I found irritating that Poirot kept repeating that sometimes, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie - I don't agree, even if I can understand his point of view.
But all in all, I enjoyed listening to it, it felt like meeting an old friend again, even if it's not one of your favourites.
To date, the only Agatha Christie in which I have divined the solution before the reveal! And so this book will always hold a place in my heart.
كنت مقرره اعطي اجاثا فرصة واحب كتبها ..ورغم إني ما كرهت هالكتاب ..بس حقيقي وايد تعبت وانا اقراه لانه مليان تفاصيل واحداث ما تهمني ابداً :) احس ابا حد يقص كل هالزوايد بعدين يعطيني كتبها وانا شور اني بحبهم ...بس بقرالها كتاب ثاني ...هالسنه :) يمكن الغلط مني ما منها
Originally published on my blog here in November 1999.
One of Christie's very last novels, Elephants Can Remember sees Hercule Poirot solving a case from the past. The crime novelist Ariadne Oliver is approached by a stranger at a literary lunch and asked to tell her about a scandal years in the past concerning Ariadne's god-daughter Celia Ravenscroft, who is about to marry this woman's son. Celia's parents were discovered dead at the top of a cliff, apparently having shot one another as a suicide pact. The police could not work out what had motivated this, but no other explanation seemed possible so they accepted it. That didn't stop gossip, and the woman is concerned in case there could be some sort of hereditary madness involved that could affect Celia. Although disliking the approach, Ariadne is intrigued by the mystery. She consults her friend Hercule Poirot, and then goes "elephant hunting". Her feeling is that although human memories are not as permanent as proverbial elephant ones are, people remember bits and pieces; she and Poirot hope to be able to sort out the nuggets of truth from the elaborations, mistakes and conjectures.
The mystery is interesting, though easy by Christie standards. Elephants Can Remember has the same faults as most of her novels - poor characterisation and dreadful dialogue; it doesn't have the racism common in her books. (There is one offhand phrase which might well be considered offensive, but that is all.) The dialogue all reads as though it is an interrogation, all probing questions on one side, though it is clearly intended to be normal conversation with an interrogatory subtext.
One of Christie's very last novels, Elephants Can Remember sees Hercule Poirot solving a case from the past. The crime novelist Ariadne Oliver is approached by a stranger at a literary lunch and asked to tell her about a scandal years in the past concerning Ariadne's god-daughter Celia Ravenscroft, who is about to marry this woman's son. Celia's parents were discovered dead at the top of a cliff, apparently having shot one another as a suicide pact. The police could not work out what had motivated this, but no other explanation seemed possible so they accepted it. That didn't stop gossip, and the woman is concerned in case there could be some sort of hereditary madness involved that could affect Celia. Although disliking the approach, Ariadne is intrigued by the mystery. She consults her friend Hercule Poirot, and then goes "elephant hunting". Her feeling is that although human memories are not as permanent as proverbial elephant ones are, people remember bits and pieces; she and Poirot hope to be able to sort out the nuggets of truth from the elaborations, mistakes and conjectures.
The mystery is interesting, though easy by Christie standards. Elephants Can Remember has the same faults as most of her novels - poor characterisation and dreadful dialogue; it doesn't have the racism common in her books. (There is one offhand phrase which might well be considered offensive, but that is all.) The dialogue all reads as though it is an interrogation, all probing questions on one side, though it is clearly intended to be normal conversation with an interrogatory subtext.
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes