Take a photo of a barcode or cover
readingthroughthelists 's review for:
The Hollow
by Agatha Christie
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
We support women’s rights and women’s wrongs.
Henrietta is easily the most compelling character, both in the book and 2004 ITV adaptation, but I also found book Midge to be interesting as well. Unwilling to live off the charity of the Angkatell family, she is the only one in the family who has to work for a living, something that becomes a point of contention with Edward, her would-be bf. Seeing Midge finally stand up to Edward and tell him “yeah, life is easy when you’re rich and don’t have to do anything” was very satisfying--get it, girl! Seeing Midge save Edward from committing suicide because she broke up with him? Yeah, not great. (I don’t even hate them together, but literally all of this drama could have been avoided by a single conversation, and I just can’t see Edward as the suicidal type, so it feels very contrived.)
And then, of course, there is Gerda. I think Christie has a keen insight with Gerda, the worshipper whose idol has fallen. In the wake of that fall, the worshipper can either accept the new reality, one in which her hero has feet of clay and she will have to reckon with her choices…or she can kill him, and thus preserve in memory the unchanging figure she longs to worship. Gerda chooses the latter. It works…but also, I feel that Christie herself is hard on Gerda. John Christow is not a good person, no matter what Gerda and Henrietta may say, and I refuse to believe that his wife deserves to be treated like shit. I don’t care if he’s stressed and she is anxious--he is a dick to her and for that reason, I can’t be all that mad at what happened to him.