Take a photo of a barcode or cover
chrissie_whitley 's review for:
The Big Four
by Agatha Christie
I don't mean to be Hastings here...
But this all seems...well, far-fetched.
First off, the beginning and the event therein, is altogether too hurried. After that, it didn't improve much. Neither Poirot nor Hastings ever seem to settle into the case. The entire concept, if you can actually pinpoint only one, is ludicrous and the novel is filled with far too many characters.
Because the book reads like a short story stretched out and infused with too many events in order to fill the gaps, it's no shock to learn that is exactly what happened. From Wikipedia:
Given the history of The Big Four, it is no surprise that every chapter and all the bits of the story in the chapters felt like random and haphazard episodes. The next chapter, leading into the next event and often at yet another location, felt rather like stopping for commercial breaks. Honestly, the entire thing feels like Scooby-doo and the Mysterious Four.
There are moments where Poirot feels right and the novel slows, but this was mainly just not worth the read.
"For you, Hastings," he said, "everything is far-fetched that comes not from your own imagination..."
But this all seems...well, far-fetched.
First off, the beginning and the event therein, is altogether too hurried. After that, it didn't improve much. Neither Poirot nor Hastings ever seem to settle into the case. The entire concept, if you can actually pinpoint only one, is ludicrous and the novel is filled with far too many characters.
Because the book reads like a short story stretched out and infused with too many events in order to fill the gaps, it's no shock to learn that is exactly what happened. From Wikipedia:
In 1926 Christie was already deeply affected by the death of her mother earlier in the year and her marriage to her husband, Archibald Christie, was breaking down. Her brother-in-law, Campbell Christie, suggested compiling the stories [previously published in The Sketch magazine] into one novel and helped her revise them into a more coherent form for book publication, rather than undergo the strain of composing a completely new novel.
Given the history of The Big Four, it is no surprise that every chapter and all the bits of the story in the chapters felt like random and haphazard episodes. The next chapter, leading into the next event and often at yet another location, felt rather like stopping for commercial breaks. Honestly, the entire thing feels like Scooby-doo and the Mysterious Four.
There are moments where Poirot feels right and the novel slows, but this was mainly just not worth the read.