Murder on the Orient Express

Dear Agatha Christie,

I recently read your murder novel "Murder on the Orient Express".  I think it was well written but definitely has outstanding pros and cons.

Firstly, the pros.  While reading, I realized that you have a certain way of sending your readers on a wild goose chase.  On every page you give more evidence that seems more important than anything else, making you suspect a whole new character.  The best part being every page is followed by yet another, it scrabbles your mind and scrabbles the protagonist's mind too.  That leads me to the next point; your characters are believable.  Although Mr. Poirot was surprisingly calm with the situation at hand, it was explained that he had to be.  When there's a murder on an isolated train, the detective would be the one who thinks rationally.  My favorite part of the book however, is that you have a demeanor that could totally allow you to talk down to your readers, but you never take that opportunity.  Instead, you take us along Poirot's thought process, down to the list where he wrote everything in which he was thinking.  My favorite example of this is for the character by the name of Colonel Arbuthnot.

Colonel Arbuthnot- British subject.  Berth No. 15. First class.
Motive: None.
Alibi: Midnight to 2 a.m.  Did not leave compartment.  (Substantiated by MacQueen and conductor.)
Evidence Against Him or Suspicious Circumstances: Pipe Cleaner.

{Christie, 209}
This my favorite and clearest of your examples in which you thoroughly show Poirot's thoughts and help your readers summarize and articulate all of the information you gave them during the interviews with every passenger. 


The cons for this book weren't very evident, however they were there.  I know you can write a murder mystery, but if I hadn't known beforehand from your famous novel "And Then There Were None", I would've imagined you had just taken the easy way out when it came to your conclusion.  Regardless, I know you're an author who loves to weave, so I understood why you did what you did.

Thank you greatly for writing this book!

--Your Reader

Here's a trailer for the movie based off of this book.  It's quite old and reminds me of Clue!!  I'm glad I finished this book and I'm eager to start a new book.

Alex Rider ~ Initial Thoughts

Ok that title is a little misleading.  I'm actually halfway through the book.

So I've been called upon by my cult circle of friends + my little brother to read the Alex Rider series.  The first is "Stormbreaker", which just sounds epic to be quite honest.

First off, I'd like to mention that Anthony Horowitz is really good at distributing information, it's almost Dan Brown-esque.  I'm on page 156/234, and all I know is little bits of information.  Initially this scared me because usually this means a horrid plot line which messily comes together, but then you turn the page and discover that Alex is thinking the same thing. 

{embrace here for excessively long quote}

"If the software really had been bugged with some sort of virus, what would happen?  Some sort of humiliation for both Sayle and the British government?  Or worse?  And how did a computer bug tie in with what he had seen the night before?  You don't just shoot a man for dropping a diskette." (pg. 152)

This string of questions really made me look forward to the rest of the book.  The author knows what you're thinking, and they know you're getting antsy for an answer.  I took this as a small sort of "comfort" for the readers, letting them know that he's going to address all of your questions in good time.  This is what I really enjoy about Horowitz' writing style, and is definitely the driving force behind my motivation of completing the book and the series. 

 

 

 

The one issue (that was easily resolved... maybe a bit too easily) was Alex's ability to adapt to his new "spy" setting.  It was briefly mentioned that perhaps Ian Rider (Alex's uncle) was perhaps training his nephew to be a spy.  After all, as a child Alex was exposed to many languages and forms of defense.  This at first seemed a sufficient answer and I was glad that Horowitz acknowledged this fact, however the more I think on it the sloppier I think it is.  Nonetheless, I admire Horowitz and his distaste for plot holes {quite similar to mine}.

 

 

Overall, this series is promising and I understand why many believe it's a great read!

Inferno! {Tri. 2 Highlights}

When people talk about books, you seldom hear "This is where the bad guy wins." 

Dan Brown, my gratitude for you and your breaking of the usual has no end.

Inferno is the fourth journey of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon.  One day, he wakes up in a hospital within Florence with no recollection of the past day.  He was soon informed by Dr. Sienna Brooks that he'd taken a bullet to the head, and without time to waste witnessed the murder of her colleague.  Off to an exhilarating start, Inferno grabbed my attention immediately.

Dan Brown always seemed to have a knack for distributing action in all the right places; this is no exception.  Right as you think you're getting a well deserved break (and right as Langdon does too) another discovery is made.  I think one of the best parts of the novel is the fact that it's easy on the mind in terms of vocabulary, but also extremely informative.  If you want to learn about religious icons outside of a classic textbook scene, {in this particular book, Dante's Inferno} definitely pick up one of the Langdon adventures.

The absolute best part of the book (and the part where those devilish spoilers come into play) was the twist.  Now sure, Dan Brown always has a twist, but hey!  You can totally see them coming... until now.  I'm a crazy obsessor over reading between the lines (not to mention above them, below them, parallel to them, you know the drill) but this particular book pulled it off with an elegant writing style that I never ever would've seen otherwise.

The constant shifting alliances and the multitude of plot twists kept you just as confused and just as engrossed in the story as Langdon himself.  A journey through history in which Dan Brown rewrites the future for, this book was simply too astonishing and unique for words.

Glad to be back and blogging!  Right now I'm rereading Harry Potter and starting A Song of Fire and Ice.  I'm getting back into the fantasy scheme of things again!