My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Elephants Can Remember (Hercule Poirot #37)
Celebrated crime novelist Ariadne Oliver contacts her old friend Hercule Poirot with an intriguing case. Together they set about unravelling the mystery of a tragedy from the distant past, provoked in equal measure by hate and love. John Moffatt stars as Hercule Poirot, with Julia McKenzie starring as Ariadne Oliver—whom Agatha Christie based on herself.
Compact Disc, 0 pages
Published
January 5th 2010
by BBC Audiobooks America
(first published 1972)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
6,528)
I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a Hercule Poirot/Ariadne Oliver Christie. I love the way the slightly pompous(rightly so) investigator Poirot and his dear mystery writing friend Ariadne interact. I found myself wondering if Agatha was painting a picture of herself in Miss Oliver's character.
'Elephants Can Remember' is your basic cold case file, solved. The trail is cold, and there are no true clues to inspect, only vague hints by those in-directly involved so long ago. ...more
'Elephants Can Remember' is your basic cold case file, solved. The trail is cold, and there are no true clues to inspect, only vague hints by those in-directly involved so long ago. ...more
view 1 comment
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Elephants Can Remember made me sad...because I solved it. You see, the reason I hold Dame Agatha Christie in such high regard is that she always outsmarts me, and I don't mind in the least--I love her for her twisted mind. ;) No other author can do it; fond as I am of Christie's Golden Age contemporaries--Dorothy Sayers, Patricia Wentworth, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, et. al.--they never baffle me unless they haven't played fair and given me enough to go on. But Agatha...I rarely figure her out ...more
Choose Your Own Adventure!
The elephant brain is denser than the human’s, and the temporal lobes, associated with memory, are more developed than in humans. Elephant lobes also have more folding, so that they can store more information. That’s why elephants have excellent memory. But why? Elephants can recognize over 200 different individuals. This is essential, as females depend on one another for raising the young, more than in the case of other mammals. A mother can remember who is...more
The elephant brain is denser than the human’s, and the temporal lobes, associated with memory, are more developed than in humans. Elephant lobes also have more folding, so that they can store more information. That’s why elephants have excellent memory. But why? Elephants can recognize over 200 different individuals. This is essential, as females depend on one another for raising the young, more than in the case of other mammals. A mother can remember who is...more
I decided to read this after coming across an article about whether Agatha Christie suffered from Alzheimers. It discussed this book, one of her last mysteries, as Poirot is helping an elderly female mystery novelist to research an old murder, despite the fact that she sometimes puts her old address book inside the tea service.
I've read a lot of Agatha Christie, and the writing in this book is still sharp as a tack. It was a very interesting read, as the period is much later than...more
I've read a lot of Agatha Christie, and the writing in this book is still sharp as a tack. It was a very interesting read, as the period is much later than...more
"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety."
It's very easy - almost too-easy, in fact - to be overly-critical about the last novels written by Agatha Christie, or condescending, or even outright dismissive - reviews of these novels at the time of publication often expressed all three. The last Christie novel that was an unqualified triumph was ENDLESS NIGHT (1967), a novel of psychological suspense almost completely unlike anything she'd written up until t...more
It's very easy - almost too-easy, in fact - to be overly-critical about the last novels written by Agatha Christie, or condescending, or even outright dismissive - reviews of these novels at the time of publication often expressed all three. The last Christie novel that was an unqualified triumph was ENDLESS NIGHT (1967), a novel of psychological suspense almost completely unlike anything she'd written up until t...more
I was too distracted by the impossible timeline of Mrs. Oliver's age vs. the length of time she and Poirot have been friends to focus on the story.
If she was a bridesmaid at her friend's wedding, then they must have been around the same age--presumably within five years of each other. Now, if that school friend was 35 when she died, and her death occurred 13 years ago, that would make Mrs. Oliver at most 53 years old. How, then could she and Poirot have been friends for 40 years, as ...more
If she was a bridesmaid at her friend's wedding, then they must have been around the same age--presumably within five years of each other. Now, if that school friend was 35 when she died, and her death occurred 13 years ago, that would make Mrs. Oliver at most 53 years old. How, then could she and Poirot have been friends for 40 years, as ...more
Este foi o primeiro livro em inglês que li do princípio ao fim. Os meus pais tinham um apartamento sobre a nossa casa que, em determinada altura, alugaram a duas professores de liceu que se encontravam deslocadas a dar aulas em Angra do Heroísmo. As professoras, quando partiram no final do ano lectivo, deixaram o aparatamento cheio de pulgas (dos 2 rafeiros que com elas viviam) e alguns livros... que eu reclamei como meus imediatamente. A edição que ainda hoje tenho é de 1972. Comecei sem perceb...more
I am on an Agatha Christie run right now. This book is a Hercule Poirot mystery. This is a story of a woman,Mrs. Ariadne Oliver, that is approached while at a literary luncheon by some one unknown to her, Mrs. Burton-Cox, about Mrs. Oliver's goddaughter's parents deaths fifteen years earlier. Mrs. Burton-Cox is curious to learn the truth about the murder/suicide of Celia Ravenscroft's parents.
This was a different type of mystery that was interesting to follow. You already know who the ...more
This was a different type of mystery that was interesting to follow. You already know who the ...more
Oh, dear. This one wasn't very good at all.
In this Poirot mystery, a gossipy old mystery-writer named Mrs. Oliver gets involved in the cold case of a double suicide. However, the quality of the writing was poor and very sloppy--it hardly seemed like a Poirot mystery at all, because Poirot wasn't like his usual pre-Dr. House self. I found myself wondering several times if Agatha Christie meant for this to be a Miss Marple book instead at one point...
Also, I have always tre...more
In this Poirot mystery, a gossipy old mystery-writer named Mrs. Oliver gets involved in the cold case of a double suicide. However, the quality of the writing was poor and very sloppy--it hardly seemed like a Poirot mystery at all, because Poirot wasn't like his usual pre-Dr. House self. I found myself wondering several times if Agatha Christie meant for this to be a Miss Marple book instead at one point...
Also, I have always tre...more
I always enjoy reading through the puzzle of Christie's books, trying to solve it (although I usually can't.) This one I did figure out who had done it although I wasn't sure of the details of how. *Spoiler* I was annoyed to no end at how the family protected Dorothea and how, despite having killed two children, she was still encouraged to be "in a real family setting" because it would be good for her. Good for her? Who CARES? Why didn't any of these characters care more about c...more
At a writer’s luncheon, mystery novelist Mrs. Oliver is confronted by a random lady who asks her a startling question about the nature of the deaths of her goddaughter’s parents. It was determined to be a double suicide, however, the woman asks Mrs. Oliver if it was the “the wife who killed the husband and then killer herself, or the husband who killed he wife and then killed himself”. This led Mrs. Oliver to contact her goddaughter who was supposed to be marrying this random woman’s adopted s...more
In my previous Agatha Christie review, I wrote that I never catch on to what's going on and of course, the next one I read, I find surprisingly predictable.
It's a Hercule Poirot novel, this time featuring Ariadne Oliver, an author of fictional crime. The two of them (well, really just Oliver) go chasing after elephants (because they never forget) to figure out what really happened at an apparent murder-suicide of a man and wife many years ago. But, as the story unfolds, I start to t...more
It's a Hercule Poirot novel, this time featuring Ariadne Oliver, an author of fictional crime. The two of them (well, really just Oliver) go chasing after elephants (because they never forget) to figure out what really happened at an apparent murder-suicide of a man and wife many years ago. But, as the story unfolds, I start to t...more
"Poirot, with the help of Ariadne Oliver, solves a 12 year old cold case that focuses on a married couple who commited a murder-suicide, or double-suicide, or...?
Much of the plot has Ariadne and Poirot running around interviewing "elephants", people who remember the events so long ago. There is not too much suspense in the novel because no suspects are ever really presented. There is a lot of hearsay that is somewhat tiresome to sort through, but interestingly enoug...more
Much of the plot has Ariadne and Poirot running around interviewing "elephants", people who remember the events so long ago. There is not too much suspense in the novel because no suspects are ever really presented. There is a lot of hearsay that is somewhat tiresome to sort through, but interestingly enoug...more
This murder mystery begins with the gem of what might be an interesting idea: approach a murder or suicide, long since cold, by talking to people who were tangential to the event and piecing together bits of the truth as a kind of aggregate from what they can remember. This idea devolves into several time-wasting chapters wherein people who had no clue what actually happened give various versions of what they heard second- or third-hand about the case.
When it becomes obvious that ...more
When it becomes obvious that ...more
cool... an old woman as a detective...
her strong point is... her great memory
i love this book.. teach me an important thing...
elephants always rememer <-- that's the indonesian translation hehehe :P
her strong point is... her great memory
i love this book.. teach me an important thing...
elephants always rememer <-- that's the indonesian translation hehehe :P
I have no words for it. A must read book. The way Christie solved and investigated the case was simply awesome. I can't even imagine how someone can put their minds and soul into it and solve the case in no time indeed. If a couple were to be found in a park dead, can anyone make out who shot them, or if they suicided; who shot himself/herself first and then to their partner?
Perhaps no one can make out, but fortunately, Agatha made out the way through it and revealed the suspense out of it....more
Perhaps no one can make out, but fortunately, Agatha made out the way through it and revealed the suspense out of it....more
99 out of 100 for 2010
Although I read a bunch of Agatha Christie in my youth, this is my first Hercule Poirot novel. This is one of the last, if not the last, novel Christie wrote. Poirot is aging, and, although he's vital to the soulution of the mystery of what happened to the Ravencrofts, an apparently loving couple found shot to death, a revolver between them, he is not either the main character or even present in at least two thirds of the pages of the novel. That doesn't nece...more
Although I read a bunch of Agatha Christie in my youth, this is my first Hercule Poirot novel. This is one of the last, if not the last, novel Christie wrote. Poirot is aging, and, although he's vital to the soulution of the mystery of what happened to the Ravencrofts, an apparently loving couple found shot to death, a revolver between them, he is not either the main character or even present in at least two thirds of the pages of the novel. That doesn't nece...more
Resolver el misterio de un crimen, 12 años después de haber ocurrido y sin una buena serie de pistas es una tarea complicada.
Hércules Poirot y la señora Oliver se dedican a saber la verdad de lo ocurrido para poder ayudar a Celia, hija de la pareja que perdió la vida en un supuesto "doble suicidio", pero... ¿fue en verdad esto lo que sucedió?
La única manera para descubrir lo que pasó es interrogando "elefantes", personas que en la época de lo sucedido estuvieron d...more
Hércules Poirot y la señora Oliver se dedican a saber la verdad de lo ocurrido para poder ayudar a Celia, hija de la pareja que perdió la vida en un supuesto "doble suicidio", pero... ¿fue en verdad esto lo que sucedió?
La única manera para descubrir lo que pasó es interrogando "elefantes", personas que en la época de lo sucedido estuvieron d...more
2.5 Stars
This is not her best work. Here she teams two memorable characters – Hercule Poirot and Mrs Ariadne Oliver to investigate a decades-old mystery. Did General Ravenscroft kill his wife and them himself, or did Lady Ravenscroft shoot her husband before committing suicide? Their daughter wants some answers, and she asks her godmother, Mrs Oliver, to try to find the truth for her. The audio version is narrated quite capably by John Moffatt.
I know I had an original h...more
This is not her best work. Here she teams two memorable characters – Hercule Poirot and Mrs Ariadne Oliver to investigate a decades-old mystery. Did General Ravenscroft kill his wife and them himself, or did Lady Ravenscroft shoot her husband before committing suicide? Their daughter wants some answers, and she asks her godmother, Mrs Oliver, to try to find the truth for her. The audio version is narrated quite capably by John Moffatt.
I know I had an original h...more
Jamais une querelle, pas de liaisons...
Les Ravenscroft filaient le parfait amour. Si on ajoute à cela une excellente réputation et une situation financière confortable, on en déduit qu'ils étaient de ceux qui meurent dans leur lit.
Et non d'une balle dans la peau.
Double suicide, a conclu la police, sans trop y croire. Une fin singulière pour un couple uni et paisible... Mais qu'envisager d'autre ? Un double assassinat ? Un meurtre suivi de suicide ? Guère p...more
Les Ravenscroft filaient le parfait amour. Si on ajoute à cela une excellente réputation et une situation financière confortable, on en déduit qu'ils étaient de ceux qui meurent dans leur lit.
Et non d'une balle dans la peau.
Double suicide, a conclu la police, sans trop y croire. Une fin singulière pour un couple uni et paisible... Mais qu'envisager d'autre ? Un double assassinat ? Un meurtre suivi de suicide ? Guère p...more
The only Agatha Christie I ever figured out halfway through.
Extremely interesting; this is one of those top Christie works that really draws you in and doesn't let you go until you've reached the last sentence! Even though this is one of her rare works where you can see the ending a mile away, the tension is built and maintained with such mastery that the climax is breath-taking, not at all spoilt by having an idea who the murderer is. The murderer's insanity is seriously creepy, but that's part of the hold Elephants Can Remember has. Guaranteed the stor...more
In which Mrs. Oliver uncovers a long-dead murder, and Poirot sets out to solve it.
The worst of the Poirot novels. There is a distinct drop in vocabulary and grammatical variety, consistent with old-age, in Christie’s final novels, and here she babbles on at length, reminiscing about things that have no bearing on the plot whatsoever. In fact, very little makes sense. The murder mystery isn’t wholly unbearable but it’s submerged beneath all of this silliness. Amazingly, even the usual...more
The worst of the Poirot novels. There is a distinct drop in vocabulary and grammatical variety, consistent with old-age, in Christie’s final novels, and here she babbles on at length, reminiscing about things that have no bearing on the plot whatsoever. In fact, very little makes sense. The murder mystery isn’t wholly unbearable but it’s submerged beneath all of this silliness. Amazingly, even the usual...more
3.0/5.0
Ямар нэгэн хэргийг мөрдөхөд заавал анхны үйлчлүүлэгч байх шаардлагагүй. Арван хэдэн жилийн өмнө болоод түүнээс хойш тухайн айл хөршийнхөний хов жив болж ирсэн хачирхалтай тохиолдолыг зүгээр л хүнийхээ сонирхолд хөтлөгдөн ухаж үзэх нь зугаатай байх.
Дулаан, сайхан өдөр агаар амьсгалахаар гэрээсээ гарсан эхнэр нөхөр хоёр уулын өвөрт толгойндоо сумтай олджээ. Тэд алагдсан уу эсвэл амиа хорлосон уу? Эхнэр нь нөхрөө буудчихаад өөрийгөө буудсан уу эсвэл нөхөр нь эхнэрээ буудчих...more
Ямар нэгэн хэргийг мөрдөхөд заавал анхны үйлчлүүлэгч байх шаардлагагүй. Арван хэдэн жилийн өмнө болоод түүнээс хойш тухайн айл хөршийнхөний хов жив болж ирсэн хачирхалтай тохиолдолыг зүгээр л хүнийхээ сонирхолд хөтлөгдөн ухаж үзэх нь зугаатай байх.
Дулаан, сайхан өдөр агаар амьсгалахаар гэрээсээ гарсан эхнэр нөхөр хоёр уулын өвөрт толгойндоо сумтай олджээ. Тэд алагдсан уу эсвэл амиа хорлосон уу? Эхнэр нь нөхрөө буудчихаад өөрийгөө буудсан уу эсвэл нөхөр нь эхнэрээ буудчих...more
Poirot and Ariadne Oliver go on safari in this book, at least in the metaphorical sense. After an encounter at a literary luncheon with a most odious nosey parker, Mrs Oliver feels compelled to go on the hunt for "elephants" -- people with long memories who may recall the details of a tragic double suicide that happened some 10 or 11 years prior to the events of the book. General and Lady Ravenscroft were found on a cliff one day, both shot, but nobody knew who had shot whom, or if ind...more
i was all set about 3/4s the way through to give this book a 5 because it was such an interesting mystery. i was evening willing to overlook the fact that, and this is often for every one of her books, the writing is quite basic. the dialogue esp.is just constant reiterating. but anyways, i was set to give it a five but then the ending happened. the convoluted, didn't really tie up all loose ends, where the characters are just like "yeah i forgive so and so for killing so and so, even if ...more
I was enticed to read this particular Agatha Christie because of a podcast I listened to last week (thanks Whitney!). Apparently, this is her 73rd novel and shows a significant decline in her vocabulary as compared to her previous novels. The researcher concludes that Christie suffered from Alzheimer's and this was the book that showed the onset of that disease.
Here's the podcast link if anyone is interested.
http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2010/05/0...
Here's the podcast link if anyone is interested.
http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2010/05/0...
I remember this as one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels - upon re-reading, it's not one of her best, but still lots of fun. I liked how the accuracy (and inaccuracy) of memory was explored, and I solved the mystery a bit later than I normally do. One aspect that was, however, problematic for me were the stereotypes about gender and mental illness. I know the book's old, but it's uncomfortable to have those stereotypes presented as truth.
Quite a late novel in Agatha Christie's career, this is another "murder in retrospect" where Hercule Poirot (and his rather airheaded mystery writer friend, Ariadne Oliver) take up the threads of a crime committed years in the past. It's a bit less densely focused than Christie in her prime -- one doesn't usually think of her writing into the modern era, yet here she is in 1972 -- but still a satisfying time with old favorite characters.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
![ذاكرة الأفيال [Elephants Can Remember]](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1215786349s/3717747.jpg)
Readers Also Enjoyed
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.
...more
More about Agatha Christie...
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.
...more
Share This Book
3 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“She was a lucky woman who had established a happy knack of writing what quite a lot of people wanted to read.”
—
25 people liked it
“Elephants can remember, but we are human beings and mercifully human beings can forget.”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
