And Then There Were None in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

Jul 18, 2008 Brad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: exceeded-my-expectations, mystery, read-in-2017, what-my-kids-are-reading, serial-killer

I read this once long ago, thirty plus years (I think), so while I remembered the general premise, remembered the "Ten Little Whatevers" (I am pretty sure I read it as Ten Little Indians back then), I certainly didn't remember the details or the eventual killer, making the journey of discovery and the unique epistolary ending all the more delectable.

In case you don't know, ten people come to an island, all thinking they are there for their own personal reasons, only to be knocked off one by one I read this once long ago, thirty plus years (I think), so while I remembered the general premise, remembered the "Ten Little Whatevers" (I am pretty sure I read it as Ten Little Indians back then), I certainly didn't remember the details or the eventual killer, making the journey of discovery and the unique epistolary ending all the more delectable.

In case you don't know, ten people come to an island, all thinking they are there for their own personal reasons, only to be knocked off one by one (and since the title is now And Then There Were None don't even try to cry "spoiler alert" at me). How each of them die is fascinating enough, but there are two truly wonderful things about this tale that raise this story to the upper reaches of Agatha Christie's work -- the characters & the "Hollywood" serial killer.

Characters -- There is probably no less likeable bunch of characters in the entire history of mystery novels than the ten victims of And Then There Were None. They are not nice people. Of course, readers of the book still find a favourite, someone or sometwo, to pull for (until they, too, are gone), but even the ones we choose to pull for (for whatever reason) are horrible people. For instance, the one I found myself pulling for admits his crimes, so I found myself liking him because he was taking responsibility for what he'd done, even though what he had done was genocidal. My daughter liked another, and she liked her because she felt she was a survivor, so she could embrace that part of her even though what the character had done was malignant and selfish in the extreme. But our personal reasons for liking whomever we like in And Then There Were None don't change the fact that this cast of characters is a nasty bunch.

What a feat Agatha Christie achieved, though. To offer up a cast of misanthropes and still make us care enough for the mystery to have potency is an impressive bit of writing, and Christie sticks her attempt, and she sticks it long before offering unsavoury characters was in fashion (at least I imagine it was unfashionable in her day). Such a thing is in fashion now, however, and these ten misanthropes fit right in to our increasingly cynical present. If there hadn't been a recent BBC revival, I would be expecting Sam Mendes to offer a blockbuster star fest in the next year or two. Some mystery Oscar bait, ala Branagh's version of Murder on the Orient Express.

The "Hollywood" Serial Killer -- So speaking of Hollywood blockbusters, And Then There Were None also offers up, I think, the first "Hollywood" serial killer. Now I know that since I am making the argument that Christie's serial killer was the first of her/his kind, it is a little unfair to categorize s/he as the "Hollywood" serial killer, but the fact is that the motives of Christie's psychopath are very much the motives of the romanticized serial killers we delight in watching scare us on the big screen.

The Hannibal Lecters of our nightmare fantasies don't kill for the reasons our real world serial killers do. Real life serial killers tend to kill for personal (often sexual) gratification, but the "Hollywood" serial killer is an artist who kills for show, all while satisfying their grandiose egoism, and that is what Christie delivers as her serial killer knocks off the Ten Little Misanthropes on the island -- an artistic serial killer painting a picture of murderous justice. This sort of serial killer is compelling to us for obvious reasons, elevating the ugliness of murder to an art form (in the safest of ways: in our collective imaginations), often murdering the least savoury of targets, and always offering us a rationalizing demeanour that puts us squarely on her/his side. It's become the mainstay of Hollywood pictures, but I have a feeling it all started here.

I think we'd be hard pressed to find a real world serial killer like the killer in Agatha Christie's trickiest book, but it isn't hard to find that killer in our fictions and films any more. And we have Christie to thank. ...more

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Aug 25, 2013 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, read-2025, british-literature, suspense-thriller, read-2013, book-and-movie

Excelent series by BBC iPlayer.

From BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Drama:
Agatha Christie's famous detective story without a detective, adapted by Joy Wilkinson.

Ten guests are separately invited to an island by a person none of them knows very well, if at-all. When they arrive, it seems they have all been invited for different reasons. Nothing quite adds up.

An anonymous voice accuses each of them of having murdered someone. By the end of the first night, one of the guests is dead. Stranded by a violent s ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 Carrie rated it really liked it

I found myself engrossed in this story and if it hadn't been for wrapping presents I would have completed it much sooner then the 3 days it took me.

10 people mysteriously invited to Indian Island by their host. A host that no one seems to know, but by the invation is made to look as if they do. It is within a few hours of being on this strangle little island that things start to get interesting. A host no where to be seen, a nursery rhyme about 10 little indians, a recording accusing each guest ...more

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Dec 30, 2013 Kai Coates rated it liked it

Shelves: group-literary-exploration, w14-bookish-challenge

And Then There Were None is not only Christie's best-selling novel, it's also the best selling mystery ever (according to Wikipedia). So, I was a little surprised that I did not like it very much. Possibly it is a case of too many imitators dulling the original. Christie created an archetype of mystery novels and movies - ten strangers are brought together in a mansion, only to be killed off one by one by the murderer amongst them. Possibly, the movie spoiled the book for me. Not necessarily bec ...more

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