March & April 2022 - Classic Group Read - (Use Spoiler Tags) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

[Alannah]

Please discuss our winner here.

[Pam]

I read this in 2016 and gave it five stars, which I very rarely do, so you are in for a treat!

[Greg]

I do remember it being a fun read. I'll try to re-read if I have time.

[Greg]

Any one else planning to read or re-read this one?

[LauraT]

Not at the moment: I'm too full of other books!!!
But who has voted for it I suppose are reading it, no?

[Greg]

LauraT wrote: "But who has voted for it I suppose are reading it, no?"

I hope so! :)

[Diana]

Greg wrote: "Any one else planning to read or re-read this one?"

I am currently reading it. Hope I'll finish it in a few days

[Greg]

Diana H. wrote: "Greg wrote: "Any one else planning to read or re-read this one?"

I am currently reading it. Hope I'll finish it in a few days"

Great Diana! Are you enjoying it?

[Alannah]

I'm looking forward to reading this one. But honestly not sure when I will get the time to start it. It may be closer to April.

[Diana]

Greg wrote: "Diana H. wrote: "Greg wrote: "Any one else planning to read or re-read this one?"

I am currently reading it. Hope I'll finish it in a few days"

Great Diana! Are you enjoying it?"

Yeah, a lot. I'm Agatha Christie's fan and this book has not disappointed me. Very tense and intruguing.

[Greg]

Diana H. wrote: "Greg wrote: "Diana H. wrote: "Greg wrote: "Any one else planning to read or re-read this one?"

I am currently reading it. Hope I'll finish it in a few days"

Great Diana! Are you enjoying it?"

Ye..."

I found it highly entertaining the last time I read it. Glad you're enjoying it Diana and hope you do too Alannah!

[LauraT]

I usually love all Christie mysteries. I can't say I remember well this one, but I'm sure it's good as ever! Who knows, I may even be tempeted to pick it up again by the end of the month!!!

[Cathie]

Not sure if I'll be able to join, but it would be a re-read for me. Worth reading though if you haven't had the chance.

Interesting to read others' comments.

[Eric]

Recently read my first two Agatha Christie books and am looking forward to this one, and especially discussing with the group (first time for me!). Although I can finish it by end of April, it will take four weeks from now to get through the waiting list at the library and to finish my current book.

[Greg]

Eric wrote: "Recently read my first two Agatha Christie books and am looking forward to this one, and especially discussing with the group (first time for me!). Although I can finish it by end of April, it will..."

Sounds good Eric - glad to have you join in when you can!

[Chantal]

Fun & timely! My regular Christie book club is also reading this title for our March 13th meeting. I look forward to the discussion here!

[Greg]

Chantal wrote: "Fun & timely! My regular Christie book club is also reading this title for our March 13th meeting. I look forward to the discussion here!"

Glad to have you join Chantal!

[Eric]

OK, so I finished reading the book -- do we have a thread where we can discuss details including spoilers with others who finished reading it?

[LauraT]

Half way through.
I have to say that I remembered well the idea - the island, the murder one of the assembled there, but I don't for my life remember who he/she was, so I'm really looking forward discovering it!!!

[Greg]

Eric wrote: "OK, so I finished reading the book -- do we have a thread where we can discuss details including spoilers with others who finished reading it?"

Eric, usually we use the same thread with spoiler tags around any spoilers. To do that, use the following syntax with no spaces after the < symbols:

< spoiler> put spoiler stuff here < /spoiler>

Would it be easier to have a separate thread with spoilers? If people prefer that, we can certainly create one.

[Greg]

LauraT wrote: "Half way through.
I have to say that I remembered well the idea - the island, the murder one of the assembled there, but I don't for my life remember who he/she was, so I'm really looking forward d..."

Ah, Laura! I did love this one - it's one of the more inventive ones like Murder on the Orient Express. I will probably re-read it late this month. Unfortunately I do remember who did it, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it anyway. :)

[LauraT]

Greg wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Half way through.
I have to say that I remembered well the idea - the island, the murder one of the assembled there, but I don't for my life remember who he/she was, so I'm really lo..."

As I for Murder on the Orient Express or Murder on the Nile. You enjoy the book for the way it is constructed. Now I'm also liking the suspance!

[Greg]

I started this a couple days ago and am already halfway through.

Even though I remember who the killer is on this re-read, I'm finding it enjoyable the way the whole thing unfolds. What does everyone make of the characters, such as General MacArthur and Miss Emily Brent?

Much as it is terrible what General MacArthur did, I feel some pity for him in his resignation as he sits on the beach watching the waves and yearning for the end. It has been such a strain on him, all those years of guilt and regret over (view spoiler)[murdering his wife's lover. And now he hardly remembers what it was all for, with his wife passed away and long gone. All that still makes an impression on him is the guilt and burden of his own terrible action (hide spoiler)].

And then, Miss Emily Blunt seems like a horrible person, and I can feel no sympathy for her. But does she really (view spoiler)[deserve the killer's vengeance for Beatrice Taylor's suicide merely because she turned her out when she was pregnant (hide spoiler)]? It seems she was (view spoiler)[judgemental and awful to do that as well as un-Christian in her behavior, but is that really the same as murder? And isn't the killer showing the same kind of judgemental attitude toward her that she showed toward the young woman? (hide spoiler)] Or maybe that's the point?

And everyone, when you respond, be sure to use the spoiler tags if you're giving anything away! Since this is a mystery, we want to be extra sure not to spoil anything for anyone reading it for the first time!! :)

See my comment below (message 20) for how to do spoiler tags. And everyone, please let us know if you prefer to have a separate spoiler thread instead of using the spoiler tags!

[Pam]

Greg wrote: "I started this a couple days ago and am already halfway through.

Even though I remember who the killer is on this re-read, I'm finding it enjoyable the way the whole thing unfolds. What does every..."

There might be a problem with spoiler tags in the app anyway Greg. I once had someone have a right go at me in the comments on a review where I'd made liberal use of them, for giving away certain things (though I hadn't said anything major) and when I checked it on the app, all the spoiler text just appeared as part of the review. As I usually use GR on a PC I hadn't been aware of that.

[Greg]

Pam wrote: "Greg wrote: "I started this a couple days ago and am already halfway through.

Even though I remember who the killer is on this re-read, I'm finding it enjoyable the way the whole thing unfolds. Wh..."

Thanks Pam - good to know!

I'll talk to Alannah and see what she thinks. Maybe we should start making separate spoiler threads! I know a lot of other groups do that.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Having two threads is a nuisance but probably necessary, I'm afraid. I used to subscribe to various email updates, but I saw that the html markup wasn't applied to the text, so all the code was there, and it was a real mess!

I'd see something like this (without the spaces):

< spoiler > And then she < b > murdered< /b> the so-called < i> hero< /i> would you believe? < /spoiler>

Whereas when the tags work (no spaces), you should see this:

(view spoiler)[ And then she murdered the so-called hero would you believe? (hide spoiler)]

[PattyMacDotComma]

Incidentally, I really enjoyed And Then There Were None and wrote a review with no spoilers, hidden or otherwise!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[LauraT]

Loved it!!! Even better that i rememebered! I loved the contrivance of the "message ina bottle" to close the book!

[Greg]

Thanks Eric, Pam, and Patty for your thoughts on having a second spoiler thread. Alannah, Laura, and I have talked, and we decided to implement your suggestion. Let us know if this system works for you!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

We are trying something new and now have two different threads for each book discussion. This thread is for discussing our winner while you are reading the book. In this thread, please be careful to use spoiler tags to mark any comments that contain spoilers!

If you are using the app or if you don't know how to add spoiler tags and you want to comment with some spoilers, use the other thread marked SPOILERS NOT MARKED!:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

If you are setting up email notifications and are worried about encountering spoilers, be careful setting up notifications to this thread because the emails might not handle spoiler tags correctly! If you are using the app, be careful viewing this thread because spoilers might not be hidden in the app!

[Pam]

In case anyone is interested, I wrote this review in 2016, soon after seeing the BBC adaptation, hence the contrast/compare with that. I enjoyed the book and gave it 5 stars. Just a warning - there are spoiler tags which on the app would not be hidden
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1759712542

[PattyMacDotComma]

Greg wrote: "Thanks Eric, Pam, and Patty for your thoughts on having a second spoiler thread. Alannah, Laura, and I have talked, and we decided to implement your suggestion. Let us know if this system works for..."

Glad to hear that, Greg. Spoilers are fine for someone who knows they will never read the book but wants to know what people thought (and why), but my goodness they sure do spoil the fun for readers!

[Cynda]

I read this book for the first time this year. The clues are all there. I wouldn't believe the clues. Then the truth hit me like an arrow to my forehead!