The Blog's Mission

Wikipedia defines a book review as: “a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review can be a primary source opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review”. My mission is to provide the reader with my thoughts on the author’s work whether it’s good, bad, or ugly. I read all genres of books, so some of the reviews may be on hard to find books, or currently out of print. All of my reviews will also be available on Amazon.com. I will write a comment section at the end of each review to provide the reader with some little known facts about the author, or the subject of the book. Every now and then, I’ve had an author email me concerning the reading and reviewing of their work. If an author wants to contact me, you can email me at rohlarik@gmail.com. I would be glad to read, review and comment on any nascent, or experienced writer’s books. If warranted, I like to add a little comedy to accent my reviews, so enjoy!
Thanks, Rick O.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

And Then There Were None

This is a guest review from my eldest son, Deron:

After years of enjoying Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple on PBS, I've finally read my first Agatha Christie novel, which is also her most popular. The novel is set on the private island of Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owens off of Devon, England where one by one the ten guests are murdered. Their host is mysteriously absent. The guests are the only ones on the island and are unable to leave. Therefore, one of them is the murderer. Possible suspects are winnowed from the innocent chapter by chapter.

Are any of the guests really innocent? We meet each in turn. Some are there to work, like Mr. Rogers as a butler and his wife as the cook, while others were invited for a vacation. We learn early on that every guest has either been directly or indirectly the cause of the death, but not necessarilly the murder, of others. Each guest has eluded justice...until now.

The nursery rhyme "Ten Little Soldiers", framed on the wall of every guest's room, figures prominently in the story. The rhyme describes the deaths of ten soldiers and foreshadows those of the guests. For example, "Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine." The poem ends with the titular "...and then there were none." Besides the methods of murder, other clues can be found in the rhyme.

I don't normally read mysteries. I want to solve the mystery, before the murderer is revealed. A great deal of concentration is required, since every sentence might contain a clue or a red herring, and I'm a little too lazy to keep it all straight in my mind. But, every time I finish a mystery, whether I solve the crime or not, I find that I enjoyed the ride. This is no different with this novel. As with a good magician, there is enjoyment to be had in being deceived.

I especially enjoyed the literary device of the rhyme. Through the rhyme, she practically hand delivers clues that a lesser writer would not want to reveal so early in the novel, and then she delivers a whole new layer of mystery. You might expect that as each guest dies, the mystery would simplify, but instead it only becomes more confounding.

I didn't figure out who the murderer was. However, a good mystery writer provides enough clues for you to ascertain the murderer, and Christie does. The denouement was admitedly much more complicated than I would have expected, but one can still identify the murderer. In retrospect, there were clues I missed and words I misinterpreted. Hopefully, when you read this novel, you won't.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Comment: According to this, this book is the #7 top selling book of all time. I haven't actually met anyone that has read this book. I suppose this is because Agatha Christie is not in the public eye anymore as compared to someone like J.K. Rowling, who is also on the list.

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