About this title: Hercule Poirot is aboard the Orient Express from Istanbul to Calais. By the end of the first night one passenger is dead and another is responsible. Can Poirot solve the mystery before the train reaches its final destination?
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780671468941ISBN:0671468944
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Light edge wear. cover crease where opened. No marks. Aging of pages. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. A Hercule Poirot Murder Mystery. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm)
ISBN-13:9780061002748ISBN:0061002747
Description: Good. Spine is well creased. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade C average reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Good. Spine is well creased. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade C average reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Good. Spine is well creased. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade C average reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
"This was originally tagged to appear on my "book rape" shelf because, generally speaking, I would rather slam my head in a car door than read a straight-up mystery. This may be because of burn out at a young age. After devouring the entire Nancy Drew series, I had an epiphany one day that went something like this: "I don't give a damn who did it." It was like someone flipped a switch and I went cold turkey on mysteries (I even remember starting Murder on the Orient Express as a teen and thinking, "Nope. I think I'll go get a Piers Anthony book instead").
However, I have since retracted this book's status as being forcibly thrust upon me because I actually enjoyed it. Color me surprised. Normally, I have these suckers figured out long before the end. After much sighing as I turned each page, knowing in my heart of hearts who the murderer was, imagine my shock when I was wrong. Really. I was. Dead wrong. The ending was, well, genius--and I shall say no more.
Having said that, this is not great writing. I had to roll my eyes every time Poirot's eyes "twinkled" and it's chockfull of stereotypes, but that's not the point. The mark of a good mystery is that it keeps one guessing until the end, and Aggie (that's what I like to call her) certainly did her job well."
"How have I lived so many years and never read any Agatha Christie? I admit, I was a little worried, since I'm a big ol wuss. But I had no cause for worry. It was a very entertaining read.
Hercule wasn't anything like I'd imagined. I've heard of him, of course, but I imagined a much more impressive physical character. He is "a ridiculous-looking little man. The sort of little man one could never take seriously." He was a little ridiculous at times, which I ended up loving. "Hercule Poirot addressed himself to the task of keeping his mustaches out of the soup." Ha! I love that Christie ended up describing him as a "detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep."
And did you know that Poirot was given an obituary in the New York Times when he died at the end of his last book? And did you know that Christie actually wrote that book 30 years previous and only published it when she was old and couldn't write any more?
"This was a very easy read, but not nearly as entertaining or thought-provoking as I thought it was going to be. I have, however, seen the movie adaptation, so perhaps the excellent screen version tainted the outcome of the book for me. Either way, Hercule Poirot is a character unmatched, and I applaud Agatha Christie for creating such a funny, brilliant man.
I think my rating also is a reflection of my own jadedness, since I love me some crime stories but was underwhelmed here. I wanted more drama, more of a whodunnit feeling. Of course, the solving of the crime is the majority focus of the book, so drama is limited to the accused crying and pleading their innocence. There is so little character development that I also found myself having difficulty keeping track of who each person was. Still, the book was a light read, and I feel a little accomplished for having read this crime classic. (With a little bit of guilt, I might also recommend that you just watch the movie version instead.)
Still, Christie gets bonus points for the title alone. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS - can you really beat that? Makes me want to find myself a newsie."
"Okay, I finished this morning, and hadn't wanted to post this, in case I was forgetting something toward the end. I have always really liked the way the book ended. I love that the 3 in charge agree that justic has been served, and it's amazing that 12 (13) people could come together and risk everything to right a wrong they feel went unpunished. It's especially interesting that Christie wrote this after being delayed by snow herself. Oh, to have an imagination like hers!
Having praised the book, I have a complaint. I find it almost ludicrous that Poirot comes to the conclusion that Ratchett is Cossetti from those three unburned words. He harps and harps, not only through this book, but every book in which he stars, that you can never jump to conclusions. You can work with assumptions to an extent, but you must eventually find absolute proof. I was hoping I had forgotten Poirot finding an actual I.D. or official paperwork of some sort stating that Ratchett was indeed Cossetti.
Yes, Poirot is proved correct, but it feels a little like a house of cards to me that he based his entire investigation on that one assumption. A little unfair, when I find that Christie is almost always scrupulously fair with clues and trails.
I still loved the book, but that's a flaw that has always stuck with me, and I was really hoping on this re-read I would see something I had previously missed."
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