And Then There Were None

do judge this book by it's cover, completely eerie.  

My daughter was reading this for school so I decided to pick it up again.  I remember loving the mystery in high school.  And, frankly, I had forgotten most of the story so I wasn't too worried about being bored.  

Of course, because my 11 year old read it first and she knew I had read it before (and of course assumed my mind is a steel trap that never lets anything go) she spilled the beans on the mystery.  

At first I was bummed but then it turned out to be a gift.  Knowing who did it highlighted the ways Ms. Christie used misdirection and foreshadowing.  I could see little details as pointing arrows instead of just rushing past them.  

This is surely a quick read because you just can't put it down.  Even knowing what happened, I ignored my family for an entire Sunday afternoon to finish it.  

The idea of being stranded on an island where everyone is being systematically killed off led some of the characters to fight it and some of them to lean into the idea of dying.  This certainly makes for some interesting dinner conversations over what you would chose to do in that situation.  Is there hope, or no?  

Another idea that has stuck with me since my reading of And Then There Were None was the concept of luck.  A few times characters are talking about the murder they are accused of having committed and they say it was such bad luck.  Another character will chime in with, "For who?  You or the dead person?"  Luck is such a complicated idea and often what is good luck for one person is bad luck for another.  

Though the characterization is sparse because of the shortness of the book and the amount of characters, when Christie does deign to characterize someone you get a good idea of who they are.  I'm currently reading Hemingway and though these two authors are worlds apart, there is a sparseness of language, at times, with both of them.  Despite economical use of language, both give a compelling picture of the story and characters they are sharing with their readers.  

And also, am I the only one who likes to read something a little spooky at this time of year???  I tend to want to read seasonal books during the appropriate season.  Is that weird?  

We watched the movie adaptation that's available on Amazon.  It was pretty good, even if there are some dramatic changes.  I also found out that the movie rights to the book were purchased this fall and so now I'm excited to see how it gets remade again!