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Rating: 
Summary: Well written by Christie, well read by Hawthorne and Fraser
Review: It is a lucky coincidence that Audio Partners is issuing complete readings of the Hercule Poirot short stories and novels just after Acorn Media and A&E have finished releasing all of the David Suchet video versions. It is very instructive, especially to film majors, to compare the originals with the scripts. For example, the most recent Poirot collection appears on four CDs in Audio Partners set 45284, which includes Nigel Hawthorne reading "Murder in the Mews" and Hugh Fraser (the Hastings of the television series) reading "Triangle at Rhodes" and "The Incredible Theft." All of these are available on Acorn Media sets, should you wish to follow my" hear-watch-compare" suggestion. The plot of "Triangle at Rhodes" is very similar to that of "Evil Under the Sun," which has been twice filmed, once as part of the Suchet series and once as a film with Peter Ustinov as the sleuth. So here you have a fabulous chance for a triple comparison. Both actors take on all the roles, as a reader must do, neither one quite catching the Poirot voice as well as Suchet has on the screen and in those tapes in which he does the readings. In fact, Hawthorne tends to make Chief Inspector Japp sound a little hostile; but both readers are quite good and carry the stories along with their enthusiasm. The CDs, by the way, are divided into tracks, so you can find your way back should you lose the setting from your last listening. Tapes, of course, stay where they left off.
Rating:
Summary: Well written by Christie, well read by Hawthorne and Fraser
Review: It is a lucky coincidence that Audio Partners is issuing complete readings of the Hercule Poirot short stories and novels just after Acorn Media and A&E have finished releasing all of the David Suchet video versions. It is very instructive, especially to film majors, to compare the originals with the scripts. For example, the most recent Poirot collection appears on four CDs in Audio Partners set 45284, which includes Nigel Hawthorne reading "Murder in the Mews" and Hugh Fraser (the Hastings of the television series) reading "Triangle at Rhodes" and "The Incredible Theft." All of these are available on Acorn Media sets, should you wish to follow my" hear-watch-compare" suggestion. The plot of "Triangle at Rhodes" is very similar to that of "Evil Under the Sun," which has been twice filmed, once as part of the Suchet series and once as a film with Peter Ustinov as the sleuth. So here you have a fabulous chance for a triple comparison. Both actors take on all the roles, as a reader must do, neither one quite catching the Poirot voice as well as Suchet has on the screen and in those tapes in which he does the readings. In fact, Hawthorne tends to make Chief Inspector Japp sound a little hostile; but both readers are quite good and carry the stories along with their enthusiasm. The CDs, by the way, are divided into tracks, so you can find your way back should you lose the setting from your last listening. Tapes, of course, stay where they left off.
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