And Then There Were None : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: And Then....
Review: This book tells a story of ten people who don't know anything about each other, but have one thing in common. That is that they have all commited the same crime, murder. They are all brought to Indian Island to pay for their crimes with their own life. It is very thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The way the murders go by the poem really adds a great twist to it. I enjoyed reading it

Rating:
Summary: And Then There Were None
Review: And Then There Were None is a great book that grasps your mind and takes you on a trill ride as the story is read. It begins by giving a brief background of the characters. Next they all come together by a weird invitation by someone whom they had suposedly met. They come to Indian Island with hopes of vacation and relaxation, but soon realize that things aren't as they seem. One by one they begin to die and the mystery unravels throwing you twists and turns that keep you on the edge.I highly recommend this book to you suspense readers out there. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Original book...but a little bit strange
Review: In this book, you can read the story of ten peoples that don't know each other. They are invited to the island by someone called U.N.Owen with different reasons.
When all the character arrived to the mansion, U.N.Owen in not there. That thing is strange for all of them. He has given the order of take care of all his guests to his servants. They were two, a cuple.
On the first diner, they are all enyoing the time...but later, on of them died...here it's when the panic starts to come. After the second person that died, all of them tought that someone has killed the two people...and the only posibility was that the murderer was between them.
In each time that one of them died, a little indian (there were ten), of the ones that were in te living, disappeard.
This book is like the ones that you can't close, before you know the end of it. I give it four stars instead of five because I didn't like too much the end of the book...but the trama and the characters are amazing!!!.

Rating:
Summary: And Then There Was A Review
Review: And Then There Were None
By, Agatha Christie
This wonderful mystery book is about ten strangers setup to live in a house on a deserted island called Indian Island. These ten strangers are brought together by a mysterious person who sends out letters inviting them to come to Indian Island. But when they all get there, things start to get wierd. After a young man dies of choking, a woman realizes that this was no accident- it was a murder - a murder that followed the old nursery rhyme called The Ten Little Indians.
When the people realize that there was a murderer on the loose, they stopped talking to each other. They didn't go anywhere with each other, either. No one could be sure of who the murderer was, but you can by reading the book! I guarantee you will find this book as exciting and creative as I did.
This book is one of the best books that I have ever read and I'm sure you will enjoy it. This is a great book for children 12 and older.
Hurry up and get your copy today of And Then There Were None!! I know you will love it!

Rating:
Summary: very........weird, odd, scary
Review: i read this book and did a book report on it ... it was very spooky. it was intriguing too. the first few pages are boring, but as you keep reading you won't want to put the book down. every time i hear that poem, the ten little indians, i think of this book. the poem is the basis of the book. and you don't really know who killed who until the end and it's not who you expect it to be. i liked it and in a way i didn't cause like, one person thinking of how to kill everyone is just kinda pyschotic. and i thought it was weird. but it was coo i guess. i wouldn't recommend it to anyone that's not in highschool. it's too crazy. actually no one should read it cause some ppl might get ideas like that. i plan on renting the movie this week to see it. i'm going to be even more spooked.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate Survivor
Review: Also published as "Ten Little Indians", Agatha Christie's classic mystery is still one of my favorites. Ten people come to a remote island, all vaguely invited under false pretenses. With their hosts nowhere to be seen, they have a quiet dinner until a disembodied voice accuses each of them of murder. Of course, everyone claims innocence, but when the guests begin to die one by one, the accusations seem to have some merit. And they can only conclude that there is a true murderer in their midst. This mystery is a fantasy about the art of crime, and is one of Christie's more famous ones. It may not be her best book, but it is quite a delightful tale.

Rating:
Summary: And Then There Were None
Review: Each one of them got this letter. It was signed : U.N. Newn. In other words "unknown". Why were all of these very sweet people invited on the island? They must have something in common. Indeed, they all commited in one sort or another: a crime.

Every day, one person disapears and is found dead, somewhere on the island. Then, someone discovers a little poem in their room: about 10 little idians who die. And then there were none.

If this continues, at the end, there will be two more left. Then, you will certainly know who the murderer is. But you never know what could happen...

Rating:
Summary: And Then There Was -- You!
Review: It took about a week's worth of reading "And Then There Were None" a couple hours each night to complete, but this is the kind of novel you could mow through in a single day. I was hooked by page ten in no small part because of Christie's ability to revolve swiftly through the cast of characters in setting up her story's premise. That premise has been so overused in Hollywood movies (John Carpenter's "The Thing," Arnold Swarzenneger's "Predator," and this year's "Identity") it is truly remarkable to note that it all began with Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None in 1939.

This is one of those books that you should read in your lifetime, man. It played a key role in elevating mystery/detective fiction to a level that has not been duplicated nor surpassed in more than a half century, and despite many charming and flamboyant egos that have climbed to the highest heights of popular fiction charts none have matched what Agatha Christie brought to our public consciousness when she published And Then There Were None. It epitomizes the word "classic" in its truest sense. It is _the_ book for you!

Stacey

Rating:
Summary: Agatha's Best
Review: This is one of the best work of Agatha Christie's.
It involves ten strangers alone on an island with mysterious, even murderous pasts. And if that wasn't enough, they all are murdered one at a time according to the nursery rhyme "Five little indians". You will never guess who or what killed them all. I never did.

Rating:
Summary: Frankly, a captivating idea not fully realized as a story
Review: Agatha Christie's 1939 story idea captures the imagination. Ten strangers who each, in his or her own way, have gotten away with murder gather by invitation at an isolated mansion. Then their unknown host systematically and mockingly murders them one by one. The idea was adapted into a film in 1945, 1965, 1974, and 1989. Reportedly, there was a 1959 TV adaptation. Variants of the plot are perennials on one TV show or another, from Harry O to Quincy to Remington Steele. As someone who has read all of Christie's work and admires it as running the gamut from diverting to entertaining to inspiring, I had high expectations. Unfortunately, neither Christie nor the filmmakers succeeded in bringing this brilliant but limiting idea to life in a truly fulfilling story.

Occasionally, a mystery plot can be so ingenious and powerful that it can be a satisfying story in itself. Most often, the best that is achieved by plot alone is an amusing but arid puzzle mystery. For the depth and richness to engage, a novel usually needs to develop to some meaningful degree the characters, their backgrounds, their interaction, their dialogue, the setting, the tone, and any larger themes.

The premise of Christie's book is fascinating. As to plot, the book is clever in conception and careful in execution. Compared to the films, the book's assortment of past crimes and depictions of the characters' attitudes toward them are more varied, subtle, and interesting. The book does the best job of presenting the characters in ways in which the reader could actually see them as the murderous host. It is the least sentimental, treating all of them vaguely and suspiciously. This is not necessarily enough to make them convincing killers, but at least it maintains more of a sense of menace, suspense, and purpose than the film versions. The book does the best job of explaining why and how the host carried out the scheme.

Yet, even the plot has definite shortcomings. Once the imaginative premise is established, the story becomes thin and formulaic. There is little plot or character development. The characters in the book engage in less deductive reasoning and survival techniques than in the 1945 film. The only real plot twist creates a major logical problem, which the book tries to overcome by implausibly suggesting that the ploy would either trick or "rattle" the murderer. The guests' murders are designed to follow the nursery rhyme and little more. Aside from some cosmetic frills, the poisoning, stabbing, shooting, and head-bashing that go on in the book show, in themselves, no special cunning, skill, strategic advantage, or plausibility. The killer strikes crudely without detection too effortlessly.

The storytelling seems flat, frigid, and, at times, slow-paced. There is no lead character to care about. Characters are described largely by catch-phrases (the judge's "tortoise-like" appearance; Lombard's "wolfish smile") or hardly at all (Marston, the Rogerses). Their backgrounds and motives are sketched in summary fashion. The past crimes vary widely in originality, depth, and genuineness. Some -- especially Claythorne's and the general's -- are more subtle, interesting, and powerful than others. Some, like Blore's, Dr. Armstrong's, and Lombard's, are utterly trite, unexplored, and ineffective.

However, the book's and films' worst failing is that they have nothing serious to say about the powerful themes that are at the very heart of the story. The story is inherently an observation of human nature in a desperate situation. How do the characters behave? How do they try to reason? How do they try to survive? Also by its very nature -- as the book's last pages acknowledge -- this story is a morality play. How is each of the characters a "criminal"? How is each "beyond the law"? Does each get "justice"? Is justice the point, or simply a "lust" to torture and kill? Is the story about breaking the law or enforcing it, about mistakes or abuses in pursuing justice? None of this is meaningfully addressed.

The films (which I have now seen thanks to Amazon.com and hope to separately review elsewhere on this site), are worse in some respects and better in some respects than the book. Each is worth seeing as an attempt to bring to life a compelling but at the same time confining plot concept. Each, like the book, fails to fully realize that idea as a story.

Briefly, the 1945 film develops the plot better in some ways than the book and is more entertaining. The cast is outstanding, except Mischa Auer. But the film presents the general and his past crime ineffectively and changes others. Its attempts to make the characters entertaining come at the expense of their plausibility as villains and of the story's seriousness. The climactic scene revealing the host's identity, means, and motives is short, sedate, and unsatisfying.

The 1965 film is enjoyable and energetic. But it is not as tightly and richly told, nor as well-acted, as the 1945 version, despite good casting. As in 1945, attempts to make characters comical or appealing sap the suspense. The final scene has more explanation than in 1945, but remains thin and undramatic.

The 1974 film takes a different tone than its predecessors. It captures more of a sense of fear, dread, and suspense. Yet, overall, the movie is less substantial and entertaining than the prior versions. The storytelling is so spare and unartful that it is sterile and uninvolving. Other than Stephane Audran, the outstanding cast is unable to breathe life into the characters. The final scene is less effective than before.

Everything about the 1989 version seems low-budget, from the cast to the script to the set to the production values. The casting of the doctor is even worse than Frank Stallone as Lombard. And not until Donald Pleasance's final moments on screen does he play his character with any coherence. But Herbert Lom is excellent as the general. And it is left to this film to finally present a dramatic end scene.