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Summary: AGATHA CHRISTIE HAS TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME...
Review: As others, I'm a great reader of her books. I agree with others that The Hollow is different from other Poirot's books, simply because Poirot is not the main character that Agatha Christie wants to make in this story. So if you are looking for Poirot series and hope to see how he solves marvellous cases, this book might be a disappointment. The reason of not setting Poirot as the main character, I should say, is very clever of Agatha Christie. This book has got other great characters that can be worked on. Lucy, Henrietta, Edward and Midge, all are well-developed figures in the stories. I believe readers will find human nature being the main message of this story instead of intriguing plot. This is what makes this story so special.And, I would really pay tribute to Agatha Christie as she has written a great romance in this story, not the usual kind you find in romance stories, but the very simple and basic where one finally realises what one is looking for. I wish Edward and Midge will lead a happy life and, I hope Henrietta will find her true love at the end..........yes, it's a story that will make you ponder.....
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Summary: Classic Christie
Review: Christie is often accused of being a very pragmatic writer whose work seldom contains atmosphere, three-dimensional characters, or complex emotions. There is more than a little truth to this criticism--but when dealing with a plotline that actually relies on these more literary effects Christie is more than able to meet the challenge. Such is the case with THE HOLLOW, a strange and moody mystery in which both setting and the emotional complexity of the various characters are central to both story and solution. When a woman is founding standing with gun in hand over the freshly-killed body of her husband, the solution would seem obvious--but there is a great deal more going on at the house known as "The Hollow" than meets the eye, and most of it is bound in the victim's questionable love life. Although the solution to the mystery is not quite as disconcerting as one normally expects of Christie, the novel is a joy, and its characters will remain in mind long after the book is put aside.
Rating:
Summary: Grows on you
Review: I enjoyed it much more on the second reading. Poirot does fit into the story, as a perceptive and benevolent presence on the sidelines. I like the way the various characters find excuses to visit his cottage (a white, modern concrete box, of course). Another reviewer called the houseparty "cosy" - the whole point is that it was never going to be cosy. All the characters are anguished and have ambiguous relationships with each other, their lives and the past. You want to know what happens to them all after the book ends, especially the victim's son. Two flaws: Henrietta's sculptures sound awful, and it's a shame Christie's casual anti-Semitism wasn't edited out.
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Summary: A very eerie, atmospheric mystery
Review: I love this mystery--I'm not certain why. Normally I would hate it, but there's something in the strange eeriness of it all that really made me read. Determined scientist John Christow is dissatisfied with his life--he has a rather stupid, insecure but sweet-natured wife and two brainy kids, and an artist lover named Henrietta Savernake, whose first love is her sculptures, much to his chagrin. He wants sometimes to break away from his family and the sick people that he must deal with. When they go to an old mansion for the weekend, the coolly passionate Henrietta is not the only lover there--John's old actress girlfriend who wants him as a boy-toy is present, and she doesn't want to take "no" for an answer. Then John turns up dead. Hercule Poirot and Henrietta seek to unravel the mystery of John's death, with totally unexpected results. What's really special about this mystery is that the emotions of the characters carry it along, rather than simply following clues and giving Poirot insights. It's rather unusual for Christie to write a novel/mystery rather than a straight mystery, but it's not unenjoyable.
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Summary: A Christie book that isn't really a mystery.
Review: I read this book after reading Murder on the Orient Express. This book is inferior to MotOE. It has a weak plot and isn't very interesting. Definately not a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Good characterization, but a weak ending.
Review: I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the ambiguous moral issues, such as the affair between John and Henrietta, and I thought that the characters were interesting, if not completely real. This is, however, all too customary for Agatha Christie.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story, Okay Ending
Review: I thought the characters were great and seemed very real to me. The ending was a little weird to me though, I didn't really get it. I thought the story was great, one of the best of Christies.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of the great ones
Review: I've heard that A.C. didn't believe Poirot fit well into this book, and I would have to agree. I might have liked this novel more if he hadn't been in it, but I doubt it. I'm a huge Poirot fan, and have loved most every other novel he was in, but this book was beyond ludicrous. The plot was ill paced, and by a quarter of the way through the book, when her weak and whiny characters were still being introduced, I was more than ready to set this book down. Much too predictable for one of Christie's stories. The play from this story does not feature Poirot, the book shouldn't have either.
Rating:
Summary: Good story - weak ending
Review: I've read many Agatha Christie's books and I really liked this one. I was so involved by the description of the characters personality and I even pictured de mansion in my mind. I did not like the ending tough. I think that the plot could have been better explained. All those pages describing caracters and only a few pages to solve the mistery. I also found the ending a little confusing, with unnecessary information.
Rating:
Summary: Great book with subtle characterizations
Review: In my opinion,this book is one of Agatha Christie's finest.It is a book that stands alone as a kind if compared to Christie's other books.You will find out what I mean when you reach the last chapter but one of this book.The characters of John Christow,Gerda Christow,and Henrietta Savernake is brought up and developed very nicely throughout the book.This book do not have much in the line of detection,but the characterization and the story line of this book is well worth its price.All in all,I would really recommend this book to all Christie's fans,and particularly fans of Poirot.
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