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The Mirror Crack'd

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Sep 09 at 11:06 a.m. GMT

I finished the Book last night and I loved the Book, Although I have seen both the Angela Landesbury Version and the Joan Hickson version I haven't seen them for ages and the book is so different from the AL version which I remember more, I was left with a puzzle though, my version said it was published in 1949 but wiki says 1962, How Come? I would love to discuss the book as there are other things that intrigued me but thought I would use this as an opening Gambit as it were.

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Tommy_A_Jones 03 Sep 09 at 10:47 a.m. GMT

I will bear your opinion in mind and read At Bertram's Hotel before They Do it With Mirrors and hopefully not go out on a low if you know what I mean?

Frndorfoe 02 Sep 09 at 2:19 p.m. GMT

Oh well, whether the book needed Miss. Marple or not, it is a good book. I enjoyed reading it very much. It was the third Miss. Marple I read and I wasn't dissapointed. I liked They Do it with Mirrors. It was good. At Bertrams Hotel, not so much. It's definitely not one of my favorites. But still it is a Miss. Marple book and that was reason enough for me to read it and keep it in my collection.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Sep 09 at 2:11 p.m. GMT

I preferred The Moving Finger to any Adaptation of the book I have seen, I just didn't think much of the Plot and thought the Book didn't need MM, I haven't read At Bertrams Hotel or They Do It With Mirrors     

Frndorfoe 02 Sep 09 at 1:55 p.m. GMT

Sleeping Murder is probably my favorite Miss. Marple novel and after the short stories collection, The Thirteen Problems, this is my probably second favorite Miss. Marple book. A Murder is Announced is also a favorite. The other Miss. Marple books that are my favorites are The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger and A Pocket Full of Rye. But actually I like almost every book Miss. Marple is in.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Sep 09 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

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I liked that quote to Frndorfoe, it reminded me so much of people I know, perhaps that is a bad thing, I was more genorous than you, I give it 9 out of 10, I don't do halves and just thought some books with Miss Marpl,e are better like A Murder Is Announced, Sleeping Murder and Nemesis, I think someone said that she wrote one of her MM books during the war and wrote it as if it was the last with her as she (Agatha) was afraid she wouldn't livce through the War and you do get the imptession (Well I did) that Miss Marple is nearing the end of her life as she is frail in the book. perhaps that explains the discrepency.

I loved tje fact I was introduced to a Character never portgrayed before (Hailey Preston) and I assumed we were supposed to assume he was another of Marina Gregg's Adopted Children, I suppose before having 2 Secretaries and 2 Adopted \children would have been a bit much which is why he hasn't been portrayed before as take him away and you only have 1 Adopted Child and one Secretary. I can't remember if in the JH or AL Adaptations Heatrher Badcock's wife ws revealed as Marina's 1st Husband but that was another nice surprise which made the Book fresh for me   

belgian_in_ireland 02 Sep 09 at 1:01 p.m. GMT

Tommy, in my list of published books it also states 1962.  So I don't understand where the 1949 comes from.

Frndorfoe 02 Sep 09 at 1 p.m. GMT

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Yes, I liked this book. too. It was so full of twists and turns. And of course, it had my favorite Miss. Marple in it! With her in a book it is bound to be entertaining. I'd give this book 7/10. One thing that has really stuck with me is a quote from this book. Miss. Marple, while describing Heather Badcock's character, says, " ... She never did mean harm but there is no doubt that people like Heather Badcock...are capable of doing a lot of harm because they lack...any real consideration for the way their actions may affect other people. She thought always of what an action meant to her, never sparing a thought to what it might mean to somebody else." This, I believe, is the key to the whole story.