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Rate Cards On the Table

detectivepauljohn 28 Sep 08 at 3:34 a.m. GMT

I like this book. I'll gonna rate it 8/10. I love the characters and the plot and especially the twists. My favorite character is Major Despard and Rhoda Dawes. I love the ending part. What can you say? Agree?

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Frndorfoe 11 Jun 09 at 7:24 p.m. GMT

Cards on the Table is definitely one of the best Hercule Poirot books. The number of suspects was so small and until the very end I could not figure out how the murder could have taken place. And also, Mr. Shaitana was quite a character. I think this was the first Hercule Poirot book that had Mrs. Oliver in it. 7.5/10 for me.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Jun 09 at 10:51 a.m. GMT

I don't know which AC Book I ever read was but 'Cards On The Table was definitely one of them as it was definitely a Poirot book, It could have been Cards, ABC or Death In The Clouds.

go_leafs_nation 02 Jun 09 at 10:39 a.m. GMT

I've said time and time again that Cards on the Table is my favourite AC ever. (It was the first AC I ever read, and, naturally, I was mindblown.) 4/4 stars from me.

AndThenThereWereToon 01 Jun 09 at 2:55 p.m. GMT

I think the changes in the TV version are mostly OK.  Putting the policeman under suspicion seems a natural move - we the viewer may have seen up front that he didn't do it, but Poirot didn't, and it would be odd if Poirot (who famously suspects everyone) ruled out the possibility just because the policeman's an old friend.  Even if they'd kept Supt Battle in, I'd have found it odd.  On that front I think the TV version improved on the book (gasps!).

Replacing Battle and Race with A N Other Policeman and A N Other Colonel, and swapping Anne Meredith and Rhoda Dawes around in the second half are changes that don't bother me.  They don't derail the story - in fact I quite like the twist to the Dawes/Meredith back story.

The only change that I found really extremely odd was the whole business of the incriminating photos of the policeman.  What the hell that was doing in there, I don't know.  (Nazi thespian nun moment, hmm?)  At least it was a side issue, not central to the murder.  If anything, the very obvious dodgy green-screen material in the scenes where Shaitana meets his informants bothered me more.

Overall I'd say the TV version was fine, but not good.  But the book's definitely in my top ten.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Jun 09 at 1:17 p.m. GMT

I agree Andthen Therewere Toon if it wasn't for the snag you found it would make a great Adaptation and I am sure a future Adaptation could ignore the snag you found, Poirot could be telling Hastings, Jap or Spence about his dream the next day. I personally think it is much better than everybody thinks, I have read it 3 times (that and ABC) and have no hesitation in giving it 10. I also agree with detectivepauljohn about the Adaptation but alot of people think it is O.K. until the last 30 minutes but I don't think it that good, Apart from the book the best version is the Radio version in which Ariadne is played by Stephanie Cole and Race is played by Donald Sinden, Alas I haven't seen the Play. 

AndThenThereWereToon 31 May 09 at 6:50 p.m. GMT

I think it's quite tempting to imagine that Cards On The Table never really took place.  (Well, never fictionally-really took place...  You know what I mean.)

I mean, there's Poirot in The ABC Murders telling Hastings all about the crime of his dreams, and less than a year later out comes Cards On The Table.  And just to put icing on the cake, he's teamed up with famous top policeman (and spoiler spoiler spoiler) Supt Battle, famous British secret service man Col Race, and famous crime writer Ariadne Oliver.  And he outsmarts them all, as well as their devilish host Mr Shaitana.  It's so tempting to think that it just took place in Poirot's dreams.

The only problem I can see is that he meets Ariadne Oliver and Col Race again, and while I can't remember what's said in Death On The Nile, Mrs Oliver definitely specifically mentions Mr Shaitana in Mrs McGinty's Dead.  It'd be a nice theory if it weren't for that.

I do like Cards a lot, though.

detectivepauljohn 16 Oct 08 at 10:32 a.m. GMT

This book is also thrilling

detectivepauljohn 16 Oct 08 at 10:32 a.m. GMT

Phlox

I agree to all of you but I disagree woth squatty. The tv version is very dull and boring to watch but the novel is 100% better. I still love david suchet.

Phlox 11 Oct 08 at 3:22 p.m. GMT

I would give it an 8/10 its good but not Agatha Christie's best. But it would certainly be there in my top 10 list

Holly 08 Oct 08 at 3:23 p.m. GMT

I love it! 9/10. My favourite characters were Major Despard and Rhoda Dawes, too. I did not like the changes they made in the film version.

ariadnepoirotmarple 03 Oct 08 at 1 p.m. GMT

I adore that book! I think all the plot is fascinating, the idea was so original and it was one of Hercule Poirot's best case, in my opinion. A true Christie masterpiece. I rate it 9/10, my favourite character was... hmmm... Mr. Shaitana, he was so mysterious!

squatty 02 Oct 08 at 10:05 p.m. GMT

It was the first AC that I gave up on before the end. However, I re-read it after watching the TV version and enjoyed it a lot more. I think AC took a big risk when she wrote it because her readers were used to large groups of suspects and this novel is quite claustrophobic in places. I'm sure that is what originally put me off