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ATTWN

(Contains spoilers!)

jane_poirot 02 Oct 08 at 2:33 a.m. GMT

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Since this is the non-series section, and since ATTWN is not a Marple or Poirot book, I decided, what the hey--might as well start an ATTWN topic up here.

I love many different things about ATTWN, but I think the main thing I like is how it strays from typical story conventions. You usually expect a specified protagonist who always does what is right, a canon romance, characters with significant personality traits that help you sort out the good guys from the bad guys, and of course, a happy ending where the love interest sends the bad guy to jail and rides off into the sunset.

But ATTWN isn't a typical story at all. There is no specified protagonist and Vera Claythorne, the one character who comes even close to being some sort of protagonist mainly due to the fact that she (excluding the murderer) lives the longest and we see more of her inner thoughts than any of the other characters, did something that was completley horrifying and dispicable that you would never see a protagonist do. Lombard and Vera come the closest to be being the romantic pairing of the book, but they never get together, and all hopes of them ever getting together are squashed the moment we read the sentence "Philip Lombard was dead...shot through the heart..." The characters' personalities are all assorted; for instance, there's the General, who is one of the more sympathetic characters. And there is also Miss Brent, who is least sympathetic. And then there's Dr. Armstrong, who may or may not be sympathetic, depending on how much you like him.

And the ending...everyone else has said it before on other forums, so I might as well say it: Here, the story does not end happily; everyone dies, the one character who could've solved the mystery had she taken a closer look at the person standing in the shadows of her wardrobe is driven insane by her guilt and commits suicide, and the murderer succeeds. It may be gloomy, yes, but gloomy endings are often true to real life. I'm perfectly fine with the play's ending being used for the 1945 movie version; after all, WWII was very depressing and people needed to be cheered up, but in spite of some of the gloomy events today, I think the ending would be perfectly acceptable for a modern day audience. If Russia could accept it, why not Hollywood?

Also, if ATTWN were to be re-made, which would you rather see: A cinematic movie, a Masterpiece Theatre presentation, or a BBC mini-series? Any one of them sounds great; I can't decide which one I like the best.

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go_leafs_nation 31 Mar 12 at 12:26 p.m. GMT

Hi folks,

I mentioned earlier that I was setting out to write a series of articles on each of the guests on Indian Island (including the servants). This series is now finished, and you can see all the articles at my blog. I've linked to a post below that contains links to every article, using the accusation of Mr. Owen as a template. Be warned that many articles contain major spoilers, especially the last half. Usually I blur them out, but I decided not to do so on the last article.

http://at-scene-of-crime.blogspot.com/2012/03/ten-little-indians-and-then-there-were.html

BrigidM 12 Feb 12 at 10:41 a.m. GMT

Lone_Wolf

Interesting, that despite all the crimes the murdered people had commited, I still identified with them and wanted them to survive in the end.

And great opening post. I may also add that the character who comes the most close to being a detective is Wargrave himself...

The novel also deals with the question of justice. Here's an interesting question for you - is Wargrave right in what he does, does he act justly?

Does he act justly? Hmmmm, I think it would be quite easy to think that he did act justly but personally I don't really think so. If they did kill these people then I think it's up to them to decide what justice is and not up to him to take matters into his own hands for them. If they feel guilty, the'll give themselves up. If they don't, I don't think it's really up to anyone else to kill them.

BrigidM 12 Feb 12 at 10:37 a.m. GMT

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I did like this book a lot, but I do wish that they didn't all have to die. Maybe Vera Claythorne and Phillip Lombard could have got together, and then found out themselves who done it? Perhaps if there were more clues they could have figured it out and then found Justice Wargrave and handed him over to the police? Still, it was cleared up very well. I saw this as an olden day black-and-white movie and found it slightly scary, so I think I would rather see a Masterpiece Theatre Production.

go_leafs_nation 11 Jan 12 at 10:10 p.m. GMT

Hi folks-- as you probably know by now, I review every book I read on my blog, At the Scene of the Crime. Today, it was an article on AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which foreshadows a planned ten-part series of articles I will collaborate with another blogger on, where we will ignore spoilers and analyze the ten guests on Indian Island. It's an attempt to give Agatha Christie her due, as far too many critics have a dismissive attitude towards her and her writing and would never dream that such complexity could be found in her novels!

Here is the link to the review, and I'll be sure to post links to each article as it appears:

http://at-scene-of-crime.blogspot.com/2012/01/death-invites-you.html

Lone_Wolf 25 Jan 09 at 6:16 a.m. GMT

De-spoilered my post, since the OP is already spoilery enough.

Christopher_Wren 24 Jan 09 at 3:59 p.m. GMT

Thank you. Now it works for me as well. :-)

ariadnepoirotmarple 19 Jan 09 at 10:42 a.m. GMT

Sometimes I can't open the spoilers either. I have to go again to the home page and then I can open it.

Christopher_Wren 18 Jan 09 at 6:49 p.m. GMT

Sorry, if I use this thread for the question, but I can't open the spoilers. Is there any special trick?

Lone_Wolf 04 Jan 09 at 8:04 p.m. GMT

Interesting, that despite all the crimes the murdered people had commited, I still identified with them and wanted them to survive in the end.

And great opening post. I may also add that the character who comes the most close to being a detective is Wargrave himself...

The novel also deals with the question of justice. Here's an interesting question for you - is Wargrave right in what he does, does he act justly?

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Jan 09 at 1:52 p.m. GMT

I agree squatty, It would be great to see as part of the Christmas schedules or any Bank Holiday for that Matter

squatty 27 Dec 08 at 5:29 p.m. GMT

I agree. I think the four filmed versions got progressively worse and I'd love to see the BBC give the book its best classical treatment

moreteavicar 27 Dec 08 at 3:05 p.m. GMT

This one really is GENIUS. The ingenuity in the plotting, knowing where each of the ten characters was located in relation to the other characters at every moment in the story. Amazing stuff. It must have given Agatha a migraine to write it. So absolutely clever, and it never cheats. Obviously it is a bit far-fetched, but this seemed less intrusive than in some of her other stories: it rushes along at a real pace, and the tension builds throughout. I saw it onstage earlier this year, and it was very dark and eerie. I'd love to see a proper BBC version of it (not ITV please: they are ruining the Miss Marple stories), full of shadows and things going bump in the night.

andthentherewerenone8 10 Dec 08 at 3:13 a.m. GMT

When we read And Then There Were None in my 8th Grade Reading class about a month ago I thought it was so good!  Thats how I got in to her books, I think my favorite character was Miss Brent, I don't Know why

Santonix 07 Dec 08 at 6:22 a.m. GMT

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I think hollywood has gotten back to making downers, which is all the more reason they should do a faithful adaptation of And Then There Were None for the cinema. Alas, i fear it will be another couple of years until Agatha goes back to the big screen -- not until the television shows end, anyway.

What I love about this novel are the characters. Critics give Christie a lot of guff about how "sketchy" the people in her books are. (I once read of Ingrid Bergman's Orient Express performance that it was a passable performance of the usual, uninteresting Christie character) But here! All ten characters are fully realized, and there is even an eleventh that we kind of get to know -- Isaac Morris, the mysterious man who entices Lombard and does the murderer's busy-work.

ariadnepoirotmarple 07 Dec 08 at 1:01 a.m. GMT

This is strange but in most of the Christie novels I read I don't think about who murdered whom because I am very busy following the story. However, in ATTWN, I was all the time thinking about who was the murderer. Different people came to my mind but I ended up guessing the murderer.

HarleyBarley 29 Nov 08 at 4:44 p.m. GMT

I have to admit, when I first read ATTWN, I was too enthralled and too busy guessing who dies next to do real whodunit and find the culprit! A real psychological thriller, and superbly crafted, measured inch by inch to the perfect supremeness.

squatty 20 Nov 08 at 6:41 p.m. GMT

I was kicking myself after finishing ATTWN because on a psychological level, the murderer is dead obvious. However, I got so caught up in the suspense and the originality of the book that I became distracted from trying to solve the whodunnit

detectivepauljohn 20 Nov 08 at 10:53 a.m. GMT

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ariadnepoirotmarple

Well, I guessed the conclusion but when the murderer was revealed I was surprised! How did I guessed the conclusion? simply easy, there's a scene that Dr. Armstrong dream about Anthony shaking the operating table...that he's not dead..he's laughing but that's only a dream but that gave me an idea about the conclusion but at the end I thought a bit that it was Vera, forgetting about that scene.

ariadnepoirotmarple 15 Nov 08 at 9:55 p.m. GMT

And then there were none is a Christie masterpiece, undoubtly. AC created a different novel, something new, it wasn't the typical mystery story, as most people mentioned. A truly depressing ending, everyone's dead, the story itself is far away from the reality, but the end, as it's tragic, portrays a little of the real life. It ends up being a creative, original and imaginative story but with a strange reality that surprises the reader. The letter in the end of the novel was quite melancholic and when you close the book, strange thoughts come to your mind. There isn't protagonist or romance and the unique emotion that the characters taste is the fear. The fear of being killed. Although some of them feel guilty. But after all, when you read it, you taste strange emotions and feelings: the fear, the thrill, the hope and the surprise. I must say that I didn't find the end surprising. I guessed the murderer but I must say that the letter was a total surprise. I like ATTWN, it's a masterpiece, but it isn't the typical Christie...

detectivepauljohn 15 Nov 08 at 1:10 p.m. GMT

the graphic novel will be out in the year 2009. I love the book And Then There Were None. It was very thrilling. The ending was surprising. This is, I think, the best Agatha Christie book and her masterpiece. I hope this will be filmed again. Dame Agatha Christie made the characters so real and the setting was really scary but very good.

jane_poirot 12 Oct 08 at 2:30 a.m. GMT

Does anyone know anything at all about the upcoming graphic novel adaptation?

Christopher_Wren 03 Oct 08 at 3:41 p.m. GMT

The only part I didn't like was the death of the tenth victim. As clever as the murderer was, him guessing that Vera would commit suicide simply because she wa sguilt ridden and saw the chair, is a bit much. It would have made more sense if he had just killed her by hanging. Other than that, it's a great book. Christie's best and the one where she comes closest to actually having made great literature.