Yeah, this is an odd one (the murder method is ludicrous as well, and it doesn't get any less so in the TV adaptation ... if anything, it makes the ludicrous elements even more obvious) -- but for sheer atmosphere, it's long become one of my annual Christmas go-tos, and there hasn't been a Christmas in ages that I haven't watched the DVD at least once, if not even several times in a row.
We watched the movie on the 24th and it was the perfect movie to watch. And he has the added effect that you appreciate your own family even more, watching this horrible family ;). (Okay, most of them aren´t so bad, to be honest).
This is a weird one, but wasn't the murder method in this one inspired by Christie's nephew who complained that her stories aren't gory enough? Well, he got what he wished for...
And some of the characters do pop up in other stories, so this one was a bit of a work of recycling and refining for Christie.
I agree, tho, the motive for the murder doesn't really become apparent in the book, and it is much better visualised in the adaptation.
Needless to say, both are annual visits for me, too.
This is one of my favorites. Now, though, you need to read Appointment With Death to meet Christie's Most Vile Victim, XX Edition! Mrs. Boynton is the female counterpart to Simeon Lee - and she may actually be WORSE!
Oh, I agree! Mrs. Boynton! She's worse in my book...she really gets under your skin, even tho you're just reading the story and aren't even one of the other characters.
They both are. We just get to see less of Simeon Lee than of Mrs. Boynton -- still, it's Simeon who first came to my mind as a parallel when I read Georgette Heyer's "Penhallow" ... and not on gender grounds, either. But both not only manipulate, they also gratuitously taunt their families purely for their own amusement. Mrs. Boynton is a first class, cruel manipulator, but whenever she does taunt, it, too, serves a manipulative purpose.
They both are horrible and both are deserving victims, but because we see so much of Mrs. Boynton's cruelty on-page, I rather hoped for the murderer to take action. With Simeon, I just couldn't care about the victim.
Now, I really want to read Penhallow to complete the picture. :)
Trust me, you'll definitely want someone to murder old Penhallow. And waiting for it to finally happen feels like being exposed to the sound of fingernails on a chalk board ... over and over and over.
Well, racism is something you will encounter in quite a few of Christie´s books. It doesn´t bother me as much in her books and other books from that time, simply because people had that kind of mind set back then. But at times it is difficult to deal with it.
And, yes, with that kind of family, who really needs enemies?
And some of the characters do pop up in other stories, so this one was a bit of a work of recycling and refining for Christie.
I agree, tho, the motive for the murder doesn't really become apparent in the book, and it is much better visualised in the adaptation.
Needless to say, both are annual visits for me, too.
Now, I really want to read Penhallow to complete the picture. :)