Murder on the Orient Express
Let me tell you, life as a first time mom is rough! Learning to take care of my daughter, round the clock feedings, and trying to get some sleep have taken up a lot of my time lately. I have been reading, I just haven't been able to make it to my computer to type up my reviews for a while. Now I'm back!
First up in my to be reviewed queue is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I read this book in high school, but I didn't remember very much about it so I was looking forward to a re-read. The movie was just about to come out when we decided to read this for book club. Once we were finished reading we went to see the movie together so I'll be reviewing that too.
The Book
The book finds Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot, embarking on a trip via train. In leu of a leasurely vacation he ends up with a new case when one his fellow passengers is found murdered in his room. Hercule reluctantly takes the case and begins interviewing the remaining passengers and collecting clues. He has plenty of time to do so because the train has been cut off by heavy snowfall which effectively traps our passengers on a train with a murderer.
While I enjoyed the majority of this book, I was disappointed with the ending. I'm not going to go into detail, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who plans to read it, but it fell a bit flat for me. I think Christie was going for an unexpected twist at the end. I definitely never would have guessed who the murderer was, but I felt a little more like saying "Really?" as opposed to "Holy crap, I didn't see that coming!" It was also delivered in a kind of ho-hum manner which left me feeling like I didn't care about the outcome. The ending ruined the read for me.
Poor ending notwithstanding, I really enjoyed Poirot. He is the quintessential detective: smart, gentlemanly, and sporting a great mustache. I enjoyed following along with him as he talked to the passengers and searched the train for clues. I can see why he is such a popular character and I intend to read more of the stories Christie wrote that have him in them. I have the Barnes and Noble collection pictured above so there are a few other stories in it that I can get started with. Keep an eye out, I may decide to review them as I read them.
The Movie
I had been really looking forward to seeing this movie until I read the book. I disliked the ending so much that I almost didn't go see it. At this point I had been home with my daughter for a couple of weeks and I was going stir crazy and missed my friends so my husband told me I should go ahead and go just to get out of the house.
I was pretty glad that I went to see the movie, it was worth a watch. I think they did a very good job with the casting. It was nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer, she hasn't been in anything in a while and I think she was very good in this movie. It had a lot of big names in it including Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, and Willem Dafoe. I'm used to seeing Josh Gad in more comedic roles so it was interesting to see him in a more serious role. Johnny Depp was perfect for criminal/art dealer Ratchett, he was just the right mix of creepy and menacing. Poirot was spot on! I mean, look at those mustaches:
Kenneth Branagh directed himself in the main role and I think he did a great job. Poirot was clever, funny, and caring. I've heard he's going to act in and direct Death on the Nile and I'm pretty excited to see it.
I also liked the way the ending was portrayed in the movie. They took something that I found anti-climactic and lacking in emotion in the book and added heart and suspense. They changed it, but just enough to make it more interesting.
While I'd recommend seeing the movie, I don't think I'd recommend reading the book. I liked Poirot as a character though so I'm looking forward to reading more of the stories he's featured in. I do think that the only thing that kept me from enjoying Murder on the Orient Express was the ending. I was interested right up until you found out who murdered Ratchett. If you're interested in reading Agatha Christie, I would choose another story to read first.
First up in my to be reviewed queue is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I read this book in high school, but I didn't remember very much about it so I was looking forward to a re-read. The movie was just about to come out when we decided to read this for book club. Once we were finished reading we went to see the movie together so I'll be reviewing that too.
The Book
The book finds Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot, embarking on a trip via train. In leu of a leasurely vacation he ends up with a new case when one his fellow passengers is found murdered in his room. Hercule reluctantly takes the case and begins interviewing the remaining passengers and collecting clues. He has plenty of time to do so because the train has been cut off by heavy snowfall which effectively traps our passengers on a train with a murderer.
While I enjoyed the majority of this book, I was disappointed with the ending. I'm not going to go into detail, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who plans to read it, but it fell a bit flat for me. I think Christie was going for an unexpected twist at the end. I definitely never would have guessed who the murderer was, but I felt a little more like saying "Really?" as opposed to "Holy crap, I didn't see that coming!" It was also delivered in a kind of ho-hum manner which left me feeling like I didn't care about the outcome. The ending ruined the read for me.
Poor ending notwithstanding, I really enjoyed Poirot. He is the quintessential detective: smart, gentlemanly, and sporting a great mustache. I enjoyed following along with him as he talked to the passengers and searched the train for clues. I can see why he is such a popular character and I intend to read more of the stories Christie wrote that have him in them. I have the Barnes and Noble collection pictured above so there are a few other stories in it that I can get started with. Keep an eye out, I may decide to review them as I read them.
The Movie
I had been really looking forward to seeing this movie until I read the book. I disliked the ending so much that I almost didn't go see it. At this point I had been home with my daughter for a couple of weeks and I was going stir crazy and missed my friends so my husband told me I should go ahead and go just to get out of the house.
I was pretty glad that I went to see the movie, it was worth a watch. I think they did a very good job with the casting. It was nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer, she hasn't been in anything in a while and I think she was very good in this movie. It had a lot of big names in it including Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, and Willem Dafoe. I'm used to seeing Josh Gad in more comedic roles so it was interesting to see him in a more serious role. Johnny Depp was perfect for criminal/art dealer Ratchett, he was just the right mix of creepy and menacing. Poirot was spot on! I mean, look at those mustaches:
I also liked the way the ending was portrayed in the movie. They took something that I found anti-climactic and lacking in emotion in the book and added heart and suspense. They changed it, but just enough to make it more interesting.
While I'd recommend seeing the movie, I don't think I'd recommend reading the book. I liked Poirot as a character though so I'm looking forward to reading more of the stories he's featured in. I do think that the only thing that kept me from enjoying Murder on the Orient Express was the ending. I was interested right up until you found out who murdered Ratchett. If you're interested in reading Agatha Christie, I would choose another story to read first.
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