Reread on August 2013.I've always been a HUGE fan of Agatha Christie. I read all her books when I was about 13 years old. My mother was one of her biggest fans, my grandma too. My mom had every book she had ever written (over 80 books) on a bookshelf in her bedroom until she died and I moved them somewhere else. I remember the first time I read one of her books. I don't remember which one was it. However, I remember being 12 or 13 and whining to my mom that I was bored. My mom told me she could fix that. She turned around and grabbed one of Christie's books off her shelf and handed it to me. She told me to go read it and if I was ever bored again I should feel free to pluck another of her books from the bookshelf and read it. She advised me that I could read the books in any order I wanted, just that I should leave Curtain for last, since it was the last Poirot book and that it had been kept in a safe and published when Agatha was near death. She told me she was sure I would be back for another of the books soon. Of course I was. I read them all that year.
That was over 20 years ago and I hadn't reread any of them until 2 days ago when I decided to reread this one and see if it was as awesome as I remembered. It was. I had no recollection of who the murder was, but I did remember quite clearly the end and how it all had been accomplished. It had stuck with me for all this time.
It's just incredible how clever Agathe Christie was. I enjoy mystery books, but it's not my favorite genre, mostly because I ALWAYS figure out who did it before anybody else in the book. That kind of ruins most books for me. I want to be surprised and shocked. Agatha Christie is one of the only authors who has surprised me. Maybe because I was only 13, but I don't think so. That's one of the reasons why I'm rereading a bunch of her books now. I want to see if she will surprise me now that I'm older and smarter. I don't think this book counts because although I didn't remember who the guilty party was, I remembered how everything had gone down and the end. Plus, this is the MOST MEMORABLE of her books. I'm now reading another one and so far I can't remember anything. I hope that continues because I'm enjoying the mystery.
Anyway, this is not a review. Just a little ranting on my part. Mostly because Agatha Christie and my mom are forever linked in my mind and I miss my mom very much. I wish she was still here to recommend books to me. She had great taste and was such a reader/nerd like me. As is my grandma. At least, I still have her.
Mom, thank you. Thank you for being such a wonderful mom and thank you for stilling in me such a love of books. And I will forever love you, more than anything in this world or the next.
