And then there were None by Agatha Christie

I haven't read this book in close to fifteen years, but I have it on my TBR stack to re-read. I loved it. It's been long enough that I really don't remember all of it and I don't remember who the villain ended up being, but I'm excited to read it again. I just remember being fascinated by all of the characters and the entire story. Hmmm... I think I'll move it up to the top of the stack. Absolutely one of my favorite books and definitely my favorite of Agatha Christie's.

Agatha Christie was what got me started reading, and that was one of my favorites.

Ten Little Indians went out to dine,
one stayed up too late and then there were nine.

I LOVE this story. It was one of the first I read of Christie's and it's what made me fall in love with her writing. She was a master.

Y'all know the original title wasn't Ten Little Indians, though, right?

SPMiller said:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/And_Then_There_Were_None_First_Edition_Cover_1939.jpg

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Yes, that's what I was referring to. I had trouble finding reference to the original title online. But then again I'm at work and didn't really want to Google it. Thanks for finding that.

It was originally called that because that was how the original children's rhyme went.

Oh, I loved that one too! And, I remember reading somewhere that Christie was rejected something like 700 times because, "no one would want to read cozys!"

Carlene
www.carlenedater.com
www.themysterystartshere.com

CaroGirl said:

Yes, that's what I was referring to. I had trouble finding reference to the original title online. But then again I'm at work and didn't really want to Google it. Thanks for finding that.

It was originally called that because that was how the original children's rhyme went.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Little_Indians

The original was Ten Little Injuns, written to be performed in a blackface minstrel show. A year later, someone else adapted it to be Ten Little Niggers instead, which was apparently much funnier to white folk in the 1860s.

SPMiller said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Little_Indians

The original was Ten Little Injuns, written to be performed in a blackface minstrel show. A year later, someone else adapted it to be Ten Little Niggers instead, which was apparently much funnier to white folk in the 1860s.

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Interesting. Thanks.

I loved that book. When I was a kid, I spent one summer reading every Agatha Christie book I could find. I'd sit in the swing at Granny's and read all day. My favorite, though, was The Murder of Roger Akroyd. I also really liked The Harlequin. That one was rather spooky.

One of her best books is the somewhat underrated Nemesis.

I love Christie. She's my mother's favorite, and Mom turned me on to her when I was about ten or so. I love the Jane Marples and the ones like And Then There Were None. I'm a little less enthused by the Poirots, though.

Some of the ones I reread when I'm sick are: And Then There Were None, Bertram's Hotel, and The Mirror Crack'd, and I love Nemesis as well.

I read this book when I was very young, maybe eleven or so, and it really shook me. It was the first book to make me realize that just because someone is the main character, it doesn't mean that they're a good person. Seems obvious now, but at the time it was quite the revelation.

One of my favorite Christie books. And the old B/W movies made from this were pretty good too.

And Then There Were None

I tried to search to see if there was already a thread for this, but apparently the words then, there, were, and none are too common to be included in the search! I did a quick search for Agatha Christie, but couldn't find a thread dedicated solely dedicated to this, unless I just missed it. So: here we are!

I've started reading through Agatha Christie started with Murder at the Vicarage, which was good. But then I got onto And Then There Were None and... I'm simply blown away.

It's the only book that I've ever truly found to be unputdownable. It was so addictive and kept me guessing right to the end.

And, save for one murder, I never saw the deaths coming and they always made me gasp. And the one death that didn't shock me was Justice Wargreave. If you've read the book... Well, she certainly managed to shock me in regards to that death in the end, anyway!

Saying that makes me thing—are we allowed to discuss spoilers without tagging them?

Anyway, what did you think of And Then There Were None? Who did you suspect before the reveal? Discuss away

The most shocking thing about it was the original title.

You might also want to watch the early movie version (the one with Walter Huston). They changed the ending. It's available on YouTube.

For your next book, I'd maybe suggest The Mysterious Affair at Styles or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (even if the plot twist is a bit lame). I really liked the opening chapters of Roger Ackroyd; it's Christie at her best.

Hm, I'll be sure to check out the movie version, sounds interesting.

Regarding the original title, It's one of the rare cases where I accept changes to the original version because of race issues.

Whoever ordered them to remove Mammy Two Shoes from Tom & Jerry cartoons, however, deserves nothing less than jail. I know it's a stereotype, but that was completely lost on me as a child and as an adult, I'm capable of understanding it and why it's there. You can't erase opinions of the past. Keeping them alive in film doesn't mean we still believe them.

We usually use spoilers if there is a spoiler warning in the thread title.

alleycat said:

You might also want to watch the early movie version (the one with Walter Huston). They changed the ending. It's available on YouTube.

For your next book, I'd maybe suggest The Mysterious Affair at Styles or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (even if the plot twist is a bit lame). I really liked the opening chapters of Roger Ackroyd; it's Christie at her best.

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Thanks! I picked up Styles today. But I've decided (although I know it's not necessary) that I'm going to read the Marple and Poirot books in order, at least for now. So Roger Ackroyd will have to wait! But, you know, best till last and all that.

One thing I adore about these books are the covers. They're wonderful: http://www.thedrum.co.uk/uploads/news/old/8927/master.agatha_20covers.jpg (And they're not even the best ones!)

Just wanted to add The Pale Horse to the recommendations. One of my fave Christie reads .

Thanks, might be my next one, we'll see.

I keep buying one of these Agatha Christie books every few days and I need to stop being so picky about book quality, I really wanted The Mysterious Mr Quin but there there was a tiny snag on the cover, so I got The Seven Dials Mystery.

I'm not being unreasonable by not buying The Body in the Library though, there's a gigantic tear on the back. I'll buy it as soon as they get in a new copy

One slight word of warning (although I don't think it's something you really have to worry about): there can be more than one version of a Christie novel. Sometimes when a novel was republished it would be edited. For example, I've seen two versions of Murder is Easy (both hardback); the one published in an economical format was edited and shortened slightly.