!! IS IT THE BEST OF AGATHA CHRISTIE? YES IT IS !!. Review on And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

After a gap of 2 years I laid my hands on another of Agatha Christie’s work, and this time I chose the best one that she has written – ‘And Then There Were None’ (ATTWN), also known by the title of ‘Ten Little Indians’. From the Author’s note, I came to know that AC herself was very pleased with this particular work of her.  Fascinated by the idea of the basic plot she spent lot of time planning it meticulously, as she felt that the motive should not seem ridiculous, and at the same time she did not want the killer to be too obvious to guess for the reader.

Here is the plot with all my efforts to reveal nothing. In a a big mansion on a secluded island called ‘Soldier Island’ 10 people are invited by a mysterious person, claiming to be the owner of the property, called U N Owen. These people are quite different from each other – in terms of vocation and social status and age – but there is one thing that binds them all  and it’s because of that common aspect they are being invited to this isolated place, with no connection to rest of the world. On very first day, they are told – through a recorded message – that each of them have committed the grave sin of murder sometime in their lives, but have succeeded in saving themselves somehow, but now they will have to pay for their sins and will have to die, one by one.

Two deaths on the very first night, makes it clear that its no joke and brings the rest to their defenses. But they cannot escape from the island, as everything is so arranged that no one could leave it, except by death. They search the whole mansion as well as the island but finds no one else except the eight people left. They realize that the killer is one of them, but who, no one knows. Only thing they know for sure, as they get killed one after another,  is that all deaths are being carried out in line with the words of a Nursery Rhyme ‘Ten Little Soldiers’, a copy of which is placed in each of their rooms. Also there are ten little figures of Indians placed on a table, with one being mysteriously destroyed/removed as someone dies.

So, who is the killer and what is his/her motive behind the whole plan? Is he/she one among them or is someone else hiding on the island? Well, read the book to find out. All I can do is to assure you that it’s going to be tough job predicting it. I, on my part, hardly have any idea, as all my guesses were proved wrong time and time again. By the time I reached the final chapter I had already surrendered and had to depend on the final chapter covering the confession of the murderer, to know it all -Murderer and his Motives.

‘Amazing Read’ that’s the words I have for this book.  Like the 10 characters who were invited to the island it took me some time to get accustomed with the whole idea, I mean plot, but once the reason for inviting them is declared – I felt comfortable: both with the flow of the narrative as well as with the fact that I am not one among them. ATTWN is a book written with utmost ingredients of suspense/thrill/mystery; all through, a reader has no idea about the identity of the killer just like the victims of the plan, as they die one after another. As confessed earlier, I did make few guesses, but all of them proved wrong as each of my prominent suspects gets killed. I wonder if anyone really was able to guess it right. Was anyone?

Written in very simple and flowing language, ATTWN is a must read book, does not matter if you are a reader of the genre of Thriller/Mystery/Suspense or not. It’s a classic work of art that deserves to read by all and be appreciated as well. It fully deserves to be call as the best of Agatha Christie.  From writing perspective it’s a difficult book to write; first thing is, Agatha has to stick to the pattern of deaths in line with the words of the Nursery Rhyme; 2nd thing is, Killer, whoever he/she is, needs to have a proper motive as well as resources to accomplishing it all so well; and 3rd thing was to keep the suspense intact till the very last chapter. And I must say that she has managed to achieve it all, Brilliantly.

Many more books were written later, inspired by the concept of ATTWN and many movies too were made on it since the time it was first published. Our very own Bollywood Classic ‘Gumnaam’ was one of them. I used to like that movie, but after reading the book as I watched it again, and didn't find it that impressive, its plot is a lot different as well, esp. with all those songs and lighter moments. How can two person fall in love and sing songs with all those murders happening all around them.

Any more words will either make me depict something or other about the plot and spoil it for the readers – who may read ATTWN after reading this review - or they will keep talking about the same things, make it repetitive. So, go on and read this book, if you haven’t yet, and you will not have any doubt about the fact that Agatha Christie was/still is the best crime/mystery/thriller writer that this world has ever had and ‘And Then There Were None’ was/is her best work.

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PYAR HUMEIN PHIR MILAAEGA...