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SETTING: King's Abbott, England (a fictional village).
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SUMMARY: The deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Ferrars approximately one year apart (evidence pending, they are believed to be a murder and suicide, respectively) have brought more intrigue and life to the little village of King's Abbott than it has ever felt before. However the death of Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy individual known to have had a romance with Mrs. Ferrars after her husband's death, brings the famous detective Hercule Poirot out of his newfound retirement to solve this baffling case. Dr. James Sheppard, a friend to all of the recently deceased, serves as our narrator and Poirot's unofficial assistant.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "'Now that you remind me of the fact, it is true that there is one more thing. It would be unwise on your part to attempt to silence me as you silenced Mr. Ackroyd. That kind of business does not succeed against Hercule Poirot, you understand.'" - Chapter 26, page 353.
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First off, HAPPY SPRING!!! The weather in DC is finally beautiful and the birds are chirping, even on the gloomy days (like today)!
I gave this book to a friend as a present, but seeing as he was not going to read it anytime soon, I quickly took the chance to borrow it. I've been looking for a lighthearted, quick read, and this was a most convenient acquirement! Not to mention it took me approximately six hours over two days to finish the book (it's very short and the font is fairly large), so I don't feel too bad taking it away from his company. Before heading to my likes and dislikes of this novel, I have one thing to say: This is THE MOST BRILLIANT NOVEL I HAVE READ IN MY LIFE THUS FAR. And I'm not saying this from my biased stance of loving all things Christie. This book is just fabulous.
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Things I liked about this book:
- The narrator. He will blow your mind into the depths of space, and open it up all at the same time. But not until the very end of the novel, mind you, so you'll have to be patient while reading. I don't want to give away too much, so apologies if this is vague. I will forever be thankful for having read this novel because it gave me an entirely different perspective on narrators, narration, and who to trust when being told a story.
- It is a great display of how storytellers have the ultimate power to manipulate what is being related to the listener(s). Speech, sentence formation, grammar, etc. are dangerous tools in the right hands. Enough can be said without giving anything away at all, while just the right words can put you on the entirely wrong track. Again, absolutely brilliant.
- Hercule Poirot. He is my favorite out of all of Christie's detectives.
- The ending. IT IS GREAT.
- Poirot's characteristic step-by-step method of revealing the criminal at the end of the novel. It never gets tiring.
- The unnecessarily long Mahjong scene. It could have been cut in half, maybe even one-third.
- Not necessarily something I didn't like about the book, but Mrs. Ackroyd (Roger Ackroyd's sister-in-law) is incredibly incredibly incredibly annoying. I wanted her to go away every time she started speaking.
I LOVED THIS NOVEL! Hands down my favorite mystery out of all of the Christie novels I have read. I always enjoy her novels, but I can't ever remember being this excited and so ready to recommend one of her novels to others as I am right now. It's been a long time since I've finished a book with a new perspective on how to read books, and I loved that it is a great reminder of the importance of being a critical reader. As a reader, you must always analyze and be skeptical of every word you read, even in fiction. True, it can be argued that fiction is fiction and thus not reality, but we learn a lot about our reality from fiction (at least I do), so why not look at it with the most critical eye possible? You'll finish the book having learned more, and, as Poirot says, your "little gray cells" will probably thank you for it. And you'll hopefully find yourself a tad bit smarter as a result.
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Recommend? YES!!! Very short and quick read, so no excuses will fly!
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