Aqata Kristi

And as, despite the precautions, the number of people trapped on the island continues to decline, the uneasy tension sets in, and the impeccable facades begin to crack.

On Zənci Balası

First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion:

“Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he’d stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.”

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1939

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Aqata Kristi

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321 reviews 151k followers

There is scarcely any comfort to be found in this book; only an indelible, arcane horror. And Then There Were None was uncomfortable as it lodged itself in the darkest corner of my mind. The questions it asks, the implications it conceals, are soul-curdling and unforgettable. In short, I liked this book, but it’s not exactly an experience I’m keen on revisiting.

**
In Agatha Christie’s nightmarish tableau of a novel, ten people are summoned as house guests to a remote island by a Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen. The guests assembled trade stiff dialogue over dinner and cocktails while musing about the celebrity of the island and puzzling about their hosts’ tardiness. The whimsy of the moment, however, abruptly disappears when a disembodied message blaring from a gramophone tallies, in vivid and mordant detail, the guests’ unpunished crimes. What begins as astonishment quickly turns into horror when, shortly after, the house’s occupants embark on the ghastly business of being murdered, one by one, per the instructions of a horrid nursery rhyme. Death runs rampant with its bloody scythe on Soldier Island: this is their sentence coming to retrieve them at last.

“Be sure thy sin will find thee out.”

Agatha Christie, an extraordinarily good writer, digs with bright horrible relish into this exhilarating, unsettling, and brilliantly constructed story. She plays the reader with the delicacy of an expert angler, scarcely allowing us a moment to dig in our heels and stop where we are, just for a while, just long enough to get a better idea of what’s ahead. The experience of reading this novel is, as a result, sometimes akin to walking through a nightmare, unable to orient one’s self, understanding very little beyond the deep-seated sense of being utterly afraid. This is intensified by the hermetic and creepy atmosphere of Soldier Island, and the slow unraveling of each of the characters’ haunting pasts.

What appears at first, however, to be a thriller is something far more dangerous in Christie’s hands. The surface is arresting, but the harder you think the further you go, and the story keeps on getting more productive. And Then There Were None is infused with psychological depth that holds its own fascination. What are we capable of doing, asks the novel, when fear, fractured and wild, takes hold of us and scours out all else? What lengths are we willing to go to escape accountability, and purge memories of our most torturous evils? Each of the character becomes a mirror from which there’s no escape, reflecting their monstrosity back at each other on and on and on. In that sense, this novel is an invitation to take a long, hard look at one’s own self in the mirror that dares us not to flinch.

And Then There Were None is, furthermore, a compelling portrait of a psychopath who suffers an unconquerable confederation of self-righteousness and depravity. But what is most frightening is not the depth of their evil, but how cold it runs. Are humans really capable of being this infatuated with the theatrics of murder? None of these characters are, of course, the kind of people you would want to roll the red carpet for, but does anyone really deserve this?

“Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.”

If there’s a flaw running through And Then There Were None, it’s that Christie maintains a respectful distance from her characters, and at times, that distance runs toward dryness. I think a bit more poison in the pen would have helped in drawing out the characters, some of whom don’t entirely step into the page before. they start dropping like flies.

Overall, however, And Then There Were None is a highly engaging murder mystery and a provocative, pitch-black psychological thriller that will be hard to forget for many.

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1,931 reviews 291k followers

I’m a big lover of Agatha Christie, she has written some fantastic murder mysteries and her stories never get tiring. But this is the one that just comes out on top every time.

It partly, and quite amusingly, reminds me of that old American murder mystery in Sunset Beach. Basically, they’re the only ones on this island and someone is killing them off one by one in accordance with the Ten Little Indians rhyme . And I swear I never saw it coming, and I’m usually very good at it. It’s just a very clever novel, full of mystery and suspense and easily quite frightening at times.

I like how Agatha Christie doesn’t have to write a 500 page novel with a massive back story, her mysteries are very simply put together but always clever and hard to decipher. I would recommend this book to everyone.

50 comments
721 reviews 11.5k followers

This lovely mystery book is first and foremost about the administration of the long-overdue justice, right? At least that’s what the mastermind behind it all believes.

But the question is – who has the right to decide what justice is? And who is to decide what punishment serves the crime? And is perceived justice at all costs the ultimate goal, or is it the frequently pointless work of a maniac? As a matter of fact, what is justice after all?

I think the story of this book (the one that may win the contest for the most offensive original title, after all) is familiar to most readers. It is a lovely and fascinating idea. Ten people are lured onto a remote island under false pretenses just to realize that they are all about to be punished by death for the ‘crimes’ that they have committed in the past and have gotten away with. Killed in a manner predicted by a silly yet ominous children’s poem with the conclusion of “. and then there were none”. What’s more, they come to realize that the mastermind – or maniac? – has to be among them. And the (very polite, in the traditional British way) game of survival begins, complete with all the necessary societal rituals¹ and classism² that are not disposed of even under the threat of imminent demise.

¹The politeness and overt show of respect to one another even in the face of imminent murder by someone in their midst – because, of course, you would not want to offend anyone. Continuing to socialize and take meals together. Insisting on chivalry when a woman could be the murderer just as well as a man – these are just some of the examples.

² Just think of everyone expecting the impeccable service by the butler even though HIS WIFE JUST DIED! Everyone deciding to stick together and be careful – but never including the servants in it. The belief by some that people of ‘proper class’ would be incapable of murder. The list can go on and on. And all of these assumptions prove to be wrong.

And as, despite the precautions, the number of people trapped on the island continues to decline, the uneasy tension sets in, and the impeccable facades begin to crack.

“The oth­ers went up­stairs, a slow unwilling pro­ces­sion. If this had been an old house, with creak­ing wood, and dark shad­ows, and heav­ily pan­elled walls, there might have been an eerie feel­ing. But this house was the essence of moder­ni­ty. There were no dark corners – ​no possi­ble slid­ing pan­els – it was flood­ed with elec­tric light – everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hid­den in this house, noth­ing con­cealed. It had no at­mo­sphere about it. Some­how, that was the most fright­en­ing thing of all. They ex­changed good-​nights on the up­per land­ing. Each of them went in­to his or her own room, and each of them automatical­ly, al­most with­out con­scious thought, locked the door.“

The story is captivating and very smart, and the ending had me baffled for a bit the first time I read it. It has a neat resolution despite an obvious plot hole (but hey, it doesn’t bother me that much). It’s an enjoyable read to say the least.

But what made me unsettled both of the times I read it was the nagging question of justice, as I mentioned above. Yes, on one hand, it’s almost poetic justice to punish the criminals who thought they got away with it. On the other hand, is eye-for-an-eye the best way to get even? And who’s to judge, anyway? Who is either conceited enough or deranged enough to assume that he has the right and the moral authority to determine guilt and the extent of punishment just like that?

Don’t get me wrong – the people accused on the island are undeniably guilty (even though it’s not necessarily murder as we think of for some of them – Vera Claythorne is really guilty of neglect, albeit with a desire to kill, and Emily Brent is pretty much guilty of being a judgmental über-righteous heartless prude). But the degree of their guilt varies quite significantly in my perception, and it does not always coincide with what their ‘unknown’ judge/executioner thinks (running two children over with a car and feeling no remorse is to me worse than firing a pregnant servant who then goes on to kill herself, for instance). And is arbitrarily and single-handedly determining their guilt and doling out punishments not just as much (or even much worse) or a crime than they have committed? Conceited, self-righteous crime? Decide for yourself.

Speaking of guilt – this novel has quite a bit to say on this subject. You see, many of the characters have already been judged and condemned by their own selves. Vera Claythorne and General Macarthur both are tormented by their guilt, and at least one of them become a direct victim of it. Interestingly, others, no less guilty, are not tormented by their conscience at all. But ultimately this does not matter at all for their survival; only the fact that they were deemed guilty. So should being tormented by guilt versus a cold-blooded killer factor at all in the administration of justice?

These are the thoughts that kept running through my head as I was reading this excellent non-traditional critically-acclaimed specimen of mystery literature. And therefore bravo to Miss Christie for making me think and care – and not just mindlessly flipping pages to get to the bottom of the whodunit. Because ‘WHO’ was much less important to me than ‘HOW’ and ‘WHY’ – especially ‘WHY’.

For all of this, I give it the unflinching guilt-free 4 stars.

Aqata Kristi

Aqata Kristi bütün dövrlərin ən çox oxunan yazıçısıdır. Onun əsərləri 100-dən çox dilə tərcümə olunub. Yazıçının “On zənci balası” adlı əsəri .

Aqata Kristi bütün dövrlərin ən çox oxunan yazıçısıdır. Onun əsərləri 100-dən çox dilə tərcümə olunub. Yazıçının “On zənci balası” adlı əsəri dünyanın ən çox oxunan 10 kitabı arasındadır. Aqata özünəməxsus detektiv əsərləri, sirli mövzuları və düşündürücü hekayələri ilə milyonlarla oxucu tərəfindən sevilən sirlər şahzadəsinə çevrilib.

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Aqata Kristi bütün dövrlərin ən çox oxunan yazıçısıdır. Onun əsərləri 100-dən çox dilə tərcümə olunub. Yazıçının “On zənci balası” adlı əsəri dünyanın ən çox oxunan 10 kitabı arasındadır. Aqata özünəməxsus detektiv əsərləri, sirli mövzuları və düşündürücü hekayələri ilə milyonlarla oxucu tərəfindən sevilən sirlər şahzadəsinə çevrilib.

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Agata Kristi

Agatha Christie, ingilis yazıçısı (detektiv proza)
Aqata 1890-cı il sentyabrın 15-də İngiltərənin Torku şəhərində anadan olub. Varlı bir ailədə böyüyən Agatha Christie-nin tərcümeyi-halında ilk təhsili evdə aldı. Daha sonra Aqata bir qızı olan leytenant Archibald Christie ilə evləndi.

Bir neçə ildən sonra əri ilə münasibətlər çətinləşdi və bir dəfə Agatha hətta əsəb böhranı keçirdi (eyni zamanda yox oldu).
Boşandıqdan və bir müddət sonra yenidən evləndikdən sonra növbəti ər Maks Mallowan oldu. Bir neçə dəfə Aqata onunla birlikdə Suriyaya, İraqa getdi. Birinci Dünya Müharibəsi başlayanda o, xəstəxanada işləyirdi.

Yazıçı Agatha Christie-nin tərcümeyi-halında ilk dəfə onun romanı 1920-ci ildə nəşr olundu (“Stillərdə sirli iş”). Aqata Kristinin romanlarının baş qəhrəmanları Herkül Puaro və Miss Marpl oxucuların aşiq olmasına səbəb olub. Dedektiv romanların çox uğurlu olduğunu sübut etdi və 1958-ci ilə qədər Agatha Christie hətta Detektiv Klubuna rəhbərlik etdi. Aqata Kristinin digər əsərləri arasında – “On kiçik hindli”, 16 pyes (ən yaxşılarından biri – “Siçan tələsi”, “İttiham şahidi”). Məşhur yazıçı 1976-cı il yanvarın 12-də vəfat edib.