A known crime fiction novel by millions, Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express is not only intriguing, but initially a thrilling ride that keeps readers in tune and guessing up until the very last page (no pun intended on the "thrilling ride" comment). With the infamous protagonist Hercule Poirot taking charge on leading the investigation, the entire plot was based around a single man being murdered by a suspect (or suspects) on a train traveling throughout Europe. It was interesting being introduced to Hercule Poirot for the first time reading this, considering I've never read any Agatha Christie crime novels before. I find the steps that Poirot takes when solving a crime very strategical and can be recognized as a specific method used initially by him and him alone. This novel is structured into 3 parts: The Facts, The Evidence, and Hercule Poirot Sits Back and Thinks. I feel a majority of people are intimidated by the intellect a detective can hold when solving a crime and in today's society it might even seem foreign. These books were written in another time period, however, and display an intellectual detective who not only works with evidence and confessions, but intuition as well. The entire story revolves roughly around a dozen people who are suspects of the crime and Poirot weaves through each of them, taking into consideration their status, character, and background. As a reader, I was simply moving through the chapters attempting to guess at who Poirot suspected would be the culprit, but I was completely taken aback by the ending of the novel. I believe Poirot is not only an extraordinary detective, but a fair human being as well and that is displayed by the ending of this novel. I won't give away any spoilers, but it was a plot twist that slowly developed and came at me all at once. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in crime fiction--considering Agatha Christie has been outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, it is apparent that anyone and everyone should give her books a read.
So I went to Barnes & Noble the other night (needed some retail therapy) and ended up wandering aimlessly around the aisles for over an hour. I must have hit every section before I made my way over to the children’s corner. Not sure if I was feeling nostalgic or just curious as to what the youth of today was starting out to read. As I scoured shelves looking for old time Nancy Drew or Where the Sidewalk Ends , I heard this couple enter the area and couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. “I just want to look for a book for her, just one. Can ya’ give me a minute?” The woman sounded exasperated, almost as if she couldn’t comprehend why her companion wasn’t understanding the need to look for the perfect book . It was his response that caught me, even though I shouldn’t have been so stung. “You do realize kids today don’t read, right? What’...
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