ŷ������

Heart.

I know you must be brilliant, because you have said what I would say if I weren't so lazy, and could write better... as much as I like British sensibilities (see Monty Python and Ricky Gervais), I don't get why British mysteries succeed with this formula, i.e. hundreds of pages of people doing nothing except drinking tea (which I also like a lot -- tea, that is, not reading about it) and occasionally stumbling over dead bodies and talking, talking, talking, TALKING, and then the last 5-10 pages of endless exposition "solving" the murder(s) using clues that were never shared with the reader and psychobabble about motivation, etc. I kind of like a more active role in figuring out what happened... that said, the Farthing trilogy by Jo Walton has an element of that, but it is really a subversive look at Britain's class structure and what really might have happened to the Jews in the 1940's if Hitler and England reached a truce and Britain stayed out of the war (and the USA had elected Lindbergh as President). I love her characters and her books -- and I find it almost inconceivable that the same mind could produce Tooth and Claw, the Farthing trilogy and my favorite Arthurian saga of all time...anyway, segue and all, now rambling, but thanks again for your postings!

what i didn't like about this one (even though reading it was good fun, oddly) is that pirot isn't hiding clues but deliberately tricking the reader through his questioning. he makes it appear that his thinking is pointing in one direction when really it isn't. i suppose it's misdirection to keep the mystery going but to me it made pirot seem like a jerk and made it impossible to actually figure out what was supposed to be happening until he explained everything at the end anyway.

i still plan to read ten little indians/and then there were none at the very least.

thanks for the comment!

Reflecting back, I think it was the PD James books that so annoyed me. She's the one with Adam Dagleish (sp?), right? Not sure I've ever read Christie. Don't think I will...

i've never read pd james but the genre tropes are pretty well established in christie so i am sure it carries over.

the book was still fun to read, and short. and this certainly isn't regarded as her best (i read it because it was on project gutenberg and was the first pirot mystery). i'll try one more at least.

Just looked up project gutenberg. wow. I don't use my kindle much because I can get stuff free from the library. Now there's no holding me back!

have you read and then there were none? I loved it, but when I tried to read her again I hated everything else I tried.

no, as i said that is the next i will try. i got it at a thrift store for $.25.

apparently I wasn't paying attention when you said that.

YAY!!

if you haven'y already checked us out why not pop along to the 'Bright Young Things' - we'd love to hear your comments on this book when we read it in February

/group/invit...

I enjoyed this book much more than you did -- as well as all Poirot novels that don't include Ariadne Oliver.

But your commentary make me laugh, and so I can't quibble. Well done.

втф, ты тупой или да

Alfred wrote: "втф, ты тупой или да"

not too stupid to figure out how to use google translate.

молодец
красава
ваще охуеть

Joel's Reviews > The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Read
My rating:
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars[ 3 of 5 stars ]4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
by Agatha Christie
2863914
Joel's review
Nov 30, 10

2 of 5 stars
bookshelves: 2010, 52-in-2010, detective-y, dailylit, classics, add-half-a-star
Read from June 23 to July 02, 2010

"Dear me, Poirot," I said with a sigh, "I think you have explained everything! And how wonderful of you to wait until page 230 to finally shed light on all your absurd behavior throughout the book, and to justify and the red herrings and narrative padding! But of course, it could only be so in the classic style of a fiendish murder mystery! Why, in fact, though this is but the first case we have solved together, I have no doubt we could do the exact same thing as many as 86 more times, depending on if you count the smaller cases!"

"Quite so, mon ami," Poirot chuckled. "You make such a reliably dim-witted Watson!"

I looked at Poirot in silent amazement. The colossal cheek of the little man! Then we drank some tea and he kissed me passionately, on the mouth.
49 likes · like �� flag
follow reviews


Graph
Reading Progress
06/23/2010 page 37
15.0%
show 3 hidden updates��

Post a comment »
Comments (showing 1-15 of 15) (15 new)
dateDown_arrow newest »

message 1: by Reese (new)
Aug 12, 2010 02:53PM

Reese Thank you for giving us a moment to laugh.

reply | flag *

message 2: by Mariel (new)
Nov 30, 2010 02:57PM

Mariel Heart.

reply | flag *

message 3: by Glee (new)
Dec 01, 2010 10:02AM

Glee I know you must be brilliant, because you have said what I would say if I weren't so lazy, and could write better... as much as I like British sensibilities (see Monty Python and Ricky Gervais), I don't get why British mysteries succeed with this formula, i.e. hundreds of pages of people doing nothing except drinking tea (which I also like a lot -- tea, that is, not reading about it) and occasionally stumbling over dead bodies and talking, talking, talking, TALKING, and then the last 5-10 pages of endless exposition "solving" the murder(s) using clues that were never shared with the reader and psychobabble about motivation, etc. I kind of like a more active role in figuring out what happened... that said, the Farthing trilogy by Jo Walton has an element of that, but it is really a subversive look at Britain's class structure and what really might have happened to the Jews in the 1940's if Hitler and England reached a truce and Britain stayed out of the war (and the USA had elected Lindbergh as President). I love her characters and her books -- and I find it almost inconceivable that the same mind could produce Tooth and Claw, the Farthing trilogy and my favorite Arthurian saga of all time...anyway, segue and all, now rambling, but thanks again for your postings!

reply | flag *

message 4: by Joel (last edited Dec 01, 2010 10:22AM) (new) - rated it 2 stars
Dec 01, 2010 10:09AM

Joel what i didn't like about this one (even though reading it was good fun, oddly) is that pirot isn't hiding clues but deliberately tricking the reader through his questioning. he makes it appear that his thinking is pointing in one direction when really it isn't. i suppose it's misdirection to keep the mystery going but to me it made pirot seem like a jerk and made it impossible to actually figure out what was supposed to be happening until he explained everything at the end anyway.

i still plan to read ten little indians/and then there were none at the very least.

thanks for the comment!

reply | flag *

message 5: by Glee (new)
Dec 01, 2010 10:21AM

Glee Reflecting back, I think it was the PD James books that so annoyed me. She's the one with Adam Dagleish (sp?), right? Not sure I've ever read Christie. Don't think I will...

reply | flag *

message 6: by Joel (new) - rated it 2 stars
Dec 01, 2010 10:24AM

Joel i've never read pd james but the genre tropes are pretty well established in christie so i am sure it carries over.

the book was still fun to read, and short. and this certainly isn't regarded as her best (i read it because it was on project gutenberg and was the first pirot mystery). i'll try one more at least.

reply | flag *

message 7: by Glee (new)
Dec 01, 2010 10:50AM

Glee Just looked up project gutenberg. wow. I don't use my kindle much because I can get stuff free from the library. Now there's no holding me back!

reply | flag *

message 8: by Jasmine (new)
Dec 01, 2010 11:02AM

Jasmine have you read and then there were none? I loved it, but when I tried to read her again I hated everything else I tried.

reply | flag *

message 9: by Joel (new) - rated it 2 stars
Dec 01, 2010 11:36AM

Joel no, as i said that is the next i will try. i got it at a thrift store for $.25.

reply | flag *

message 10: by Jasmine (new)
Dec 01, 2010 11:44AM

Jasmine apparently I wasn't paying attention when you said that.

YAY!!

reply | flag *

message 11: by Ally (new) - added it
Jan 21, 2011 02:24PM

Ally if you haven'y already checked us out why not pop along to the 'Bright Young Things' - we'd love to hear your comments on this book when we read it in February

/group/invit...

reply | flag *

message 12: by Derrick (last edited May 23, 2012 09:07AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars
May 23, 2012 09:07AM

Derrick I enjoyed this book much more than you did -- as well as all Poirot novels that don't include Ariadne Oliver.

But your commentary make me laugh, and so I can't quibble. Well done.

reply | flag *

message 13: by Bill (new) - rated it 4 stars
Apr 28, 2013 11:25AM

Bill втф, ты тупой или да

reply | flag *

message 14: by Joel (new) - rated it 2 stars
Apr 28, 2013 04:35PM

Joel Alfred wrote: "втф, ты тупой или да"

not too stupid to figure out how to use google translate.

reply | flag *

message 15: by Bill (new) - rated it 4 stars
Apr 29, 2013 05:03AM

Bill молодец
красава
ваще охуеть

reply | flag *

by Margaret
0 minutes ago

Margaret Howland Joel wrote: "i've never read pd james but the genre tropes are pretty well established in christie so i am sure it carries over.

the book was still fun to read, and short. and this certainly isn't regarded as ..."

I hope by now you HAVE read P. D. James as she adds immeasurably to the Christie trope. In James, characters grow and change, even the protagonist! Imagine that. Sadly, although Christie started a movement for which I am eternally grateful, her characters just didn't.

I'd forgotten this about Christie, until I pulled The Mysterious Affair at Styles off the shelf to read for a book group. sigh. Now I know why I only read Christie every now and again... modern mysteries, by P. D. James, Louise Penny, Liza Cody, Michael Connelly, and many more, are just so much better!

i sadly still have not read p.d. james. thank you for the additional recommendation however!

Aren't you supposed to hide reviews with spoilers?

I love this book, but that did make me laugh.

Haha! Yes, this review x100

this reviewer read my mind

How funny that you just so happen to mention Watson, JUST AS I HAVE FINISHED READING ALL SHERLOCK BOOKS. -sigh- oh well.

Btw is this book really worth reading? I’ve heard mixed reviews about it and I’m not sure whether it’s worth the money and my time. Could someone plz answer?

Lmao

Maybe no one remember in what year this book was written, just check and think again why the character act like that, why are tea time almost in every charpter...

And by watson you mean hastings?

Your review is spot on. Thanks for the laugh.

Nailed it. Save your time with these books and just read this review for a summary of them all.

Omg, thank you for describing my feelings so hilariously.

Perfectly sums up the book! Haha

😂

Thanks for the fun review, Joel! I just finished this book on project Gutenberg and I liked it. Kellie 😊 Happy reading 📖

Well that was awfully mean of you :D

Well put.

Hahaha😂 But isn’t every mystery book like that only? You go through 95% of the book collecting facts only, and only the last 5% is a game changer!

This is the perfect comment 😂😭

lmao, thank you for making me chuckle

Pretty much sums it up

This is my favorite review that I’ve ever read

I love her works very much

I liked the book but I can’t explain how much this review made me laugh. 100% spot on accuracy here

“It’s a living��, riposted the estate of Agatha Christie.

Best review ever

On the mouth 😂💀 I’m a big AC fan but I did chuckle at this

I really enjoyed this story but must admit this review is 100% accurate

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the book, but it's unfair to dismiss it simply because the detective's revelation came later than you preferred. Different storytelling styles and pacing exist for a reason. Perhaps diving deeper into the book's themes and character development would reveal its true merits. Critiquing is one thing, but let's not dismiss the effort and creativity put into crafting a story just because it didn't align with our personal expectations.

If you don’t like reading the book, watch the films instead.

😂😂😂

I really liked this book but this review is hilarious

Was going to give it 5 stars until I read this review, and now I cannot unsee this

Right there with ya Joel!

Soooo witty! Now I MUST read it ha!