Review | And Then There Were None

Author: Agatha Christie
Published: May 3, 2004 (first published 1939)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 264
Genre: Classics, Mystery
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Reading Guide from LitLovers

Synopsis
(from Goodreads)
First there were ten--a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a 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. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Review
I gave this book a try because I have a lot of friends who love Agatha Christie's books, especially this one. I've seen in many places where it has been heralded as one of the greatest mysteries ever written. I fail to see how this book lives up to such a designation.

The mystery was pretty good and well thought out. There was a lot of planning that went into it, and it was never obvious who the murderer was. But that was the only thing that really left me guessing. The thrill and suspense that engrosses me in many books just wasn't there. There weren't really any twists and turns and shocking realizations.

Review | The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Published: 1911
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 375
Genres: Classic, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆

(finished April 6th)
With this, I have finally transferred all my reviews over. Yay!

This story demonstrates how the love of a family, the power one has over their mind, and the environment one lives in affects the behavior and health of a person. How people view others affects how we view ourselves which in turn affects how we act and behave.

At the beginning of the story, both children were neglected by their parents, given everything they want so they did not value anything, and were forced to live shut up in a distant part of the house. Neither children had any friends nor understood basic human emotions. They were expected to stay out of the way until such a time that their parents would require them like a thing or a toy.

The sudden death of Mary's parents and her subsequent move from India to England changed everything--Mary was required to gain some independence, having nothing to do forced her outside, and her wandering lead her to family. The combination of everything changed both Mary and her cousin Collin for the better so that they could both learn and understand what it's really like to be children and have fun.

A very cute story and one that needs to be presented to modern children watching TV and playing video games more often.

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1)

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Genres/Themes: Classics, Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★

I've seen the movie for this book, but until now hadn't read it. I loved the movie very much and hopped the book would be half as good. It was much much better.

Anne is a very lovable and cute character. You just can't help wanting to read on to find out what kind of trouble she's going to end up in next.

It was very interesting to see how Anne learned from her mistakes and matured. By the end of the book, she was a young lady. Almost sad really. She was no longer the clumsy trouble making girl she was at the beginning to of the story.

It was also interesting to see how Matthew and Merila changed and evolved throughout the story. Merila was much different from the seemingly hard woman at the beginning who wanted to adopt a boy. And although still shy of women and quiet, it was interesting to see how Matthew opened to Anne and to see the little things he did for her at the objection of Merila.

Altogether, it was a fun read. I can't wait to read the next book.

Beauty and the Beast

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Genres/Themes: Children's, Classics, Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Not sure why it's rated so low. This is a typical small children's short story. It's a very quick version of the fairy-tale, great for a short bedtime story. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. If you want a full novel version, then I recommend Beauty.

The Hobbit

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy 
My Rating: ★★★★☆

This book wasn’t as good as I remembered. Maybe it’s because I’m also reading Game of Thrones which is very action packed, but the story of The Hobbit just kind of…went. It was kind of like: “This happened, then this, oh and this also happened, and that happened, but that’s another story.” It was like a monotonous journal or a documentary. I wasn’t drawn into the story, I was able to recognize the words. Normally when I’m reading a good book, I don’t even realize that I’m reading.

Peter Pan

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I'm glad I finally read this book. I didn't think it would be as good as it was. I was surprised at how much adult content was in the book. Fairy orgy!? I was sad about the ending, but I already new how the story ended. I think the way the book was written though made it sadder.

The Borrowers (Borrowers #1)

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Genres/Themes:  Adventure, Classics, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★☆

I was in the mood to read a book from my childhood and chose this one. I read it when I was in second grade. It was pretty good, but not as good as I remembered it to be. I think it was because it was such a quick read (which for a child, is sometimes better I know). I think another reason I didn't find it as good as I remembered is because of the recent release of the movie Arietty, which was absolutely amazing.

Kafka's Metamorphosis

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Genres/Themes: Classic Literature, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was a required read for one of my college English courses. At first I didn't much care for it, but the more we discussed the story, the more it grew on me.

There is a lot of symbolism written into it. My favorite is the apple which causes the wound to fester like Eve's apple which caused Adam and Eve to be tossed out of the Garden of Eden resulting in pain and labor instead of peaceful days. I love all the connections this story makes to Faust.

In the end, I ended up liking the story so much that I submitted a paper to a literary contest comparing and contrasting filial piety in modern Western culture (using Metamorphosis and the Bible) to pre-modern Eastern culture (using Hong Gil Dong and the Analects of Confucius).

I highly recommend finding a discussion group or detailed discussion guide when reading this. There are a lot of deep and hidden meanings in this story that are sometimes hard to find or impossible to understand if you haven't read the associated literature.