Often considered the master of suspense, Agatha Christie made an impressive career bending the mystery genre to her will. As one of the best-selling authors in history, it's impressive that her best work remains as appealing given that they sometimes hinge on a simple reveal, a fact that is waiting to be revealed. With "And Then There Were None," she takes the gimmick even further by choosing to slowly eliminate every potential suspect, finding them in compromising positions until none are left. She dubs it the unsolvable murder, and it's difficult for anyone to claim that title. And yet, for those who enter this story it quickly becomes clear why she was the master. Her ability to turn a paragraph onto a different suspect, filling the reader with uncertainty and bias only helps to amplify that her writing wasn't always about the reveal, but the sense of insecurity of not knowing, of needing to have a satisfying conclusion even if nobody knows what that is. It's a brilliant crux and one that serves this book very well.
The book begins with the unassuming introduction of 10 characters that will draw the reader's interest. They all arrive through different means and are seen rambling on about their own plights. Immediately there is curiosity as to why any of them matter, where they or going, or what's about to happen. The trip to an island is quickly met with obstacles that include a perfect ominous plot device. The poem "10 Little Indians" factors into the story by establishing a ticking clock, where one character exits after every stanza. There is a clue in those lines about how each victim will fall, but in some cases, it's often too late to decode the next move. Everyone is constantly on edge, believing that the person next to them is likely to murder them. It's a paranoia that shines through even in the construction of Christie's paragraphs, emphasizing short and precise language, often posing questions in favor of action. The implication is constantly paranoid, never allowing much to be made obvious.
The best part of the story is how the process of elimination both plays to and against the audience's expectations. There is the immediate sense of sleuthing, parsing through language choices that should provide bigger clues. It's a book that encourages an immersive reader, constantly flipping back and forth with the goal of figuring things out. Christie knows what she's doing, managing to make the reader go crazy when their theory proves to be wrong. There is almost a need not to finish the novel or move on to the next chapter before having some idea of what's going on. For a book that's written with rapidity in mind, it's easy for readers to brush over secondary details and ignore characters entirely. Everything is expertly designed, waiting for the truth to come out.
With that said, it's one of Christie's crowning achievements because of how it keeps one guessing and still manages to leave a big surprise at the end. Aspects like the poem or murder patterns should provide more concrete evidence than they do. Instead, it's all given one last wallop in the final two chapters that are impressive, perfectly working through the web of deceit that has been there the whole time. For what the novel lacks in iconic characters, Christie more than makes up for it with her ability to turn a largely impersonal, anonymous group into endearing pawns. They exist long enough to misdirect the reader, allowing them to feel comfortable only to have the rug pulled out from under. Given that this happens multiple times, it's amazing how well each pull ends up being. Every time there is something new, something that will likely overwhelm to the point that it's hard to believe previous theories as having any validity.
It's difficult to properly assess a prolific author and determine what their best work is, but this is a great place to start. Without any later iconic characters like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, Christie manages to create something that brings out the morbid curiosity, desiring some satisfying conclusion and producing nothing but the opposite. There's plenty to enjoy in the prose, which plays out like an aggressive tennis match, constantly finding a different party serving the mystery. Who is the real villain of this piece? Who shouldn't have sympathy? There's no obvious answer most of the time and that's part of the book's charm. For an approach that largely should've been easy to deconstruct, Christie continually found ways to keep the novelty alive, finding a game that the readers could enjoy. Few could pull it off like her, and this is evidence of why she remains decades later the genius that she was.
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