"Murder On the Orient Express" Book Review

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Hercule Poirot Mystery

Snowbound in the Balkan hills, the passengers on the Orient Express awaken to the shocking news that one of their number had been viciously murdered in the night. With a business more grim than murder afoot, Poirot has not a moment to waste. For the killer is still at large on the train...

Holy fast read, Batman! This is my first Agatha Christie novel and the first time I ever read about Hercule Poirot. I feel like I should have gotten to her a lot quicker than I did.

When I found my current copy of this book, my friend was with me. She saw it and became very enthusiastic about it. I asked her and she told me how it ends! Which usually makes me not want to read the book. But I was actually more intrigued by it. How does the clever Belgian figure it all out? And will he compare to my beloved Holmes? Like apples to oranges as I soon found out.

There's not much else to say, except I enjoyed it thoroughly and plan to read more of Poirot and Christie at some later point. I also want to watch the movie; my book cover is covered in illustrations with fabulous actors and actresses: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, and the majestic Vanessa Redgrave! I bet that movie is spectacular! It must have been the easiest screenplay to write, ever! The whole book is witty dialogue - so, basically, a copy and paste job for Paul Dehn.

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4 out of 5 my dear Wat- uh, I mean, sil vois plais.

"Alice in Wonderland and Other Stories" Book Review

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories by Lewis Carroll

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Everything that Lewis Carroll ever published in book form appears in this volume. In addition, at least ten of the shorter pieces have never appeared in print except in their original editions. Included are: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" "Through the Looking-Glass" "Sylvie and Bruno" "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded" "The Hunting of the Snark" & all of the poetry, essays, phantasmagoria along with a substantial collection of the miscellaneous writings.

"'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories' is part of Barnes & Noble's series of quality leatherbound volumes. Each title in the series presents a classic work in an attractively designed edition bound in genuine bonded leather, with beautiful illustrations and breathtaking endpapers. These books make elegant additions to any home library."

It's a strange thing, these stories. "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" are the more popular of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's, better known as Lewis Carroll, writings.

They're definitely written for children but I do not think children of this day and age would enjoy it as much. There's a lot of mention of poetry and song and verse that only a child from 18th century England would get. But it's very fun either way. Probably best to read the stories to the children and act it out. It's meant to be fun, not as a commentary or anything.

A lot of people don't understand this author's work and I think it can be best explained like this: say you're with a group of children and you've asked them to help you come up with a story. Just a silly story where anything can happen. So you come up with a character to follow which the children name. And then you come with a place where he or she can be going and they want the character to ride a tyrannosaurus rex into a river of melted chocolate and then the t-rex becomes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because she's hungry. And then she becomes the Queen of Ice Cream and Marshmallow Land! That's kind of what's going on with these stories. They're utter nonsense and fun and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Mr. Dodgson wrote Alice word for word on a boring afternoon with the help of some children he knew.

The "Sylvie and Bruno" stories are a bit like the "Alice" stories, but the main difference is the narrator. I think he's either dying really slowly (he mentions he has a heart problem at the beginning of the story) or he has narcolepsy. Because he is constantly going to fairyland with Sylvie and Bruno or he's in the present with his mopey doctor friend who can't get the girl of his dreams. It's hard to follow at first but now it's just sort of weird. But I still found those stories interesting for all of their oddities.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get myself to read anymore. It just became too much. Maybe I will finish it another day.

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"Body of Lies" Book Review

Body of Lies by David Ignatius
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"A tale of counterterrorism from an author who "ranks with Graham Greene in his knowledge of espionage and the human heart" -Publishers Weekly.

"CIA soldier Roger Ferris has come out of Iraq with a shattered leg and an intense mission—to penetrate the network of a master terrorist known only as "Suleiman." Ferris's plan is inspired by a masterpiece of British intelligence during World War II: He prepares a body of lies, literally the corpse of an imaginary CIA officer who appears to have accomplished the impossible by recruiting an agent within the enemy's ranks.

"This scheme binds friend and foe in a web of extraordinary subtlety and complexity. When it begins to unravel, Ferris finds himself flying blind into a hurricane. His only hope is the urbane head of Jordan's intelligence service. But can Ferris trust him?"

I thought this was well-written. From what I read before I got this book, it made it sound as if it was going to be so terrible that I would be pulling my hair out in frustration. It wasn't that bad. The author certainly knows his way around the Middle East, specifically Jordan. It was very well researched about plots, terrorists and government officials that are off the books.

But I feel as if he could have made his characters a bit less typical. Roger Ferris was almost too goody two shoes for a CIA agent. Alice was downright annoying - I understand the political message but if you treat your readers like they're morons instead of just going with the story, you might upset some people who wanted to read a good CIA novel. Also, she should have been more realistic about Ferris's safety in the Middle East. And then why would those people listen to her anyway? She's a white woman and I don't care how well she's known, that part seemed utterly ridiculous. Gretchen was completely useless. Hani Saleem was the best character. He was very interesting and I would never want to play poker with him.

I must say that the only reason I got this book was because I saw the Ridley Scott movie and I was intrigued by it. I was hoping that the book would let me know more, but it actually didn't, so in that way it was disappointing. But the movie was very different from the book.

If I had to choose, I would pick the movie. It captured the excitement this book should have had for me. And also, the relationship was treated more realistically. Gretchen was completely taken out of the picture, which was perfect. Also, the men in it are fine examples of humanity - Russell Crowe (though a bit chubby, but more to love then), Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Strong who is incredibly sexy as Hani Pasha.

To see my movie review of "Body of Lies", click here.

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