Book Review: Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Murder Mystery
Julia Rating: 10
Comments: Grahame commented ages ago, asking me to do a review of one of Agatha Christie’s brilliant works Ten Little Indians aka And Then There Were None. I’ve named this post Ten Little Indians because that’s the title I read it under several years ago. It was my first Agatha Christie book and it got me hooked on her fantastic writing.
Ten Little Indians is about ten people being invited to a home on an island. All of these people have a few skeletons in the closet. They are all invited by someone they know, and are surprised to see each other. Once they are seated around the dining room table, their host begins speaking through a gramophone. Not one person – not even the reader – knows who the host is until the surprise twist at the very end.
The novel has a little nursery rhyme in it that might intrigue you enough to pick the book up:
Ten Little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red hearing swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.
Creepy, huh? Can you believe that’s a nursery rhyme? Anyway, that rhyme is what the story is based off of and it’s a really fabulous read. The ending is a total surprise and I adore it.
The book is a work of genius. It was the original story of a group of people in an isolated location who are being murdered one by one and no one knows who the killer is.
It became the basis of so many other stories and movies and even the board game “Clue”.
There was a movie made of it, And Then There Were None in the 1940’s, but it was altered to have a “happy” ending, which totally spoiled the whole thing. (In itself the movie is okay, but when compared to the book it is a very poor imitation.) There was another movie, Ten Little Indians (1965) but I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment on that one.
This book is a MUST for anyone who loves a good book you just can’t put down and is especially a MUST for fans of mystery. The clues are there, but I challenge anyone to figure out who the killer is before the end.
March 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pmI absolutely agree! It’s a fantastic book – especially for anyone who has never read Agatha Christie or anyone who loves a good mystery.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:25 pm