The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel 
by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
The Scarlet Pimpernel Series, Book 1

Publisher: Goldfish Classics Publishing (2012)

311 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $1.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

This story is part action/adventure, part mystery, and part romance. The French Revolution is in full swing in France, and the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel is smuggling French aristocracy out of France and into England with the help of his league of faithful followers, but no one knows who he is. This is the original tale of a hero with a secret identity (the forerunner of Zorro, Batman and others).

My Thoughts:

I loved this book! I absolutely could not put it down! I don’t think it was much of a mystery, for the reader, who the Scarlet Pimpernel was, because I had it figured out almost immediately, but the mess with Marguerite just kept getting worse and worse, and the suspense regarding how it would all turn out was riveting. The cleverness involved in evading his adversaries and the elaborateness of his disguise made the Scarlet Pimpernel an entertaining hero. And though the romance was really a secondary concern, I thought its presence within the story really wrapped everything up so nicely. Great, action-packed read!

Edition Notes:

This Goldfish Classics edition was beautifully organized for maneuverability and readability, and included an author’s biography and other study materials at the end of the text for those with an interest. Excellent ebook copy for the price!

Quotes:

“A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter I

“Sergeant Bibot especially at the West Gate had a wonderful nose for scenting an aristo in the most perfect disguise.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter I

“—the fond embrace of Madame la Guillotine.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter I

“It was asserted that these escapes were organized by a band of Englishmen, whose daring seemed to be unparalleled, and who, from sheer desire to meddle in what did not concern them, spent their spare time in snatching away lawful victims destined for Madame la Guillotine.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter I

“But Mr. Jellyband had a last succeeded on getting upon his favorite hobby-horse, and had no intention of dismounting in any hurry.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter II

“‘The Scarlet Pimpernel—is the name of a humble English wayside flower; but it is also the name chosen to hide the identity of the best and bravest man in all the world, so that he may better succeed in accomplishing the noble task he has set himself to do.’” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter IV

“—we are a nation of sportsmen, you know, and just now it is fashion to pull the hare from between the teeth of the hound.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter IV

“—remember that, when France is in peril, it is not for her sons to turn their backs on her.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter VII

“—the few months of separation had already seemed to have built up a slight, thin partition between brother and sister; the same deep, intense love was still there, on both sides, but each now seemed to have a secret orchard, into which the other dared not penetrate.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter VII

“We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That deemed, elusive Pimpernel.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter XII

“—there still lingered in her heart of hearts a vague, undefined hope that ‘something’ would occur, something big, enormous, epoch-making, which would shift from her young, weak shoulders this terrible burden of responsibility, of having to choose between two such cruel alternatives.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter XIV

“It is only when we are very happy, that we can bear to gaze merrily upon the vast and limitless expanse of water, rolling on and on with such persistent, irritating monotony, to the accompaniment of our thoughts, whether grave or gay. When they are gay, the waves echo their gaiety; but when they are sad, then every breaker, as it rolls, seems to bring additional sadness, and to speak to us of hopelessness and of the pettiness of all our joys.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter XXI

“The weariest nights, the longest days, sooner or later must perforce come to an end.” -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chapter XXII

Movie Adaptations:

The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV Movie 1982)

Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, Ian McKellen

Movie Rating: NR

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This adaption is based on a compilation of the books The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado (a sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel in which they attempt to rescue the Dauphin, among other things). Timelines are rearranged and other things are changed (Chauvelin is made to be a suitor of a yet unmarried Marguerite who is also being courted by Sir Percy). I wouldn’t say it is a particularly faithful adaptation, as far as following closely to the book, but it was very entertaining in its own right, and I thought the characters well-cast.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV Series 1999-2000)

Richard E. Grant, Elizabeth McGovern, Martin Shaw

The Time-Sweepers by Ursula Wills-Jones

The Time-Sweepers by Ursula Wills-Jones

3 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: EastoftheWeb.com

Story Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Clever - Amusing - Charming

Summary:

A story about what happens with all the wasted time throughout the world.

My Thoughts:

Clever story about all the scenarios in which time gets wasted, some in a more wretched manner than other, and some ideas about how it would be nice to think it gets recycled into a better purpose. Fun little read!

Quotes:

“The time-sweepers are present wherever time is being lost or wasted. There are always several in train stations, and at least one in every doctors surgery.” -Ursula Wills-Jones, The Time-Sweepers

“Cleaning up in a large office full of staggering tedium, the time-sweeper will pass straight by the desk of the woman who is reading a holiday catalogue under the desk, poring over photos of tropical beaches.” -Ursula Wills-Jones, The Time-Sweepers

“The most toxic and poisoned time—the residues of failed peace negotiations, wrongful imprisonments and truly poisonous marriages, is skimmed off and buried in a tank underneath a disused army base.” -Ursula Wills-Jones, The Time-Sweepers

Undiscovered Country by Lin Enger

Undiscovered Country by Lin Enger

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (July 2008)

320 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $9.78)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing, Sexual Situations and Violence

While hunting with his Dad, Jesse hears a single shot and finds his Dad dead, apparently from suicide, but Jesse has to consider other possibilities when his father’s ghost visits him and tells him he didn’t kill himself. The wide range of emotions 17-year-old Jesse goes through during the course of this story was awesome, and very realistic, given the impossible situation he found himself in. While there are obvious Hamlet references, the story doesn’t hold slavishly to it, and allows this story to take its own shape and make its own end. The mutually supportive relationship that existed between Jesse and his girlfriend, Christine, flowed so naturally from everything that was going on, that I couldn’t help but be awed by it. Great read!

In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

Publisher: Scribner (2002)

160 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $9.08)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

This is a collection of 15 short stories (childhood memories, bull-fighting stories, and others) intermixed with war remembrances, and it gives the collection as a whole an intriguing chaotic feel, as those you are moving indiscriminately between memories from home (pleasant and unpleasant) and war happenings.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. I wasn’t sure what to expect—never having read Hemingway before—but I really liked his blunt, gritty style of writing. He didn’t skim over or wallow in unpleasant things, he just moved through it as though it’s simple beauty was as worthy of enjoyment as any other event. My favorites stories from this collection were some of the ones featuring Nick Adams: Indian Camp (young Nick accompanying his father to help a woman in labor), The Three-Day Blow (Nick hanging out with his friend Bill) and Big Two-Hearted River (Nick camping and fly-fishing). Not all of the stories feature Nick, and the ones that do are intermixed liberally with the ones that don’t. Great collection.

1. On the Quai at Smyrna
2. Indian Camp
3. The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife
4. The End of Something
5. The Three-Day Blow
6. The Battler
7. A Very Short Story
8. Soldier’s Home
9. The Revolutionist
10. Mr. and Mrs. Elliot
11. Cat in the Rain
12. Out of Season
13. Cross-Country Snow
14. My Old Man
15. Big Two-Hearted River

Edition Notes:

Great ebook edition with easy maneuverability between stories.

Quotes:

“In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, Indian Camp

“It was absolutely topping. They tried to get over it, and we potted them from forty yards.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, Chapter IV

“He says opening bottles is what makes drunkards—He had never thought of that before. He had always thought it was solitary drinking that made drunkards.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, The Three-Day Blow

“All of a sudden everything was over—I don’t know why it was. I couldn’t help it. Just like when the three-day blows come now and rip all the leaves off the trees.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, The Three-Day Blow

“The major did not marry her in the spring, or any other time. Luz never got an answer to the letter to Chicago about it. A short time after he contracted gonorrhea from a sales girl in a loop department store while riding in a taxicab through Lincoln Park.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, A Very Short Story

“Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard too many atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities. Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie, and after he had done this twice he, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it. A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, Soldier’s Home

“He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again. He wanted to live along without consequences.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, Soldier’s Home

“When you were really ripe for a girl you always got one. You did not have to think about it. Sooner or later it would come. He had learned that in the army.” -Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time, Soldier’s Home

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Publisher: The Modern Shakespeare (2012)

737 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $2.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

Hamlet’s father, the King, has recently died and Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, has assumed the throne and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Hamlet’s father’s ghost appears and tells his son to seek revenge, because he has been poisoned by his brother Claudius, who had become too greedy and wanted not only the King’s throne, but his wife as well.

My Thoughts:

While I could get the general idea of the story from the original text, I found the modern translation very helpful in gaining a bit deeper understanding of the story and the dialogue. It had been a while since I’d read any Shakespeare, and I was surprised at how bawdy some of the references were—but I guess the Renaissance period wasn’t exactly as buttoned up and proper as the Victorian or the Edwardian. Hamlet’s actions throughout this tale wreak so much havoc, for so many people, over the course of this tale, and by the end I wasn’t very impressed with him—he seemed kind of selfish and callous. I definitely felt in the end the best man came out on top, and everyone received their just desserts. Lots of great quotations, that I’ve heard so many different places, and I never knew that they came from this play—definitely cool to make those connections.

Edition Notes:

This Modern Shakespeare ebook edition is awesome for general reading, and includes three versions of the play to pick from (original play with modern translation embedded alongside each speech, the modern translation alone, or the original play alone). It is organized very efficiently for Kindle reading and maneuverability, and comes at a great low price—highly recommended for the general reader. If you are looking for a bit more academic reading experience, you can pay a little more and get the Folger Library Shakespeare edition (also available in ebook), which includes definitions/commentary on alternating pages from the text, and some critical analysis at the end—good for the reader wishing to be a little less influenced by a modern interpretation. If you are looking for a paperback copy with side-by-side modern translation, I’d recommend the No Fear edition.

Quotes:

“Frailty, thy name is woman!” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2

“Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

“This above all: to thine own self be true.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

“In the secret parts of Fortune? Oh, most true. She is a strumpet.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

“The play’s the thing—” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

“To be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—no more—and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

“The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns—.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2

“I will speak daggers to her but use none.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2

“A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 2

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5

“A hit, a very palpable hit.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

Movie Adaptations:

Hamlet (1996)

Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This adaption maintains the Shakespearean dialogue, but puts it in a stylized Victorian setting, and includes some visual embellishments (like glimpses of Hamlet and Ophelia being intimate). This is a very long film (a little over 4 hours), but exceptionally well done and the star-studded cast (Billy Crystal, Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams, etc.) is great. If you have the time to devote to it, an excellent adaption.

Hamlet (1990)

Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Helena Bonham Carter

Movie Rating: PG

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

At just over 2 hours long, this adaption is obviously a bit condensed from the original play format, but it still keeps the Shakespearean dialogue, and the casting in this was superb! Even if you aren’t following the dialogue all that faithfully, the acting can carry you through the story here. Great adaption!

Hamlet (2000)

Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora

Movie Rating: R

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

5 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: EastoftheWeb.com

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Somber - Quaint - Simple

Summary:

An older woman enjoys some time at the park, people watching.

My Thoughts:

A neat story of someone taking such simple pleasure in their surroundings, and all of joy of imagining things about the strangers around you. It also shows how quickly people can quash others joy, and how uncaring youth can sometimes be. Nice story.

Quotes:

“It was like some one playing with only the family to listen; it didn’t care how it played if there weren’t any strangers present.” -Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill

“Now there came a little ‘flutey’ bit - very pretty! - a little chain of bright drops.” -Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill

“Two peasant women with funny straw hats passed, gravely, leading beautiful smoke-coloured donkeys.” -Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 2009)

348 pages, eBook (borrowed with Amazon Prime)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

A story about some key changes in the game of football and a chance meeting between a poor young black kid and a rich white family, that led to the rise of NFL draft pick, Michael Oher. There are a couple chapters here and there that are about football history and hence potentially a bit dry, but in the context of Michael Oher’s story and the conversational presentation, this sports book reads like a novel for the most part. Even the most casual sports fan, would find this story entertaining—it’s more human interest story with necessary sports background info sprinkled throughout. It also raises interesting questions about childhood environmental influences, the effect of socioeconomic change and the drastic changes one player’s (Lawrence Taylor) actions and mentality can incite in an entire sport. Great Read!

Movie Adaptations:

The Blind Side (2009)

Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This adaption simplifies and summarizes many of the concepts and, condenses and rearranges the timeline of the story a bit from the reality presented in the book, combining some of the events, but I believe the spirit of the book is present in this film. The casting was awesome and it was a great depiction of a touching story. Great film!

It’s Just the Sun Rising by James Ross

It’s Just the Sun Rising by James Ross

4 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: EastoftheWeb.com

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Serene - Quaint - Curious

Summary:

A young man describes his morning routine and the portraits he draws of his father.

My Thoughts:

This story leaves lots of questions open . . . or perhaps more to the point, open to the imagination. Particularly questions about the father, that the young man is obviously so attached to. The setup is mainly a rundown of the young man’s morning routine and I thought the minute description of such mundane things was both beautiful and calming.

Quotes:

“My room faces the sun in the morning and on clear summer mornings it wakes me bright and fresh, no matter what time I stayed up till—” -James Ross, It’s Just the Sun Rising

“—he has creases on the left side of his face and the hair on that side of his head is the most out of order.” -James Ross, It’s Just the Sun Rising

“I’m an artist—It’s not that I draw a straighter line or a truer circle—I just get the message across more clearly than other people.” -James Ross, It’s Just the Sun Rising

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 2011)

316 pages, eBook (borrowed with Amazon Prime)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing

This book sets out to uncover how poor baseball teams can compete with rich baseball teams, and the strategy developed by Oakland A’s general manager, Billy Beane, (and his predecessors) to try to do just that (a way of manipulating an unfair system to try to turn it to their favor). A very interesting look at the game of baseball, the way the players are drafted, and the reasons the system as a whole is so terribly flawed. The book is dry and overly academic at times (especially during the portions of the book concerned with the history of baseball statistics and their use—sabermetrics), but overall it takes a fairly complicated subject and makes it an intelligible and entertaining read. The anecdotes and the inside look it provides regarding many of the important players in the Oakland A’s story alone, are well worth putting in the time to read the book.

Movie Adaptations:

Moneyball (2011)

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This adaption simplifies and summarizes many of the concepts in the book, combines some characters and portrays people and events in a bit kinder light than the reality presented in the book, but I believe the spirit, purpose and findings of the book are unequivocally present in this film and it is one of the few examples of a film that I prefer to the book that it originated from. The casting was awesome and it presented an academic view of baseball in a way easily consumed by the average person. Great film!

Flash Boys by Michael Lewis

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (March 2014)

289 pages, Audiobook (purchased myself for $9.56)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing

Due to technology, everything in this world is getting faster and more complex.  It will get to a point where it’ll be incredibly difficult for us to grasp what is going on in the digital world.  Wall Street is already at this point.  According to this book, it took a couple years to understand what was going on in the digital marketplace.  During that time, the HFT allowed some to “Front-Run” other’s stock purchases/sales which has scammed people out of billions of dollars since the practice started in 2006.

Michael Lewis does a great job describing High Frequency Trading.  This new practice has complicated how the stock market is used.  Like his other books, Flash Boys is an entertaining read that can elaborate on some complex issues. This is a great book if you’re interested in how technology is used within the stock market, for good or ill.  However, don’t be expecting any suggestions or research on how to solve the problems presented.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (December 2007)

578 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $9.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing and Violence

In a story narrated by a grim reaper with a penchant for colors, we follow young Liesel through Nazi Germany from her first encounter with death through to other successive encounters, marked by the reading of books (stolen, gifted and found). This story is so vivid, almost poetic at times, and so beautifully encapsulated the many different kinds connections we share with other people, and the many forms of love, that I couldn't help but get sucked into Liesel's world, affectionately hoarding the characters that populate it. I love that this is from the German people's perspective and throws some light onto the tenuous circumstances of their own survival and the fear that would have inspired acquiesce, even among those who opposed what was going on. Great Read!

A Book Thief's Library

1. The Grave Digger's Handbook (Stolen)
2. Faust the Dog (Present)
3. The Lighthouse (Present)
4. The Shoulder Shrug (Stolen)
5. Mein Kampf (Showed up on the Kitchen Table)
6. The Mud Men (Present)
7. The Standover Man (Made by a Hidden Jew)
8. The Whistler (Stolen)
9. The Dream Carrier (Stolen)
10. A Song in the Dark (Stolen)
11. The Complete Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus (Present)
12. The Word Shaker (Made by a Hidden Jew)
13. The Last Human Stranger (Stolen)
14. The Book Thief (Delivered on a Yellow-Dressed Afternoon)

Movie Adaptations:

The Book Thief (2013)

Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This adaption was like an abridged version of the book. Some of the characters were eliminated or combined with other characters, and some of the events of the book were changed or rearranged. Some of Liesel’s books were exchanged for others and she was portrayed as a storyteller in the end as well as in the air raid shelters, as opposed to reading to everyone—small changes here and there, some more bothersome then others. On its own, an entertaining film, but don’t expect it to follow the book exactly.

The Bracket by Rod Riesco

The Bracket by Rod Riesco

7 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: EastoftheWeb.com

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Quirky - Peculiar - Wry

Summary:

A plastic bracket breaks on a machine that has been in the family for some time, and they slowly come to terms with parting with the thing.

My Thoughts:

Interesting story about the difficulty of letting go of things that have always been around, and the reluctance to replace them with newer models. You never do find out what the machine was or what it was used for, but the mystery in that respect made it more representative of whatever the reader had in mind. Neat little story.

Quotes:

“—the machine still worked well enough, though the movement was lumpy and jerky and there seemed to be a sort of rusty moan in the background that I hadn’t heard before.” -Rod Riesco, The Bracket

“But that would change its shape and leave a thick bulge at the joint, which would no doubt interfere with one of the vital functions.” -Rod Riesco, The Bracket

“I felt disloyal, but I couldn’t change my mind after seeing how pleased she looked—it was still warm.” -Rod Riesco, The Bracket

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie

A Hercule Poirot Short Story Collection

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 2009)

256 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $6.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

This is a collection of four short stories (Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man's Mirror and Triangle at Rhodes) all featuring Hercule Poirot. Murder in the Mews is the suicide of a young lady that Poirot investigates with Inspector Japp and they come to suspect is a murder. The Incredible Theft is a house party at which some sensitive government documents go missing. Dead Man's Mirror, briefly features Mr. Satterthwaite and references his interaction with Poirot in the Three Act Tragedy, then moves on to the suspicious suicide of a country gentlemen in whose death many people seemed to have an interest. My favorite was Triangle at Rhodes (the shortest story of the collection), because it was so unlike the other three, and features a love triangle that develops between two married couples who are on vacation and the tragic consequences of the association, with Poirot and a few others watching from afar as the developments turn dangerous. Great collection of stories!

Movie Adaptations:

Agatha Christie’s Poirot (TV Series 1989-)

Murder in the Mews (Season 1, Episode 2)

The Incredible Theft (Season 1, Episode 8)

Dead Man’s Mirror (Season 5, Episode 7)

Triangle at Rhodes (Season 1, Episode 6)

David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

A Hercule Poirot/Mr. Satterthwaite Mystery

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 2006)

224 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $6.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

In keeping with Mr. Satterthwaite's dramatic tendencies and sensibilities, this murder mystery is arranged in three acts, many people assuming artificial/dramatic roles along the way, with Mr. Poirot figuring most prominently in the third act. The death of a vicar at a dinner party leads to Sir Charles (the host), Egg (his love interest) and Mr. Satterthwaite (a guest) undertaking some amateur sleuthing, only intensified by news of a second murder that happened under similar circumstances. Mr. Poirot is brought in late in the game and provides the ultimate solution, but for the most part plays a rather limited role in this story. I had a few ideas about who the culprit was along the way, but I was completely caught off guard when Poirot revealed who actually did it. I never suspected the guilty person for a moment, but the solution was logical and made complete sense.  Great read!

Movie Adaptations:

Agatha Christie’s Poirot (TV Series 1989-)

Three Act Tragedy (Season 12, Episode 2)

David Suchet, Martin Shaw, Kimberley Nixon

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This TV adaption removes the Mr. Satterthwaite character, and merges his role in the story with Poirot’s. There are a few other minor changes, but for the most part this adaption follows the book very closely and is an entertaining adaption.