Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express
It is a detective novel by the English novelist Agatha Christie, written in 1933 in Iraq, where she was on an archaeological expedition with her second husband Max Mallowan. It is one of the most famous works of the novelist, a vivid example of novels of her so-called "Eastern cycle".
Plot:
The great detective Hercule Poirot, who was in Istanbul, returns to England on the famous Orient Express, in which he is joined by seemingly every possible nationality. One of the passengers, an unpleasant American named Ratchett, offers Poirot to be his bodyguard because he believes he is to be killed. The famous Belgian waves off this absurd request. And the next day the American is found dead in his compartment, with the doors closed and the window open. Poirot immediately takes up the investigation - and finds that the compartment is full of all sorts of evidence, indicating almost all the passengers of the "Orient Express". In addition, the train is stuck in snow drifts in a deserted place.
The great detective Hercule Poirot, who was in Istanbul, returns to England on the famous Orient Express, in which he is joined by seemingly every possible nationality. One of the passengers, an unpleasant American named Ratchett, offers Poirot to be his bodyguard because he believes he is to be killed. The famous Belgian waves off this absurd request. And the next day the American is found dead in his compartment, with the doors closed and the window open. Poirot immediately takes up the investigation - and finds that the compartment is full of all sorts of evidence, indicating almost all the passengers of the "Orient Express". In addition, the train is stuck in snow drifts in a deserted place.
Problematic:
To show the reader that all justice systems are influenced to some degree by outside forces or self-interest. As a result legal routes to justice are not necessarily fairer than extralegal ones - and in this particular case, Poirot determines that extralegal justice is an appropriate route.
To show the reader that all justice systems are influenced to some degree by outside forces or self-interest. As a result legal routes to justice are not necessarily fairer than extralegal ones - and in this particular case, Poirot determines that extralegal justice is an appropriate route.
Topic & issues:
1. Justice and Judgment
2. Foreignness and 'the Other'
3. Lies and Deceit
4. Modernization and Technology
5. Good and Evil
Characters:
1. Hercule Poirot
Peculiarities of text composition & genre features:
Like her other works, this novel can be divided into three parts. In the first part we gather all the known information about the characters and events. In the second part comes the investigation, the detective Poirot digs out details that are not yet obvious to the readers. In the third part he reveals his incredible deductive powers and finally uncovers the murderer.
The novel contains all the typical features of a detective: an integral cast of characters in the form of a murderer, a detective, a victim, and suspects; all the facts are revealed; there are two tenses - a murder in the past and an investigation in the present. This novel is also an example of a classic closed detective: the crime and the discovery of the murderer takes place on a train. It is worth noting some atypicality of the climax and the image of the "murderer".
Like her other works, this novel can be divided into three parts. In the first part we gather all the known information about the characters and events. In the second part comes the investigation, the detective Poirot digs out details that are not yet obvious to the readers. In the third part he reveals his incredible deductive powers and finally uncovers the murderer.
The novel contains all the typical features of a detective: an integral cast of characters in the form of a murderer, a detective, a victim, and suspects; all the facts are revealed; there are two tenses - a murder in the past and an investigation in the present. This novel is also an example of a classic closed detective: the crime and the discovery of the murderer takes place on a train. It is worth noting some atypicality of the climax and the image of the "murderer".
Extra:
All of Christie's detective novels are usually marvels of structure: perfectly constructed mysteries in which the reader gets a murder, a set of suspicious characters, and exactly enough information to theoretically solve the murder. But it is Murder on the Orient Express that misleads everyone. In this book, she breaks her own rules with a singular killer.
All of Christie's detective novels are usually marvels of structure: perfectly constructed mysteries in which the reader gets a murder, a set of suspicious characters, and exactly enough information to theoretically solve the murder. But it is Murder on the Orient Express that misleads everyone. In this book, she breaks her own rules with a singular killer.
