🌹 What I admired from Suchet, is that he gives each important character their unique personalities; he can voice them in different inflection, power, and accent. Particularly whenever he voices Elinor Carlisle's reflection during court session - the soft, dreamy, and weary voice of a young woman after a tragedy.
🌹 Elinor Carlisle is accused of committing murder to Mary Gerard, daughter of lodge keeper of Elinor's wealthy aunt. It seemed to be a straightforward case - the motive (Roddy, a young man she loved and promised to marry, is smitten by Mary Gerard); the weapon (Mary died of poisoning after eating a sandwich that Elinor has prepared for an impromptu picnic) - all seemed to point out to Elinor as the murderer. Is she?
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🌹 Sad Cypress was written rather differently in structure, compared with Christie's usual method. The court scenes allowed her to break down the narrative into four phases. First, the court scene where Elinor as the accused pleaded "not guilty"; then the scene shifted to where it had begun, until Mary Gerard was found dead, and entered Poirot doing his routine interviews, interspersed with him discussing the progress with Peter Lord. Following that, the scene moved back again to the court, where the real murderer is finally revealed (not by Poirot as usual). My favorite part is the ending, where Christie tied up all the loose ends, satisfyingly.
🌹 The atmosphere of the whole story is more melancholy. There is not the usual red herring or plot twist; it's pretty straightforward, which gave Christie more space to delve into the characters' psychological struggles. Listening to audiobook only enhanced my understanding on this aspect, and made this reading a new and fulfilling experience (I still sometimes consulted the book when I didn't understand a word or two, especially when Poirot talked with his foreign accent.)
🌹 One more thing... I loved the cover art of my paperback edition, with a blur bluish image of a woman. It seems to portrait Elinor quite suitably. The artwork of Harper Collins edition with roses and thorns, seems suitable too. But you can understand its connection with the story only after reading it.
Rating: 4 / 5
It's been a long time since I read this (and I've never tried a Christie audiobook), but I do remember the trial scenes making it very different from the usual. I also didn't manage to guess the solution.
ReplyDeleteOh do try Christie's audiobooks narrated by David Suchet, you won't be disappointed! I believe it's not the only one with trial scenes, didn't Witness for the Prosecution have it too? I don't remember.
DeleteI've actually had my first suspicion after the roses incident.. ;)
I haven't read this particular Agatha Christie novel. It sounds like a fun change up from her other more typical mysteries. But then, she's such a good writer all her books are fun reads.
ReplyDeleteAgree, all her books are fun to read. And she often changes her structures, so that we can never be bored to read and read again... perpetually!
DeleteI'm slowly making my way through Agatha Christie, and I just finished Murder in Mesopotamia. This one sounds interesting, and I love when Christie deviates from the usual structure, such as this one utilizing more courtroom drama. I'll definitely add this one to my list.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you keep reading Christie, Joel!
DeleteI have read Christie's autobiography last month, and learned how she loved to do/try new things, and almost always accept any challenge thrown to her. That, I believe, is why her novels are variable (either in structure, set, etc.) Murder in Mesopotamia, for instance, is based on her love of excavation dig. Then there's Death in Egypt which was set in ancient Egypt (this one to accept a friend's challenge). She is a very interesting person. I recommend reading her autobiography while you're digging into her works; it speaks quite much about several of her books too.