The mystery wasn’t convoluted and I, for one, enjoyed reading about the various characters. Overall, this was incredibly entertaining. Christie has mastered writing the ‘bickering’ siblings. The narrator was a bit arrogant but I loved reading the scenes between him and his sister. They also reminded of a short story by Shirley Jackson (which was published in 1965), called The Possibility of Evil. These letters instead seem all too likely. Rich American millionaires and diamonds seem to belong in far off realities. These childish yet insidious letters make the mystery of this novel more likely, more real. These vicious and insidious letters that bring about anger, shame and suspicion. On a superficial level this is due the terms some of her characters use, but if I were to try and pin point the reason why The Moving Finger seems different from Christie’s usual, is the letters that set in motion the narrative. God doesn’t really need to punish us, Miss Barton. “There’s too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will. While the narrative showcases her well-known traits, her wit and her amusing characters, underlining this story is a serious tone not often encountered in Christie’s mystery. The Moving Finger reveals a more mature side of Christie’s writing. We hadn’t, then, the faintest inkling of what was to come – the trail of blood and violence and suspicion and fear. It seems odd, now, to remember that Joanna and I were more amused by the letter than anything else.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |