Week 7 - In the Spirit of Genius Hour: A Mystery

Why, I remember the good old days, devouring all 26 A to Z Mysteries along with my typical assemblage of books. I remember my third-grade (Mrs. Roesler for any of you Highland Park veterans) teacher saying that there was no way I could read all the books I had claimed, primarily referencing me picking out one of the A to Z Mysteries from the library the same day I finished it. However, I did. Do I remember anything from the books? Nope, but who does at a young age with those type of books. All I remember now is from the x book in the series where a person fell off a carousel and broke his elbow.

Upon reflection, I couldn't say why I was so addicted to these books. I've never actually read a mystery since elementary, their appeal doesn't really fit my niche, so I usually pass them looking for something more ... rewarding. I've always had the notion that mysteries are fairly dry and unrewarding and it didn't help when I did attempt the genre again after a two-year hiatus with The Complete Sherlock Holmes. If you ever ask something that I don't have any interest in reading in the prospective future, there's your answer. But as my title says, this concluding blog raises a glass to Genius Hour. It toasts the opportunities provided and, as Genius Hour is about trying new things, here I am trying a genre that I haven't touched in eight years, the mystery. To represent the genre, the selection for this week is the most popular novel by the most popular mystery writer - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

You know, fun fact Agatha Christie, as I saw smacked on my book, as you'll probably see on any book of hers, precedes only Shakespeare and the Bible, in books sold originating from one source. When I read that originally, I didn't know how to feel. Good for her I guess, you can tell how big an ego an author has by the size of their nameplate, and judging by the size of her's, it must take a lot to maintain.  Like you may have been able to infer, I don't know why mysteries are such a popular genre, but now that I've read And Then There Were None it has become apparent to me. Mysteries are gripping.

While I should've been working on vital scholarship essays, I was binging this book. I actually started and finished it on the same day, which is remarkable, because all the other books I've read would typically take a span of a week to complete. The plot of the book is simple enough, except for some of the words, I comprehended it just as easily as I would watch an episode of Scooby Doo in sixth grade. The novel begins with going in each of the character's perspectives, all with the same destination in mind to Soldier Island. Supposedly, they've been requested for a party with a friend who they haven't met in ages. The ten of them are a wild bunch of characters. One's a doctor, one's a zealous, religious old woman, one's a judge, one's a twenty-something who races cars through the streets of England, and so on and so forth. They arrive on the island feeling that something is off.  Their promised friends aren't there and they have yet to see their hosts. An excellent dinner calms their anxiety, that is until a phonograph reveals the true reason they are were all invited:

"You are charged with the following indictments: Edward George Armstrong, that you did upon the 14th day of March of 1925, cause the death of Louisa Mary Clees. Emily Caroline Brent, that upon the 5th of November, 1931, you were responsible for the death of Beatrice Taylor. Philip Lombard that upon a date in February 1932, you were guilty of the death of 21 men, members of an East African tribe . . ." All the charges are given out with most people charged with the murder of one or two deaths, but for brevity, I'll cut that out. The phonograph ends with: "Prisoners at the bar, have you anything to say in your defense?"

Engaging isn't it? At least I thought it was, at first, I was expecting the cliched dinner mystery where one of these colorful characters will be found dead once lightning strikes. Instead, what I got was a plot where they discover that there really is no one else on the island besides them, that means one of them organized this and plans to inflict the punishment from there on. It's clever in how it's done too, albeit a little bit forced at times.

It follows an old British nursery rhyme Ten Little Ni***rs, to make it more, um, politically correct it was then changed to Ten Little Indians in the American version, still racist nevertheless, it was finally changed to Ten Little Soldiers in most recent versions. Apparently, according to readers of Christie, casual racism is very common in her publications, in case you could tell from the past quote where 21 African deaths placed on the same level as one white person. It doesn't even serve a purpose as far as I can tell, it just seems out of nowhere (there is not any ethnicity besides the English in Then There Were None). I would consider the novel timeless, if there weren't actual discussions on why the crime of killing 21 Africans isn't that big of a deal between characters, I honestly kind of laughed in how spontaneous it appeared. Anyways, that was just something I wanted to get off my chest, back to the nursery rhyme.

Ten little soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine little soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight little soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven little soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six little soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five little soldier boys going in for law;
One got into Chancery and then there were Four.
Four little soldier boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three little soldier boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Two little soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was One.
One little soldier boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself
And then there were None.

Final conflict at the end of the book

The novel creatively follows the rhyme with half the fun coming in the guessing of how the next death will follow this script. Like the third to last stanza being that a big bear hugged one for how his life was ended, well how does that correlate to a manor on a desolate island. In the end, you discover that a big bear-shaped clock clunked his skull after being pushed down from a two-story window. Yes, the landing may be improbable and silly at the same time. But really, I think that is what gripped me the most, I wanted to know what and who the next murder would be and, ultimately, who was committing the crime in the first place.

When I say unrewarding about the mystery genre, I am not implying that the ending are unsatisfactory, I mean that the subjects and themes touched upon are somewhat shallow with them probably not adding much to my literary experience. Which, although Agatha Christie surprised me with the themes and symbols present, they are still somewhat lackluster. Some are stronger than others, the novel took a unique examination on the administration of justice.

Paraphrasing what the character in the book saying why he did it all, "The law cannot reach these crimes the people commited. Thus, I must take matters into my own hands." Christie then raises the question who can really dictate punishments and whether or not they are worthy of them. What is justice after all, Christie proposes. It's an interesting theme, but at first glance, I didn't really catch on to the message, I was too busy trying to deduce who the killer was and seeing the residents slowly devolve into panic. But I see the broadspread appeal of mysteries both for people who are looking for a thrill in their books and for literary critics looking for something deeper beneath the surface. It's a good mesh that Christie does, to me, the way she composed it makes it so what I read is with a greater intention than it just being pulp.

And Then There Were None would take me on a spiraling ride that I would complete before I knew it. The book would end on a totally satisfying note answering any remaining questions that I may have which only adds to my experience of the blog. Contrary to my previous beliefs, it was a rewarding experience for me and probably my favorite book I have read during the entire blog. I completely why one would get so addicted to the genre now, I plan on reading more of this genre soon after I learn of some more remarkable mysteries. Which, I concede, is probably not the best as I was aiming to develop an enthusiasm for the more complex books I would read throughout.

It's nothing to sweat though, as here's the secret to reading all those complex, convoluted books you may hear so much about: don't. If you really want to get into reading and not take a couple months to read, say, The Divine Comedy, before that read what's on the more appealing side for you. That could be mysteries like And Then There Were None, sci-fi, or thrillers. At least, that's what I did to get myself back into reading late in the tenth grade. I loved Kurt Vonnegut's prose in his sci-fi writing, and I would read away no matter how unpopular or basic the book may have been because I loved his sardonic personality in his writing. Later on, when I read every book the library had to offer from him, I figured it was time to expand my horizons, and what better way to start it off by reading sci-fi classics, and I worked from there outwards. Maybe that's a preview of my Ted Talk in the works, I just thought it would complement what may be my last blog.



Juxtaposing my actual blog, a longer, more scrutinizing MetaBlog

Of course, following the penultimate, that was my last blog, it requires some falling action on my part and that was one of my intentions in style here. I didn't want to make it to grandiose, just keep it simple. I took inspiration from videos that I watch every December titled Disneycember with Doug Walker, they're short and satisfying reviews much like the mystery was for me, which is what I wanted to accomplish with this blog. I always ask did I accomplish what I set out to do with the blog this week. I always respond with a more or less noncommital sure, maybe I could've made some additions here and there, but I don't think I left much out in terms of content this week. So, in conclusion, I am satisfied with my blog and, really, my Genius Hour as a whole. Everything went smoothly. Procrastination wasn't much of an issue. Sure I may have finished blogs at midnight, but that was more or less poor planning on my part thinking that starting the write-up at 7:00 p.m. would be adequate time, typically my book I planned to read were finished a week before my blog. Nevertheless, I feel like I met my goals and read some interesting books along the way, so it has been a positive experience for me.