A Depressing Journey

One of the most heralded books of the 21st century was a short 2006 post-apocalyptic novel about a man and his son. There are few commas, barely any apostrophes, and no quotation marks to signal dialogue. There are no chapters. The protagonists are never named. But Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Road. It was chosen by the Oprah Book Club, and The Road came out on top in a 2008 Entertainment Weekly list of the best 100 books of the past 25 years. The movie adaptation is planned on being released later this year.

The Road is about a man (known simply as "the man") and a boy (known simply as "the boy") trying to survive in a barren America. While their main challenge is trying to find enough food and water to survive, they also struggle with the intense cold that had come from the unnamed apocalypse, the search for shelter, and the bands of cannibals that roam the earth, marauding any weak travelers to rob, kill, and often eat them.

McCarthy's writing style may be one of the main reasons The Road has been so acclaimed. His creative and unconventional nonuse of commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, names, and chapters marks the writing style as very unique. The depressing tone of the novel makes the reader care about the characters more than most other books. Here is one of the many conversations between the man and the boy:

He was a long time going to sleep. After a while he turned and looked at the man. His face in the small light streaked with black from the rain like some old world thespian. Can I ask you something? he said.
Yes. Of course.
Are we going to die?
Sometime. Not now.
And we're still going south.
Yes.
So we'll be warm.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay what?
Nothing. Just okay.
Go to sleep.
Okay.
I'm going to blow out the lamp. Is that okay?
Yes. That's okay.
And then later in the darkness: Can I ask you something?
Yes. Of course you can.
What would you do if I died?
If you died I would want to die too.
So you could be with me?
Yes. So I could be with you.
Okay.

The character of the man is pitiful. He is living out a harsh punishment for no crime at all. He does not care at all about himself; every move he makes is for the well-being of his son or the safety of himself in order to protect his son. The boy is, if possible, an even more depressing character. While he is generally more optimistic than his father, most readers will find themselves halfway to tears reading about a child at his age surviving sights and events that nobody should ever have to endure. Cormac McCarthy describes the love of the man and the loss of innocence of the boy with vivid and realistic dialogue and actions. As the novel says, the man and the boy are "each the other's world entire."

While The Road is an excellent addition to literature and should become a classic in future years, many children and weak readers will find this book to hard to bear. Throughout the novel, the depressing tone and some events may not be pleasant to some readers.

Cormac McCarthy wrote an excellent story with The Road. This book has brought him more renown than he has ever had with his previous books. The austere book should continue to enchant readers for many years to come.

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Movie-Tie-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307472124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241288865&sr=8-1

Grade: 9

The Underland Chronicles

Young adult literature can often be very inane. An author does not need to work very hard to write a story that appeals to teenagers--shallow humor, constant action (or teenage drama, in the case of females), and a simple plot seem to be the elements of a bestselling young adult novel. Take Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan, for instance. The series, while appealing to many young adults I know, failed in appealing to me.

One young adult series, though, that seems to go against the norm is Suzanne Collins's The Underland Chronicles. While it does have its occasional stabs at humor and quite a bit of action, The Underland Chronicles has a good story and is much better than most other novels in youth literature.

The first book in the series is Gregor the Overlander. Gregor is an eleven-year-old boy living in an apartment in New York City with his grandmother, his mother, his seven-year-old sister Lizzie, and his two-year-old sister Boots. They had been very impoverished ever since Gregor's father disappeared. One day, Gregor and his sister Boots are in the laundry room of their apartment, and Gregor follows his sister through a grate in the floor. They realize that it leads to the Underland, a world that exists underneath New York City. The Underland has humans, giant bats (fliers), giant spiders (spinners), giant cockroaches (crawlers), and giant rats (gnawers). The humans live in a city called Regalia. The Regalians realize that Gregor is the warrior mentioned in "The Prophecy of Gray", a prophecy that says that a warrior from the Overland will save Regalia from the gnawers by going on a quest.

Gregor the Overlander is an excellent piece of children's literature. The plot, including the characters, the quest, and especially the prophecy marks this as a great series beginner. Readers will enjoy following Gregor and the others as they fulfill the prophecy, even if not the way they originally anticipated.

http://www.amazon.com/Overlander-Underland-Chronicles-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439678137/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238866992&sr=8-5

Grade: 9

The second installation in the series, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, brings Gregor back to the Underland to fulfill the Prophecy of Bane. The Underlanders kidnap Boots in order to lure Gregor down, because the Prophecy of Bane calls for the warrior again. This time, the Regalians want Gregor to go on another quest to kill a white gnawer called the Bane. If the gnawers get hold of the Bane, they will be able to rule the Underland.

Collins achieves every author's aspiration: to write a sequel as good as or better than its predecessor. She uses the same formula as the first: Gregor's quest through the Underland as a segway for the development of the prophecy, as well as the surprising actual meanings of many of its ambiguous lines. Another great story in the Underland Chronicles.

http://www.amazon.com/Gregor-Prophecy-Bane-Underland-Chronicles/dp/0439650763/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239233487&sr=8-1

Grade: 9

Gregor returns to the Underland for yet another prophecy in Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods. A plague has struck Regalia and the rest of the Underland. It only affects warm-blooded creatures, thus affecting all humans, gnawers, and fliers. The Prophecy of Blood states that the warrior must go on a quest to find the cure for the terrible plague. At first, Gregor's mother insists that he will not go on another quest, but when she gets the plague, Gregor decides to go so that he can save her life and the lives of every warmblood in the Underland.

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods is not as good as the first two. The main events of the third novel seem to be much less intricate, as well as much fewer, than those of the first two books. The Prophecy of Blood is much more straightforward than both the Prophecy of Gray and the Prophecy of Bane, which provides for much less room for misinterpretation, the element that truly made Gregor the Overlander and Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane stand out from other young adult fantasy novels. Although it was not a bad book, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods did not live up to its wonderful predecessors.

http://www.amazon.com/Gregor-Curse-Warmbloods-Underland-Chronicles/dp/0439656249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239234541&sr=1-1

Grade: 7.5

The penultimate Underland Chronicle is Gregor and the Marks of Secret. Gregor returns to Regalia one day for a birthday party, and while with one of his Underland friends, gets a distress call from the mice (nibblers). The nibblers had been forced from their homes by the gnawers for many years. Finally, it seemed, the nibblers needed help from the humans. Gregor must go on another quest if he wants to save a whole species of Underland animals.

This fourth episode in Gregor's life is another disappointment. It, like Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, does not have the same intricate plot as the first two. Furthermore, there is not even a prophecy that Gregor and the others must fulfill, which makes the book almost like any other action/adventure children's book. It is good, but again, does not capture one's attention as much as could be hoped for. While Gregor and the Marks of Secret is above average, it does not show Collins's full writing prowess.

http://www.amazon.com/Gregor-Marks-Secret-Underland-Chronicles/dp/0439791464/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_title

Grade: 7.5

Gregor and the Code of Claw completes the story of Gregor and his adventures in the Underland. A war between the humans and the gnawers is coming into full swing, and Gregor is needed to help Regalia as well as fulfill the Prophecy of Time, perhaps the most enigmatic and ominous prophecy of all.

This novel is the longest of the Underland Chronicles by far. With 412 pages of writing, Collins can expand on every facet of the war, as well as the characters that serve as Regalia's protection against the gnawers. Even without a quest, the novel has enough physical action as well as psychological suspense to keep the reader hooked on its events. Regardless, Collins must not realize the importance of having a prophecy that at first is misinterpreted by the Regalians, and then the true meaning of which is startlingly revealed to the reader. Although the Prophecy of Time may be one of the best of the entire series, it is not a main focus in the novel. The formula that made the first two stand out so well is not followed. Although Gregor and the Code of Claw is very good and exceeds the quality of the preceding two by far, it lacks the element that made Gregor the Overlander and Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane stand out. Readers will find this a very fun read, while not as fun as Collins could have made it.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_6_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=gregor+and+the+code+of+the+claw&sprefix=gregor+and+the

Grade: 8

Collins turned a good idea for a story into a superb series. While she had a few flaws in a couple books, this is still one of the best selections of young adult literature.

Exceeded Expectations

Out of all the great authors that have ever lived and made their mark in literary history, one of the most prolific may have been Charles Dickens. While he was not as prolific as some authors, many of his works are incredibly well-known: A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, and A Tale of Two Cities, to mention a few. And what may be his most renowned work is the story of Pip, the young English gentleman: Great Expectations.

The lengthy novel begins with a young Philip "Pip" Pirrip, sitting next to the tombstone shared by almost his entire family in the cemetery near the village church. Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister, his only surviving family member. Pip, Joe (Pip's brother-in-law, the blacksmith), and Mrs. Joe (Pip's sister) all live together in a small house. Theirs is not a happy life; the small household is plagued by poverty.

Charles Dickens wastes no time in getting to the action of the novel. On the second page, Pip meets the mysterious escaped convict in the cemetery who threatens to kill Pip is he does not bring the convict food. The next day, Christmas, Pip takes a plethora of food for the convict and watches while the latter gobbles it up greedily.

Dickens's original portrayal of Pip is that of a gullible, fearful young child. Because the story is told through the eyes and voice of Pip, Dickens could characterize Pip to make one feel like he actually was a good friend of the boy.

Somewhere around Pip's teenage years, he is introduced to the old spinster Miss Havisham and the young, beautiful Estella, Miss Havisham's adoptive daughter. The stinginess, pessimism, and woe of Miss Havisham and the elitism, pride, and cruelty of Estella act as true foils to Pip's innocent blitheness.

Great Expectations goes on to summarize the rest of Pip's life: his relationships, fortunes, misfortunes, and demeanor. Dickens wrote very well through the voice of Pip. As Pip matured in age and disposition, the writing style grew more and more solemn. Great Expectations is truly a classic for the world, and proves the writing prowess of Charles Dickens.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486415864/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237436590&sr=8-3

Grade: 8.5

Farewell to High Hopes

Even after over 50 years, World War II internment camps are still a touchy subject to many people. The horrors that the Americans inflicted on innocent Japanese people are, although considered by many a good idea at the time, now but a memory of one of the dark ages of America.

One of these terrible internment camps is the subject of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's novel, Farewell to Manzanar. Manzanar was a scary place for the Japanese forced to leave their homes and move there, but the Houstons' effort, although being an American classic, does come across as a little bland. From 1942 to 1945, the Japanese living in Manzanar were in terrible conditions. It seems like the Houstons should be able to make the novel a bit more dramatic.

The main characters are the Wakatsukis, a family of Japanese-Americans. Jeanne Wakatsuki, co-author of the book, is the youngest. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, no one had any idea what had happened. All they knew was that about four months later, they had to go to Manzanar, an internment camp in California. One of the best scenes in the novel occurs before they leave, when Mama is trying to sell everything she owned. A dealer tries to buy many expensive china articles for a paltry sum. Mama gets each article and throws them down, one by one, to shatter on the hard ground. The dealer, after trying to coax Mama out of her actions, just walks away.

The Wakatsukis arrive at the camp. The living arrangements are fit for animals. The bathrooms are filthy, with no dividers. Sand enters their shack through knotholes in the wall. Although the Japanese establish cultural activities (Jeanne was for a while a member of a Japanese dance class, taught by an old geisha) and the Americans that run the camp try to make it seem as much like home as possible (Japanese food is served daily), Manzanar is portrayed a terrible place.

Here is where the trouble sets in. When the war ends, Congress issues an order to send every Japanese person in an internment camp back to their home. But even though the Wakatsukis and every other person hated Manzanar while they stayed there, they do not want to leave and procrastinate as much as they can before they finally decide to go home. This just did not make enough sense to me. They should be relieved that they can go back to their old way of living.

Farewell to Manzanar described a terrible time in American history through the eyes of a little girl. It is not a complete failure of a book. It just does not live up to its legendary name.

http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Manzanar-Japanese-Experience-Internment/dp/0553272586/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235699573&sr=8-1

Grade: 6.5

The Twelve Passengers

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express may be one of the most difficult mysteries ever written. Her narrative of the detective Hercule Poirot on the Orient Express seems to have no solution at all. All twelve suspects have excellent alibis. All evidence seems to contradict itself. And it seems that even M. Poirot is baffled.

The mystery begins on the Orient Express as the train is traveling through Europe to Calais. One night, during a terrible snowstorm, the train is snowed in and cannot proceed. That morning, one man, a Mr. Ratchett, is found dead in his carriage, stabbed numerous times with a knife. Hercule Poirot sets to work on the case with his friend M. Bouc (the director of the train and representative of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits) and Dr. Constantine (a medical doctor from a different coach). Not much is known about the case from the beginning, but there is one fact everyone is sure of: the murderer had no way to leave the train, ergo, he or she is one of the passengers.

There are twelve passengers on the Calais Coach of the Orient Express, each of which are viable suspects for the murder:

• Countess Elena Andrenyi: wife to Count Andrenyi
• Count Rudolph Andrenyi: a Hungarian diplomat, travelling to France
• Col. Arbuthnot: a British colonel, returning from India
• Mary Debenham: a British governess, returning to Great Britain from Baghdad
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff: a Russian noblewoman
• Antonio Foscarelli: an Italian businessman
• Cyrus Hardman: an American typewriter ribbon salesman
• Caroline Hubbard: an American woman, returning home after visiting her daughter in Baghdad
• Hector MacQueen: the American secretary to Mr. Ratchett
• Edward Masterman: the British valet to Mr. Ratchett
• Greta Ohlsson: a Swedish missionary, travelling home for a vacation
• Hildegarde Schmidt: the German lady's-maid to Dragomiroff

Christie makes this case as difficult as possible, taking the reader for a thrilling ride through lies, plot twists, and stunning revelations. While Poirot gets closer and closer to finding out the identity of the murderer and the solution to the mystery, the reader gets more and more enthralled in the plot of the book. Every clue discovered brings M. Poirot, the funny little Belgian, closer and closer to the solution. Every mystery lover will delight himself in using his little grey cells along with Poirot as he discovers the solution to the murder on the Orient Express.

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Orient-Express-Hercule-Mysteries/dp/0425200450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231822795&sr=8-2

Grade: 8.5

Second Foundation

Second Foundation very successfully wraps up Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. In the second book, Foundation and Empire, the Mule searches for the elusive Second Foundation. In Second Foundation, the search for the Second Foundation is the main plot of the book.

The Second Foundation is the organization that was established by Hari Seldon at the same time as the Foundation. Seldon created the Second Foundation as a philosophical and psychohistorical organization to contrast with the First Foundation's affinity to science. It was originally meant to assist the Foundation in its upholding of the Seldon Plan, but had now started spoiling the Empire's plans and also infiltrating the minds of some of the greatest scientists of the Foundation.

The first part of the book, "Search by the Mule", concerns the Mule and his Empire. Two Imperial subjects, General Han Pritcher and Bail Channis, are sent by the Mule to search all over the Galaxy to try to find where the Second Foundation could be hidden.

The second part of the book, "Search by the Foundation", is about a few members of the Foundation. The bigger part of the second part concerns Arcadia Darrell, a young teenage girl. She, her father (the renowned scientist Toran Darrell), and a few of her father's friends make it their mission to figure out as much as they can about this Second Foundation that has been controlling the minds of so many people.

Second Foundation is the excellent finale to the acclaimed Foundation Trilogy. The plethora of characters with varying personalities and knowledge contrast with each other to make the reader guess where this Second Foundation can be hidden. Asimov keeps the reader's eyes bound to the book until the very last page. It is a superb novel with an excellent plot and an excellent writing style. It is a very successful ending to a very successful trilogy.

http://www.amazon.com/Second-Foundation-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293362/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229745970&sr=8-2

Grade: 9

Foundation and Empire

My previous book review was written about Isaac Asimov's book Foundation. This science fiction book has come to be one of the most famous in science fiction history. The first sequel written about this book, titled Foundation and Empire, is the subject of this review.

Foundation and Empire is even better than its predecessor. The novel is split up into two parts: "Part I: The General" and "Part II: The Mule". The whole novel is mostly about the war between the Foundation, the organization established by Hari Seldon; and the Empire.

Part I is about General Bel Riose of the Empire as he plays a key role in the war between the Foundation and the Empire. It is also about Emperor Cleon II (current monarch of the Empire), Ducem Barr (a man from the planet Siwenna), and Lathan Devers (a trader from the Foundation). The Foundation is a small entity compared to the beast of the Empire, but they must hold their ground if they intend for the Seldon Plan to succeed.

Part II takes place about 100 years later, after the Empire is much weaker than it had been, and it relates the rise of the Mule. The Mule is a very powerful man whose goal is to reinstate the Empire, thus becoming the sovereign of the Universe. Under the Mule, the Empire fights the Foundation, and it seems that they have met their most dangerous foe. Not much is known about the Mule at all, and Part II is told from the point of view of Toran and Bayta Darell, a newlywed couple from a trading planet belonging to the Foundation.

Foundation and Empire surpasses Foundation in my opinion. Whereas the first book had five short parts to it, each with their unique characters and scenarios, the second book has only two parts. The characters are much more developed and the story-line is much easier to understand in Foundation and Empire. Isaac Asimov proves here for the second time his prowess at writing.

http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Empire-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293370/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229053943&sr=8-2

Grade: 9

Foundation

Isaac Asimov was one of the foremost science fiction authors until his death in 1992. Among his many achievements is the fact that he has written and edited over 500 different books, and having an asteroid named after him (the 5020 Asimov). But what may be the most amazing is winning the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series in 1966 for his Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation).

Foundation, the first book in this series, has five parts, four of which had been previously published in the magazine Astounding Science-Fiction. This novel is about the psychohistorian Hari Seldon and his quest to save the Galaxy from 30,000 years of chaos.

The novel opens with a young mathematician named Gaal Dornick as he is flying to the planet Trantor to meet Seldon. Hari "Raven" Seldon was looked upon by some to be a very intelligent and extraordinary man by most as a trouble-maker. He invented the branch of mathematics known as psychohistory. With psychohistory, one could predict the likely outcome of events in the future. Seldon discovered that the Galactic Empire would indeed fall within the next 300 years, and then would follow 30,000 years of chaos in the galaxy before the Empire rose again. But if Seldon and his followers and their descendants could create a society known as the Foundation, the 30,000 years would be reduced to a mere millenium.

And so follows the chronicle of the Foundation on the planet Terminus, at the very edge of the Galaxy. At first, the Foundation's only goal, as given them by the long-dead Seldon, was to make the Encyclopedia Galactica, a conglomeration of all the information known to mankind. They were governed by a committee whose only care was for the Encyclopedia. But, as with the rest of the Galaxy, many changes were stirring within the Foundation.

Asimov's story of how one man sought to save the Universe 29,000 years of misfortune is a success. Although it is very brief--only 255 pages--it successfully chronicles several years in the life of the Foundation, its struggles and failures, its successes and discoveries, and its role in the eventual deterioration of the Galactic Empire. This is a very good beginning to a highly-spoken-of series.

http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293354/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227312127&sr=8-2

Grade: 8.5

What a Guy

Some authors write their autobiographies so that we can read a good, inspirational story. Others write stories about their lives so that we can see how they overcame challenges in their lives to rise to greatness. Still other people are just very interesting to read about. But try as I might, I cannot for the life of me figure out why Gary Soto wrote an autobiography.

Living Up the Street tells about the circumstances involving the childhood of Gary Soto, a writer from Fresno, California. From the very beginning, the story is not interesting. The first chapter, titled "Being Mean," tells of how Soto and his brother Rick greet their new neighbors by getting in a fight with them. When Gary and Rick lose, they find a stray cat, and put it and their own cat in a bag to hit their neighbors with. Oh boy, that sure makes me want to be like you, Soto.

And the time when he talks about breaking into his friend's recently married sister's house to steal her radio, food, and lamp, and then return it before she gets home just because he did not have enough money to escape to San Francico with it, that sure makes me feel good inside.

Oh, I almost forgot about the highly inspirational part where Soto talks about hanging out with his friend Jackie on the weekend. They sure are good citizens, knocking over trash cans and breaking into stores to steal their mannequins so that they can fight with them. Gosh, Soto, you're like George Washington, such an asset to society.

Living Up the Street is a very terrible autobiography. The events written about are so base as to be slightly offensive. Does Soto actually think that readers will learn something from his book, that they will want to be more like him after reading it? Because no one will. This book is not worth the ink and paper that was used to make it. I am sorry, Soto, but we just do not care.

Grade: 2.5

Miss Marple, Detective Extraordinnaire

There is something about murder mysteries that seems to make the individual want to read more and more. Murder, which is frowned upon in modern society, has continued to captivate readers everywhere for many, many years.

One of the most renowned names in murder was the author and playwright Agatha Christie. Her novels are some of the most well-known in mystery fiction, including And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. Her play The Mousetrap is the longest-running play in history. And there have also been T.V. shows made on her characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

Miss Marple is the detective in The Tuesday Club Murders (also known as The Thirteen Problems), an anthology where Miss Marple solves many mysteries without leaving her armchair. The thirteen stories in the book all feature Miss Jane Marple, detective extraordinnaire, as she solves both criminal problems for Scotland Yard and miniscule, everyday problems for herself and her friends. My picks for the best stories in it are "The Blood-Stained Pavement", "The Blue Geranium", and "The Companion"

The narrator for "The Blood-Stained Pavement" is Joyce Lemprière. Joyce was on vacation in Cornwall, England, when she noticed a husband and wife next to her. They were Denis and Margery. Pretty soon, a woman drove up. Denis recognized her as his old friend, Carol. They go off swimming together. That afternoon, Joyce sees blood on the driveway near her rented house. Denis and Margery return without Carol. They go back to look for her, the blood is not there anymore, and Margery is found dead a week later. This sounds like a case for Miss Marple.

"The Blue Geranium" is about Mr. George Pritchard. His wife was a semi-invalid who was very prone to complaints, and had many nurses at different times to take care of her. One day a fortune-teller comes to the Pritchards' house. She tells Mrs. Pritchard to beware blue flowers. A number of days later, the Pritchards get a note that says that a blue primrose is a warning, a blue hollyhock is danger, and a blue geranium is death, and to beware the full moon. On the next full moon, one of the primroses on the wallpaper in Mrs. Pritchard's room turns blue. Four weeks later, on the next full moon, a hollyhock turns blue. Four weeks later, on the third full moon, a geranium turns blue, and Mrs. Pritchard is discovered to be dead.

"The Companion" another very interesting conundrum. Dr. Lloyd tells Miss Marple of a story that he encountered while living in the Canary Islands. He sees two women traveling together. They are not special at all; they are the most unimportant-looking people one could see. But the next day, while they were swimming, one of them started to drown. The other one tried to save her, but to no avail. He questions the would-be heroine and some witnesses. A few months later, a suicide note written by the survivor of the women is found and the woman drowned herself, although the body was not found. Of course, Miss Marple must discover the answer to this mystery.

The Tuesday Club Murders is an excellent example of Christie's writing skill. The thirteen stories in this book all seem very strange and confusing, but Marple solves them with the utmost ease using her incredible brain and past experiences. While it cannot be compared to novels of hers such as And Then There Were None, it is very good.

http://www.amazon.com/Tuesday-Club-Murders-Christie-Collection/dp/1579126901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225581086&sr=8-1

Grade: 8