The Book
Ten strangers, through various deceptive practices spend some time on the (fictional) remote Solider Island, just off the coast of Devon, England. The host a U. N. Owen, (Unknown) is not present and quite mysterious. This person has arranged the summer stay immaculately.
Each of the residents has a deep held secret. On the first night of their stay, they each find out they have been accused of murder through the dramatic reading of their accused crimes.
Anthony Marston is accused of speeding in his car, running over, and killing two children. He admits he did it, but claims the children are to blame because they ran out in front of him. Clearly he had the right to be speeding through their town. The courts agreed and only suspended his driver's liscense for a year. He feels no remorse.
Emily Brent is accused of callously turning out a main in her service, Beatrice Taylor. Beatrice was pregnant an unmarried. The sudden loss of housing, job and her lover caused Beatrice to commit suicide. Like Marston, Brent is unrepentant.
Vera Claythorne is accused of murdering a child in her care. The boy tried to swim out to a rock while at the beach and was overwhelmed by the waves of the ocean. Vera swam after him, but was too late to save him. She was cleared at the coroner's inquest.
Dr. Edward Armstrong was accused of murdering an elderly patient some ten years earlier. He denied the allegantion, but deep in his heart he knows he was too drunk to operate that day. He was protected by colleages and got his drinking under control after that.
General John Macarthur was accused of sending his wife's lover to his death by assigning him a suicide mission in WWI.
Philip Lombard was accused of leaving African natives in the jungle to die by stealing their supplies when he realized they would not all make it out alive. There were 23 of them. He never faced charges for it.
Thomas and Ethel Rogers were accused of murdering their previous employer, Jennifer Brady. She was an elderly woman in poor health. Their story is that she died when her health took a downturn in the middle of the storm and a doctor could not arrive quickly enough to save her.
William Blore, previously a detective with Scotland Yard is accused of killing James Landor, a suspect in a case he was working on. The raid against the man turned sour, possibly on faulty evidence uncovered by Blore.
Justice Lawrence Wargrave, recently retired judge, is charged with bringing about the death Edward Seton, through his summing up and instructions of the jury to get a guilty verdict in the trial. The subsequent conviction of Mr. Seton was a shock to the outside world, but Wargrave had been so exacting in his instructions that the case could not be overturned.
One by one, Unknown plucks off the guest. It is quickly surmised that one of the above people is Unknown, but will the party band together to find the homicidal maniac before they deviously kill everyone on the island?
My Thoughts
This is Agatha Christie's best selling book, despite the fact that it is a stand alone novel. A quick, compelling read, filled to the brim with plot twists, humor and horror, it is easy to see why so many people pick up the book.
However, the plot revolves around what was originally a Frank Green minstrel song from 1869 entitled Ten Little N******. In 1939 England, the premise and the original title went to press. But for the American version of the story, the rhyme (lyrics) were changed because even in the 1930s, the n word was too explosive. The title was changed to the more culturally palatable And Then There Were None, the name and song/poem had to be changed, replacing the N word to "Soldier Boys". It also went by the title The Little Indians (sometimes Injuns). to reflect the play version Christie wrote to appear on broadyway. By the 1980s both versions had been rewritten to Ten Little Soldier Boys and the title changed to And Then There Were None.
Due to the blatant racism of the book, the revisions have been necessary. It is also the reason the book has been challenged.
My position on this book, and others that use racial slurs, especially those of bygone years, is that it is a marker of its place and time. It does us all good to remember how casually accepted racism was before the 1960s and '70's. The life and death of Martin Luther King Jr., and his leadership of the movement to bring full equality to all people really marked a cultural shift in America, and to a lesser extent world wide. And no, I don't think racism has been solved. I just think it's better than it was. Yes, I acknowledge there is way more work to do, but it is important to remember how casual, accept it was. And to know what it was, so I know how to combat it in my life.
The racism is the reason this book has been banned. And it is problematic. But the freedom to choose what to read, the freedom to understand, that is for me and any other person to decide. I might let you persuade me I am better off not reading the book, that is your argument to make. I just believe you don't have the right to make that choice for me. The refusal to look at racism is as wrong as the refusal to acknowledge it. We cannot have true freedom, or an honest discussion in our society, if we do not look at things as they are.
It was, however, a well executed, terrifying novel based on a nursery rhyme. I get why Christie, in a time and place where racial sensitivities were not respected, would have used this particular rhyme. It does provide clear allusions to death. That makes the book brilliant, but the minstrel song monstrous. I am glad this type of entertainment has passed out of our culture.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This book came to me from the Lake Forest Public District Library. Lake Forest is in my county and about a fifteen minute drive from my house. This 247 page book is in pristine condition, the cover on it shows a shot from the 2015 Lifetime Movie, so the book entered their library at the very earliest in late 2015. Otherwise I have no clues as to how old this book is, nor how many times it has been read. This book was a quick read, with no markings or dog ears inside. The back cover says the book costs $18.99 and that is the number I will use.
This Book $18.99
Items Reviewed This Year $86.93
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