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 Miss Christie nearly writes a literary novel. October 13, 2008
There is something inescapably striking, compared to most of Dame Agatha's mystery books, about THE HOLLOW. It is unusually rich in three-dimensional characters, it touches with real distinction upon issues of people of different classes and temperaments, of the varying perspectives of the wealthy, the struggling gentry, the working-class, the servant class. You feel deeply for both the aspirations and disappointments of its characters. Even among the distinguished company of Christie's high standard, it feels different, quieter, subtler, more observant.
Poirot is almost superfluous here, and it's not surprising to read that he was not a character in Christie's original play from which she adapted this novel.
But given the theatrical source material, the real surprise is that some of the most memorable and haunting aspects of this book are the explorations of people's interior dialogue, as best exemplified by provocative early scenes, impossible in a play, where we are allowed to spend a long time inside the minds of a strangely ill-suited married couple: first to see how the driven, accomplished and intelligent husband perceives and processes the world, his profession, other women and his own wife, and then to be shown the contrast of how his rather subservient and befuddled wife perceives the very same things. In moments like their automobile drive together to the Hollow, Christie fascinates us with the details of their perceptions of each other. This is psychologically ambitious writing by any standard, and John Christow, who has traits both aspringly noble and insensitively selfish is a curious character in her output -- he fascinates us, and we understand why various women love him, but do WE like him?
Several other of Ms. Christie's characters in this book are drawn with the same three-dimensional vividness, most notably the sculptor Henrietta (stepping almost out of Ngaio Marsh) and the young cousin Midge, who struggles to make a living in the demeaning surroundings of a London dress shop while haunted by joyful childhood memories of the family estate.
Poirot, as observed elsewhere, indeed needn't have been in the novel at all. While a few of his customary traits are thrown in to establish the familiar ground of his character, for the most part he is strangely pensive and more an observer than an active participant. The two best arguments for the value of his inclusion in the narrative are three strange, langorous scenes where he speaks and listens at length, and with a rich sense of conflicting motives and reactions, to two of the women in the story: twice with Henrietta and once with Veronica Cray. These quiet, understated yet fraught-with-implication conversations represent a second highly unusual component of this book, along with the early interior monologues of John and Gerda and later internal struggles of Henrietta's.
The actual elements/aspects of the mystery itself are, as mentioned elsewhere, a bit perfunctory, and you arrive at the strange final scenes of this book with a sense that this is novel not about murder at all, but about interesting people, passions or life motivations both fulfilled and unrequited, about the deep sense of emotional vulnerability which runs though people in all walks of life (which even touches Poirot in this book, which is probably what makes it feel so odd to people) and about striving to do something great in this world, whether it be to create art, to discover new medical breakthroughs (and save lives), or just to treat people with compassion and a positive spirit. Several of the final scenes are very moving indeed.
It's a quiet book, enclosed almost entirely in a microcosm of a handful of interesting people in a single large house and its neighboring cottages and landscape. It's more a study of those people than it is a murder mystery, and if you know that going in, I doubt that you'll be disappointed, because while it's neither the most exciting nor suspenseful of her novels, she certainly rarely wrote much better than her elegiac, persuasively observant and thoughtful tone in THE HOLLOW.
Poirot seemed like a minor character... May 17, 2008
This book made me want to read Christie's Mary Westmacott novels. I say this because even though this is a Poirot novel, Poirot is a minor character. The main focus of this book is to develop the characters of a very interesting family. I felt that the mystery came in second place to character development. For instance, I very quickly guessed who the murderer was and it turned out I was right. However, I still enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down due to the interesting people. Now I am convinced that I would enjoy reading a Christie novel even if it is NOT a mystery!
 WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK? May 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What "improvements" have been made for the Berkley edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further differences still in the Signet, Bantam, and Black Dog & Leventhal editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.
Agatha Christie Is Brilliant, But What Motivated Her? March 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Agatha Christie is brilliant, no two ways around it. This story is seamless, insightful into human nature, fast-paced, and spicy - a worthwhile mystery.
There was one part I particularly liked near the end of book, in which Agatha Christie spoke philosophically about how people who have ultra-inquiring, scientific minds need to know the truth of things. Her character Poirot is one of those people - getting to the truth is his passion. Presumably Agatha Christie herself is one of those people too.
My question, however: What motivated her to write murder mysteries? Granted, they're fun to read for light background entertainment, and she's a master of a genre, but why did she tackle it repeatedly for decades?
I can't help but suspect that she had buried rage, perhaps a buried desire to pull off a symbolic or real murder of some sort (at her abusive parents of childhood?). Agatha Christie is fascinated by motives...and too bad she didn't reveal her own.
I understand she didn't write an autobiography. I wonder what she was hiding. The little I've read about her suggests there was a lot...
Needed more Poirot September 20, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book starts a bit slow as it gives background and insight into the personality of all the main characters. It turned out to be necessary and worth it, but at the time I felt it slowed down the book. That's partially my fault, as I prefer to get Poirot introduced as early as possible. The characters were fairly complex and some highly quirky (in a good way). The story is seen from the perspective of the different characters as things unfold, giving you more insight into their personalities and motives. This goes more deeply into the personalties of the characters than most of her other books that I have read. Unfortunately that left little room for Hercule Poirot. He actually had very little to do with the story. He was not brought on to investigate the case, he was just a neighbor. We see very little of the actual investigation and that was mostly from the perspective of the police inspector. Poirot was just the neighbor they talked to from time to time. about the case. A good story but a bit disappointing for this Poirot fan.
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