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Hercule Poirot #44
Curtain
A wheelchair-bound Poirot returns to Styles, the venue of his first investigation, where he knows another murder is going to take place…
The house guests at Styles seemed perfectly pleasant to Captain Hastings; there was his own daughter Judith, an inoffensive ornithologist called Norton, dashing Mr Allerton, brittle Miss Cole, Doctor Franklin and his fragile wife Barbara , Nurse Craven, Colonel Luttrell and his charming wife, Daisy, and the charismatic Boyd-Carrington.
So Hastings was shocked to learn from Hercule Poirot’s declaration that one of them was a five-times murderer. True, the ageing detective was crippled with arthritis, but had his deductive instincts finally deserted him?…
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First published June 7, 1975
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About the author
Agatha Christie
5,790 books74.9k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,455 reviews
July 7, 2025
This is a love letter.
A love letter to Poirot that sends him, aged and dying, to the place where it all started for him as a private detective. Styles.
He calls his oldest and dearest friend, Hastings, to join him on one last adventure to right a wrong, save the innocents, and punish the guilty.
But this time around, nothing is what it seems, and the conclusion is far from black and white.
Having said that, it is nowhere near my favorite Poirot novel. But it's also not my least.
I think some readers will love it because Christie took the time and care to give Poirot a fitting end. And I think some readers will dislike it because she killed off Poirot.
It's really going to depend on how you look at it. I will say that this is one time that the television adaptation (with David Suchet) didn't take many liberties with her writing, and so was pretty spot-on.
I adore Poirot, so I thought it was fitting that this book also be the ending of my personal journey with Agatha Christie's mystery novels. I've read them all. Or at least everything that I could find. I'm sure there's something out there, maybe written on a napkin and stuffed in a drawer yet to be found, but I feel fairly confident when I say that I've tracked down most of that weird stuff, too.
Adieu, mon ami.
At least until we meet again in the re-reads...
A love letter to Poirot that sends him, aged and dying, to the place where it all started for him as a private detective. Styles.
He calls his oldest and dearest friend, Hastings, to join him on one last adventure to right a wrong, save the innocents, and punish the guilty.
But this time around, nothing is what it seems, and the conclusion is far from black and white.
Having said that, it is nowhere near my favorite Poirot novel. But it's also not my least.
I think some readers will love it because Christie took the time and care to give Poirot a fitting end. And I think some readers will dislike it because she killed off Poirot.
It's really going to depend on how you look at it. I will say that this is one time that the television adaptation (with David Suchet) didn't take many liberties with her writing, and so was pretty spot-on.
I adore Poirot, so I thought it was fitting that this book also be the ending of my personal journey with Agatha Christie's mystery novels. I've read them all. Or at least everything that I could find. I'm sure there's something out there, maybe written on a napkin and stuffed in a drawer yet to be found, but I feel fairly confident when I say that I've tracked down most of that weird stuff, too.
Adieu, mon ami.
At least until we meet again in the re-reads...
July 8, 2021
W sumie to się zaskoczyłam i bawiłam bardzo dobrze. Czego chcieć więcej od Christie? Polecam, ale to ostatnio tom Poirota, więc co nieco sobie możecie tu zaspojlerować
May 22, 2022
It's with a heavy heart that I read this last novel in the Poirot series. I've been in companionship with him and solving mysteries alongside (not successfully all the time) for nearly two and a half years, so saying goodbye wasn't easy. And it was made all the more painful by the author's decision to end the series by ending the life journey of her favourite hero. In any case, it was a very sad parting. However, I'm happy that Agatha Christie has closed the curtain in style by giving us yet another great murder-mystery.
The setting is once again at the Styles where it all began many years ago, where we first met Poirot and Captain Arthur Hastings. Now, years later, both are back in Styles, Poirot in the last stages of life and Captain Hastings past his prime, to catch a criminal who is vicariously responsible for many past crimes and who may strike again and again if not stopped. Poirot being weighed down by ill health, it is Captain Hastings who must be his eyes and ears. As usual of course, Hastings muddles the matters :), but thanks to Poirot's unaffected brain, everything is satisfactorily resolved.
Agatha Christie creates a clever and original plot here to mark the end of Poirot's celebrated career. It is, to me, one of the best murder-mysteries of the series. Poirot is pitted against a dangerous and psychopathic criminal who commits crimes through others, being only vicariously liable for his horrific conduct, and as such, untouched by law. This is my first in a murder-mystery novel that I came across a criminal who indirectly instigates a crime, without whose manipulation the crime probably may never have been committed. Agatha Christie has given a lot of thought and consideration to this final story which I truly appreciate. After missing Hastings in the later novels, I was happy to have one last Poirot-Hastings combination, although we know how that combination works. :)
It was an interesting story. Even with the sad demise of Poirot, I enjoyed it. The very first novel in the series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is still my favourite, and Styles has a special affection for me because of that. Coming back there to end it all had a sentimental appeal. On the whole, Agatha Christie has done justice to her loyal Poirot fans, winding up the series with a grand finale such as this.
The setting is once again at the Styles where it all began many years ago, where we first met Poirot and Captain Arthur Hastings. Now, years later, both are back in Styles, Poirot in the last stages of life and Captain Hastings past his prime, to catch a criminal who is vicariously responsible for many past crimes and who may strike again and again if not stopped. Poirot being weighed down by ill health, it is Captain Hastings who must be his eyes and ears. As usual of course, Hastings muddles the matters :), but thanks to Poirot's unaffected brain, everything is satisfactorily resolved.
Agatha Christie creates a clever and original plot here to mark the end of Poirot's celebrated career. It is, to me, one of the best murder-mysteries of the series. Poirot is pitted against a dangerous and psychopathic criminal who commits crimes through others, being only vicariously liable for his horrific conduct, and as such, untouched by law. This is my first in a murder-mystery novel that I came across a criminal who indirectly instigates a crime, without whose manipulation the crime probably may never have been committed. Agatha Christie has given a lot of thought and consideration to this final story which I truly appreciate. After missing Hastings in the later novels, I was happy to have one last Poirot-Hastings combination, although we know how that combination works. :)
It was an interesting story. Even with the sad demise of Poirot, I enjoyed it. The very first novel in the series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is still my favourite, and Styles has a special affection for me because of that. Coming back there to end it all had a sentimental appeal. On the whole, Agatha Christie has done justice to her loyal Poirot fans, winding up the series with a grand finale such as this.
May 23, 2017
Rating: The Full Five
When this novel came out in 1975, my older sister was a bookshop owner and gave me and our mother a copy to savor. None of the three of us were particular Christie nuts. My sister felt that Dame Ags played gawd with the clues a bit too much...my mother found Poirot insufferably smug. I read the book without discrimination or comprehension, and moved on to other things I liked better. I believe that was the year I read Stand on Zanzibar, but am not positive.
Now that I'm the age my mother was when she read the book, I see something more interesting to old-man me than ever would have occurred to teenaged me. This ending for Poirot's career was written during the Blitz, a time when anyone at all could die without warning, because Dame Agatha thought her fans deserved an ending to their character's life that would give completeness and finality to an important part of a series-book reader's life. How very thoughtful that is. How aware Dame Agatha was of her creation's place in the emotional lives of her fans.
And to her most ardent partisans, those who bristle at the probable cause of the evident diminution of her writing prowess due to dementia, I can only say: Read this book, and then read the last book she wrote, Elephants Can Remember, which I've reviewed unfavorably elsewhere. The difference is stark and deeply saddening.
The 2013 television adaptation is stellar and gets, on its own merits, a five-star review. David Suchet so completely became Poirot that I can only hope someone somewhere possesses both the power and the will to derail the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express perpetrated by Kenneth Branagh for no good or even comprehensible reason before its scheduled release on 10 November 2017. Why not choose 11/11/17 at 11:11am? Armistice Day might, in the eyes of Kalliope, excuse or at least obscure Branagh's hubris in making this unneeded and unwelcome film.
Not that I have a strong opinion, you understand. I merely comment upon the passing scene, comme d'habitude.
When this novel came out in 1975, my older sister was a bookshop owner and gave me and our mother a copy to savor. None of the three of us were particular Christie nuts. My sister felt that Dame Ags played gawd with the clues a bit too much...my mother found Poirot insufferably smug. I read the book without discrimination or comprehension, and moved on to other things I liked better. I believe that was the year I read Stand on Zanzibar, but am not positive.
Now that I'm the age my mother was when she read the book, I see something more interesting to old-man me than ever would have occurred to teenaged me. This ending for Poirot's career was written during the Blitz, a time when anyone at all could die without warning, because Dame Agatha thought her fans deserved an ending to their character's life that would give completeness and finality to an important part of a series-book reader's life. How very thoughtful that is. How aware Dame Agatha was of her creation's place in the emotional lives of her fans.
And to her most ardent partisans, those who bristle at the probable cause of the evident diminution of her writing prowess due to dementia, I can only say: Read this book, and then read the last book she wrote, Elephants Can Remember, which I've reviewed unfavorably elsewhere. The difference is stark and deeply saddening.
The 2013 television adaptation is stellar and gets, on its own merits, a five-star review. David Suchet so completely became Poirot that I can only hope someone somewhere possesses both the power and the will to derail the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express perpetrated by Kenneth Branagh for no good or even comprehensible reason before its scheduled release on 10 November 2017. Why not choose 11/11/17 at 11:11am? Armistice Day might, in the eyes of Kalliope, excuse or at least obscure Branagh's hubris in making this unneeded and unwelcome film.
Not that I have a strong opinion, you understand. I merely comment upon the passing scene, comme d'habitude.
February 18, 2021
Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case! (So since major things happen in this book, don't 1) read this is as your first book first, and 2) try to reading spoilerish reviews like this one. But read a few others from the series, then read this one, for sure.
“Nothing is so sad, in my opinion, as the devastation wrought by age”—Hastings, on Poirot
I’m done, whew, having read all of 38 Christie Poirot novels (and a couple short story collections) in order of publication, over the past 2-3 years. I’ll listen again to And Then There Were None and will not read Christie again for awhile, I am sure.
Christie, fearing for her life during WWII, wrote the last Poirot and Marple books in the early forties, and sealed them in a vault until just a couple years before her death, intending them to be the last novels, the last word, for her respective detective heroes. She much preferred Marple to Poirot, who in the sixties she had truly grown tired of, calling him "an egocentric creep". However, unlike Conan Doyle, Christie resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She saw herself as an entertainer whose job was to produce what the public liked, and the public liked Poirot.
Christie made a mistake in 1920 in introducing her Belgian detective as already retired, and then writing him as a main character for fifty more years!! So are we to surmise he retired at 40? 21?! Poirot returns to Styles in this one, where the first Poirot novel is set, written in 1920 when Christie was 30. Curtain was published in 1975, less than a year before she died, at 85, in 1976!! 55 years of writing Poirot!! Poor (and very rich, especially for an author) woman! Good for her and us, though, on the whole, as she emerged as the best selling author of all time.
And no matter how old he is, we need our main man with the marvelous moustaches to be in full possession of his “little gray cells” right up until the end. Is this realistic? Well, either way he seems undiminished in speech and cognition without fail. The erosion of memory is a theme in this and many of the last books for the eighty-something Christie, but not for Poirot! He solves the crime, as always, though it is complicated and interesting how it happens and how it is revealed; I can’t exactly say how without spoilers.
This book also features the return from the early Poirot-books Captain Hastings, a buffoon who again tells the story, clueless every step of the way.
Keyholes figure in, amusingly.
Since Curtain is the title, Christie frames her last book in terms of her major love, theater, and performance, and disguises. We even discover Poirot has been disguising himself for years, in a way. And Othello’s Iago figures in, so Shakespeare is her darling right to the end for inspiration.
This may not be one of the very best of Christie's books, but it is clever, with better writing than we have seen for many years from Christie (because she wrote it in the forties!). She also doesn’t bother to pull it from the vault to revise it for continuity, grr. For instance, the supposedly older Poirot here has more problems with colloquial English than he has had in decades, consistent with a forties Poirot, not a seventies Poirot. But overall, it was good to bring back Hastings, and to end as we began, in Styles. And the killer—a serial killer—and how he kills, is original and interesting. It is a very good book in the Christie canon and because of the nature of the killer and because of the series of Big Surprises in the plot, I am going to bump it from 4.5 to 5 stars.
A SPOILER ALERT about something very sweet that had never before happened, hidden in this link to the historically stuffy The New York Times, 6 August 1975, following the publication of Curtain:
http://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/06/arc...
My five star Poirots:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Peril at End House
Murder on the Orient Express
Curtain
My four star Poirots:
Lord Edgeware Dies
Three Act Tragedy
The A.B.C. Murders
Murder in Mesopotamia
Cards on the Table
Death on the Nile
Sad Cypress
Evil Under the Sun
Five Little Pig
The Hollow
After the Funeral
“Nothing is so sad, in my opinion, as the devastation wrought by age”—Hastings, on Poirot
I’m done, whew, having read all of 38 Christie Poirot novels (and a couple short story collections) in order of publication, over the past 2-3 years. I’ll listen again to And Then There Were None and will not read Christie again for awhile, I am sure.
Christie, fearing for her life during WWII, wrote the last Poirot and Marple books in the early forties, and sealed them in a vault until just a couple years before her death, intending them to be the last novels, the last word, for her respective detective heroes. She much preferred Marple to Poirot, who in the sixties she had truly grown tired of, calling him "an egocentric creep". However, unlike Conan Doyle, Christie resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She saw herself as an entertainer whose job was to produce what the public liked, and the public liked Poirot.
Christie made a mistake in 1920 in introducing her Belgian detective as already retired, and then writing him as a main character for fifty more years!! So are we to surmise he retired at 40? 21?! Poirot returns to Styles in this one, where the first Poirot novel is set, written in 1920 when Christie was 30. Curtain was published in 1975, less than a year before she died, at 85, in 1976!! 55 years of writing Poirot!! Poor (and very rich, especially for an author) woman! Good for her and us, though, on the whole, as she emerged as the best selling author of all time.
And no matter how old he is, we need our main man with the marvelous moustaches to be in full possession of his “little gray cells” right up until the end. Is this realistic? Well, either way he seems undiminished in speech and cognition without fail. The erosion of memory is a theme in this and many of the last books for the eighty-something Christie, but not for Poirot! He solves the crime, as always, though it is complicated and interesting how it happens and how it is revealed; I can’t exactly say how without spoilers.
This book also features the return from the early Poirot-books Captain Hastings, a buffoon who again tells the story, clueless every step of the way.
Keyholes figure in, amusingly.
Since Curtain is the title, Christie frames her last book in terms of her major love, theater, and performance, and disguises. We even discover Poirot has been disguising himself for years, in a way. And Othello’s Iago figures in, so Shakespeare is her darling right to the end for inspiration.
This may not be one of the very best of Christie's books, but it is clever, with better writing than we have seen for many years from Christie (because she wrote it in the forties!). She also doesn’t bother to pull it from the vault to revise it for continuity, grr. For instance, the supposedly older Poirot here has more problems with colloquial English than he has had in decades, consistent with a forties Poirot, not a seventies Poirot. But overall, it was good to bring back Hastings, and to end as we began, in Styles. And the killer—a serial killer—and how he kills, is original and interesting. It is a very good book in the Christie canon and because of the nature of the killer and because of the series of Big Surprises in the plot, I am going to bump it from 4.5 to 5 stars.
A SPOILER ALERT about something very sweet that had never before happened, hidden in this link to the historically stuffy The New York Times, 6 August 1975, following the publication of Curtain:
http://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/06/arc...
My five star Poirots:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Peril at End House
Murder on the Orient Express
Curtain
My four star Poirots:
Lord Edgeware Dies
Three Act Tragedy
The A.B.C. Murders
Murder in Mesopotamia
Cards on the Table
Death on the Nile
Sad Cypress
Evil Under the Sun
Five Little Pig
The Hollow
After the Funeral
February 21, 2023
Top notch mystery by Christie, Curtain, is rather sad because Poirot is sick and near death but returns to Styles where his work in England began. Styles is a once lovely, English estate in which Poirot and his friend Hastings convalesced after the war and became great friends. The murder of the elderly lady of the house was soon solved by the Belgian sleuth.
Now, another murder is imminent and Poirot knows the murderer, but not who is to be murdered. Hastings is such a clueless, dunderhead I don't know how he survived in daily life. Poor Poirot has to spoon-feed him every clue, and Hastings knows nothing about people or what motivates them. It must be very frustrating for Poirot to have such a goodhearted, but idiotic friend.
Now, another murder is imminent and Poirot knows the murderer, but not who is to be murdered. Hastings is such a clueless, dunderhead I don't know how he survived in daily life. Poor Poirot has to spoon-feed him every clue, and Hastings knows nothing about people or what motivates them. It must be very frustrating for Poirot to have such a goodhearted, but idiotic friend.
May 26, 2024
You Chose Your Own Adventure!
You are the killer: you kill yourself. You deserve it. Or do you? Are you the hero or the villain? But what does it matter; in the end, death comes to us all. Your adventure is over.
If you decide to reject your notorious life, it's time to live on the down-low, choose
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
You are the killer: you kill yourself. You deserve it. Or do you? Are you the hero or the villain? But what does it matter; in the end, death comes to us all. Your adventure is over.
If you decide to reject your notorious life, it's time to live on the down-low, choose
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
September 1, 2015
Agatha Christie's swan song for her most famous character, Hercule Poirot, fittingly returns him and and his friend Arthur Hastings to the setting of her very first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Aside from the fact that it's Poirot's final case, a rather unusual twist and the recurring Othello theme make this one of Christie's more memorable works, if rather melancholy.
It was interesting to find out that Christie originally wrote this novel during World War II, possibly fearing that she might not survive the war and wanting to give Poirot an appropriate send-off. Then she put Curtain in a bank vault for over 30 years, finally publishing it in 1975. It was her last published book before she died.
Au revoir, Agatha and Hercule.
It was interesting to find out that Christie originally wrote this novel during World War II, possibly fearing that she might not survive the war and wanting to give Poirot an appropriate send-off. Then she put Curtain in a bank vault for over 30 years, finally publishing it in 1975. It was her last published book before she died.
Au revoir, Agatha and Hercule.
January 8, 2022
Agatha Christie Book Reading Challenge
BOOK 14 :- JAN 2020
4 STARS
BOOK 14 :- JAN 2020
4 STARS
September 18, 2016
"For a murderer, my friend, is more conceited than any creature on this earth. A murderer is always more clever than anyone else- no one will ever suspect him or her- the police will be utterly baffled"
The above quote is a perfect way to describe this mystery.
I have been wanting to read this for some time now and what better day than Christie's birthday.
I have now read numerous mysteries by Christie but there is no pattern (apart from a cozy setting)
Each and every mystery, murder suspects, the end is unique and it baffles me as generally when you read many books by one author some things do become predictable.
The only thing I have learnt after reading Agatha Christie books is that expect the unexpected and still you won't guess how shocking the unexpected can be!
This is the last in the series of Poirot mysteries and I would recommend to read the first of this series- The Mysterious Affair at Styles before this as both the mysteries take place at Styles and there is a spoiler to the first book in this story.
"And suddenly from nowhere, a vague feeling of uneasiness and disquiet assailed me. It was not safe- it was not right- to plan happiness here. There was something malignant about the air of Styles"
Poirot and Hastings come together in this last case together to catch X who is clever and sadistic as any murderer can be. There is a mix of lovely characters who make you trust them but doubt them at the same time.
"Everyone is a potential murderer- in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill- though not the will to kill"
The ending is soo ingenious but soo complicated, I just had to sit back and digest it all
There is no way I could have guessed this. Did you?
The above quote is a perfect way to describe this mystery.
I have been wanting to read this for some time now and what better day than Christie's birthday.
I have now read numerous mysteries by Christie but there is no pattern (apart from a cozy setting)
Each and every mystery, murder suspects, the end is unique and it baffles me as generally when you read many books by one author some things do become predictable.
The only thing I have learnt after reading Agatha Christie books is that expect the unexpected and still you won't guess how shocking the unexpected can be!
This is the last in the series of Poirot mysteries and I would recommend to read the first of this series- The Mysterious Affair at Styles before this as both the mysteries take place at Styles and there is a spoiler to the first book in this story.
"And suddenly from nowhere, a vague feeling of uneasiness and disquiet assailed me. It was not safe- it was not right- to plan happiness here. There was something malignant about the air of Styles"
Poirot and Hastings come together in this last case together to catch X who is clever and sadistic as any murderer can be. There is a mix of lovely characters who make you trust them but doubt them at the same time.
"Everyone is a potential murderer- in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill- though not the will to kill"
The ending is soo ingenious but soo complicated, I just had to sit back and digest it all
There is no way I could have guessed this. Did you?
May 12, 2020
I admit it, I teared up at the end; I don't ever want there to be a final Poirot novel. However, two things comforted me: one is that this was not actually the last novel Dame Agatha wrote about Poirot, not by a long shot. Since Elephants Can Remember is largely regarded as a weak later effort, I think of Hallowe'en Party as the last excellent novel written about Poirot. Curtain was written somewhere around WWII most likely, and put away to be released decades later as Agatha neared the end of her long career. So it is always possible to read the novels in chronological order and pretend that Poirot is back for all his many post-WWII cases, rather like Sherlock Holmes' return from "The Final Problem".
But the biggest comfort is that this truly excellent novel could not have been written without
There are many satisfying elements in this novel to console the bereaved reader. There is the perfect symmetry of having Poirot's English career end where it began, at Styles Court (and many other, more minor symmetries along the way). There is the character development of Hastings, shown here as far more complex that one usually credits him as being, and given hope of a happy ending and a new romance thoughtfully provided by Poirot! There is the delightful surprise that,
Curtain is supremely clever and confident, one of Dame Agatha's tours de force. I am glad, though, that she never I really don't think I could handle that.
But the biggest comfort is that this truly excellent novel could not have been written without
There are many satisfying elements in this novel to console the bereaved reader. There is the perfect symmetry of having Poirot's English career end where it began, at Styles Court (and many other, more minor symmetries along the way). There is the character development of Hastings, shown here as far more complex that one usually credits him as being, and given hope of a happy ending and a new romance thoughtfully provided by Poirot! There is the delightful surprise that,
Curtain is supremely clever and confident, one of Dame Agatha's tours de force. I am glad, though, that she never I really don't think I could handle that.
July 14, 2018
پرده که آخرین پروندهی پوآرو بود از زبان مردی به نام هستینگز روایت میشه که دوست قدیمی پوآرو به حساب میاد. افرادی تو یک مهمانخانه جمع شدند و ادامهی ماجرا...
داستان با وجود تعدد شخصیتها، شخصیتپردازی خیلی خوبی داره و به مرور با همهشون آشنا میشیم و آخر کتاب همهشون رو میشناسیم.
روند داستان در طول کل کتاب جاذبهی خودش رو حفظ کرد و جایی نبود که احساس کنم خسته شدم یا حوصلهم سر رفته و تقریبا اگر بخوایم محدودیتهای زمانی خودم رو فاکتور بگیریم، یک نفس خوندمش.
به طور کلی بعد از مدتها یک کتاب معمایی جنایی کاملا جذاب خوندم که تا انتها هیچ چیزی قابل پیشبینی نبود و حتی حدسام با اینکه به واقعیت ماجرا مربوط بود یه جورایی پیش پا افتاده به نظر رسید!
----------------------
یادگاری از کتاب:
وقتی انسان در وضعیتی قرار میگیرد که قبلا هم آن را تجربه کرده است، همان احساسی در ایجاد میشود که در گذشته دستخوش آن بوده است؛ گویی آن وضعیت و آن احساس با رشتهای ناگسستنی به هم گره خوردهاند.
...
میخواهیم آنطور که دلمان میخواهد زندگی کنیم، ولی هیچوقت نمیخواهیم دیگران هم مثل ما زندگی کنند.
...
آدم تنها که باشد راحتتر است.
...
نمیدانید چقدر ناراحتکننده است که آدم همیشه از دیگران بخواهد کارهایش را انجام بدهند.
...
گلهای ظریف و زیبا باید در گلخانه قرار داده شوند و تحت مراقبت قرار گیرند؛ چون بادهای سرد و هوای نامساعد از بینشان میبرد. اما علفهای هرز در همه جا میرویند و هر هوایی را تحمل میکنند و این دلیل نمیشود که ارزش آنها صرفا به خاطر این خصوصیت بیشتر باشد.
...
تاریکترین شب چون به فردا برسد گذشته است و جایش را روشنایی گرفته.
...
مردم کمتر قدر حقیقت را میدانند. در صورتی که اگر آدم حقیقت را بگوید، در وقت واقعا صرفهجویی میکند و خیلی حرفهای بیربط اصلا لازم نیست گفته شود.
...
کمال مطلوب هر کس خاص خود اوست.
داستان با وجود تعدد شخصیتها، شخصیتپردازی خیلی خوبی داره و به مرور با همهشون آشنا میشیم و آخر کتاب همهشون رو میشناسیم.
روند داستان در طول کل کتاب جاذبهی خودش رو حفظ کرد و جایی نبود که احساس کنم خسته شدم یا حوصلهم سر رفته و تقریبا اگر بخوایم محدودیتهای زمانی خودم رو فاکتور بگیریم، یک نفس خوندمش.
به طور کلی بعد از مدتها یک کتاب معمایی جنایی کاملا جذاب خوندم که تا انتها هیچ چیزی قابل پیشبینی نبود و حتی حدسام با اینکه به واقعیت ماجرا مربوط بود یه جورایی پیش پا افتاده به نظر رسید!
----------------------
یادگاری از کتاب:
وقتی انسان در وضعیتی قرار میگیرد که قبلا هم آن را تجربه کرده است، همان احساسی در ایجاد میشود که در گذشته دستخوش آن بوده است؛ گویی آن وضعیت و آن احساس با رشتهای ناگسستنی به هم گره خوردهاند.
...
میخواهیم آنطور که دلمان میخواهد زندگی کنیم، ولی هیچوقت نمیخواهیم دیگران هم مثل ما زندگی کنند.
...
آدم تنها که باشد راحتتر است.
...
نمیدانید چقدر ناراحتکننده است که آدم همیشه از دیگران بخواهد کارهایش را انجام بدهند.
...
گلهای ظریف و زیبا باید در گلخانه قرار داده شوند و تحت مراقبت قرار گیرند؛ چون بادهای سرد و هوای نامساعد از بینشان میبرد. اما علفهای هرز در همه جا میرویند و هر هوایی را تحمل میکنند و این دلیل نمیشود که ارزش آنها صرفا به خاطر این خصوصیت بیشتر باشد.
...
تاریکترین شب چون به فردا برسد گذشته است و جایش را روشنایی گرفته.
...
مردم کمتر قدر حقیقت را میدانند. در صورتی که اگر آدم حقیقت را بگوید، در وقت واقعا صرفهجویی میکند و خیلی حرفهای بیربط اصلا لازم نیست گفته شود.
...
کمال مطلوب هر کس خاص خود اوست.
September 12, 2019
I am sad that I had to give 2 stars to an Agatha Christie book because I am a huge fan. I took this book with a lot of hope. This book is so famous I thought I will have a fantastic reading experience with it. I felt distraught after reading it.
The 2 stars are for the following:
The original idea of the story, a criminal who puts thoughts into people and make them commit crimes. It was brilliant. Totally awesome.
Secondly, the book portrays many kinds of people and their relationships. And I thought Christie was able to bring justice to that.
Things I hated about this book:
Characters: Apparently the only character I could like was that of the murderer.( sigh!) All the rest of them were totally unbearable. Couldn't stand anyone including Poirot. I couldn't accept their opinions. I hated Poirot for constantly mocking Hastings who is mind you his closest friend and has come to visit Poirot because he asked for him. Now if I were Hastings, I would have left Poirot to succumb to his ailments, the way he treated me. Its almost close to abuse. This is the book where I truly hated Poirot. Ok enough with this stuff.
Plot: Oh boy. Even though the story line and relationship between the characters are greatly written, the whole story is really stupid. Like Poirot must be held responsible for atleast one murder and another attempt at murder. He could have prevented that from happening. Instead of that he just sits back in his chair and relaxes, leaving poor clueless Hastings to figure out who the murderer is, from a bunch of obnoxious, dark people.
Conclusion: Equally terrible. Has any of the readers thought about the fact that if Poirot ( trying to avoid spoilers here, please bear with me) did what he did at the end of the story, at the beginning, everything would have been set right. Instead he waits idly so that Christie has a novel to write about!
Really! This is probably one of the few Christie novels in which I feel Christie was trying to mock at the intellect of the reader as well as that of Hastings! (Obviously).
The 2 stars are for the following:
The original idea of the story, a criminal who puts thoughts into people and make them commit crimes. It was brilliant. Totally awesome.
Secondly, the book portrays many kinds of people and their relationships. And I thought Christie was able to bring justice to that.
Things I hated about this book:
Characters: Apparently the only character I could like was that of the murderer.( sigh!) All the rest of them were totally unbearable. Couldn't stand anyone including Poirot. I couldn't accept their opinions. I hated Poirot for constantly mocking Hastings who is mind you his closest friend and has come to visit Poirot because he asked for him. Now if I were Hastings, I would have left Poirot to succumb to his ailments, the way he treated me. Its almost close to abuse. This is the book where I truly hated Poirot. Ok enough with this stuff.
Plot: Oh boy. Even though the story line and relationship between the characters are greatly written, the whole story is really stupid. Like Poirot must be held responsible for atleast one murder and another attempt at murder. He could have prevented that from happening. Instead of that he just sits back in his chair and relaxes, leaving poor clueless Hastings to figure out who the murderer is, from a bunch of obnoxious, dark people.
Conclusion: Equally terrible. Has any of the readers thought about the fact that if Poirot ( trying to avoid spoilers here, please bear with me) did what he did at the end of the story, at the beginning, everything would have been set right. Instead he waits idly so that Christie has a novel to write about!
Really! This is probably one of the few Christie novels in which I feel Christie was trying to mock at the intellect of the reader as well as that of Hastings! (Obviously).
February 26, 2021
What does one think when a read of 3 years comes to an end. It has been an enjoyable 3 years, and although I had read some of the books, some were certainly new to me and were an enjoyable revelation.
This was no exception, yes I have seen the David Suchet tv episode, but I do not remember reading this novel despite owning the book for many years. Firstly I have to say I found it very moving as well as being a great detective story. Both Hastings and Poirot were the epitome of Hastings- ness and Poirot-ness, and this made the book so enjoyable.
Returning to Styles where they first met, on the orders of Poirot, Hastings finds it is now a hotel of sorts, and Poirot is a long term guest. Now confined to a wheelchair, Poirot appears very frail, and Hastings wonders at times if his little grey cells are in decline along with his body. Poirot puts forward an hypothesis that a mysterious Mr X has committed indirectly many murders and is one of the guests in Styles, and that a murder will be committed. Unable to move about because of his infirmities, Poirot enlists Hastings to be his eyes and ears, and to relay all events and conversations.
To add a touch of spice to the mix, Hastings youngest daughter is also staying there whilst she pursues her scientific career as a Doctor's assistant. Hastings ever the true English gent (oh why are there so few left now ?) always thinks the best of people, struggles to see through the outward appearance of his fellow guests and as a father is so caring and solicitous of his daughter, that she pushes against his stifling love.
Events move towards a climax, various accidents occur followed by murder and then the unthinkable saddest of all things happens. I must admit that reading certain passages brought a tear to my eyes, but for all the sadness there was also a final demonstration albeit posthumously of Poirot's abilities.
This was no exception, yes I have seen the David Suchet tv episode, but I do not remember reading this novel despite owning the book for many years. Firstly I have to say I found it very moving as well as being a great detective story. Both Hastings and Poirot were the epitome of Hastings- ness and Poirot-ness, and this made the book so enjoyable.
Returning to Styles where they first met, on the orders of Poirot, Hastings finds it is now a hotel of sorts, and Poirot is a long term guest. Now confined to a wheelchair, Poirot appears very frail, and Hastings wonders at times if his little grey cells are in decline along with his body. Poirot puts forward an hypothesis that a mysterious Mr X has committed indirectly many murders and is one of the guests in Styles, and that a murder will be committed. Unable to move about because of his infirmities, Poirot enlists Hastings to be his eyes and ears, and to relay all events and conversations.
To add a touch of spice to the mix, Hastings youngest daughter is also staying there whilst she pursues her scientific career as a Doctor's assistant. Hastings ever the true English gent (oh why are there so few left now ?) always thinks the best of people, struggles to see through the outward appearance of his fellow guests and as a father is so caring and solicitous of his daughter, that she pushes against his stifling love.
Events move towards a climax, various accidents occur followed by murder and then the unthinkable saddest of all things happens. I must admit that reading certain passages brought a tear to my eyes, but for all the sadness there was also a final demonstration albeit posthumously of Poirot's abilities.
August 23, 2022
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Poirot! I was in an emotional rollercoaster after I finished reading this one! Not going to get into details, but, what a treat there is ahead of you! 🔥
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Poirot! I was in an emotional rollercoaster after I finished reading this one! Not going to get into details, but, what a treat there is ahead of you! 🔥
August 17, 2022
Sconvolta. Devastata.
Poirot, tutto avrei immaginato, tranne questo.
Poirot, tutto avrei immaginato, tranne questo.
December 7, 2023
I don't know how the last volume in the series snuck up on me! For some reason, I thought there was more. I began reading the Hercule Poirot series on February 7th, 2018, and now, on December 6th, 2023 I have finished.
Agatha Christie has taken us full circle, the Poirot series began at the country estate - Styles Court, and ends there also. There are many characters and we get to learn more of Hastings personal life, which was interesting.
Favorite quotes:
Regarding married life: "Underneath the quarrels, the misunderstandings, the apparent hostility of everyday life, a real and true affection can exist."
Hastings - "Married life, I mused, as I went to bed, was a curious thing."
A doctor reflects on his patients: "“Most people,” he said, “don’t want to know. They want soothing syrup. They want hope. They want reassurance ladled out in driblets."
Famous last words, "“Cher ami!” Poirot had said to [Hastings] as [he] left the room."
Agatha Christie has taken us full circle, the Poirot series began at the country estate - Styles Court, and ends there also. There are many characters and we get to learn more of Hastings personal life, which was interesting.
Favorite quotes:
Regarding married life: "Underneath the quarrels, the misunderstandings, the apparent hostility of everyday life, a real and true affection can exist."
Hastings - "Married life, I mused, as I went to bed, was a curious thing."
A doctor reflects on his patients: "“Most people,” he said, “don’t want to know. They want soothing syrup. They want hope. They want reassurance ladled out in driblets."
Famous last words, "“Cher ami!” Poirot had said to [Hastings] as [he] left the room."
January 1, 2019
Outstanding. Better than the first time that I read it.
March 7, 2019
3.5*
brace 2019 βιβλίο που συνδυάζει 2 κατηγορίες: εκδόθηκε μετά το θάνατο της συγγραφέως (σύμφωνα με την επιθυμία της) και ανήκει στα νουάρ
νοσταλγικό και πιο πολύ αφηγηματικό, μου έλειψε ο Πουαρώ, ήταν αφιερωμένο στον Χέιστινγκς
brace 2019 βιβλίο που συνδυάζει 2 κατηγορίες: εκδόθηκε μετά το θάνατο της συγγραφέως (σύμφωνα με την επιθυμία της) και ανήκει στα νουάρ
νοσταλγικό και πιο πολύ αφηγηματικό, μου έλειψε ο Πουαρώ, ήταν αφιερωμένο στον Χέιστινγκς
July 26, 2020
خب آخرین پرونده پوآرو هم تموم شد و باید بگم انصافا پرونده جالب و متفاوتی بود
ولی
با احترام به نظر همه اونایی که این داستان رو بهترین کار کریستی میدونن باید بگم به نظرم با اینکه واقعا جز بهترین ها بود ولی کریستی بهتر ازاینم داشته و یک ستاره ازش کم میکنم
در هر حال یکی از پلن های زندگیم اینجا تموم شد
از اولین روزی که با هرکول پوآرو آشنا شدم که یادم نمیاد دقیقا کی و کجا بوده تا این لحظه که دارم ریویوی آخرین کتابش رو مینویسم همیشه دوست داشتم تمام کتابهاش رو بخونم
ممنون از چالش های فوق العاده ای که به ذهنم دادی
از اون لحظاتی که کتاب رو میبستم و ده بیست دقیقه فکر میکردم که خب بالاخره قاتل کی میتونه باشه؟
و اون لحظه روشن شدن حقیقت که هر دفعه غافلگیرم میکرد
سفر هیجان انگیزی بود
ولی
با احترام به نظر همه اونایی که این داستان رو بهترین کار کریستی میدونن باید بگم به نظرم با اینکه واقعا جز بهترین ها بود ولی کریستی بهتر ازاینم داشته و یک ستاره ازش کم میکنم
در هر حال یکی از پلن های زندگیم اینجا تموم شد
از اولین روزی که با هرکول پوآرو آشنا شدم که یادم نمیاد دقیقا کی و کجا بوده تا این لحظه که دارم ریویوی آخرین کتابش رو مینویسم همیشه دوست داشتم تمام کتابهاش رو بخونم
ممنون از چالش های فوق العاده ای که به ذهنم دادی
از اون لحظاتی که کتاب رو میبستم و ده بیست دقیقه فکر میکردم که خب بالاخره قاتل کی میتونه باشه؟
و اون لحظه روشن شدن حقیقت که هر دفعه غافلگیرم میکرد
سفر هیجان انگیزی بود
October 22, 2023
[ESP/ENG]
Desde luego, querido. Usted y yo, Hastings, vamos a dedicarnos de nuevo a la caza.
Esta novela lleva el subtítulo de "El último caso de Poirot", así que es fácil adivinar de qué va. Nuestro belga favorito se ha de enfrentar a un caso muy complicado, en el que...No voy a contar más, es mucho spoiler.
Este libro se escribió con antelación y permaneció en una caja fuerte guardado hasta que Agatha Christie dio luz verde a su publicación, por lo que hay mucha referencia a obras anteriores pero solo hasta un punto. Siempre fue concebida para ser la última obra para Poirot. No he leído más que unos pocos, pero para fans con más conocimiento de su obra esto debe ser algo muy chulo. Todo sucede en la mansión Styles, como la primera obra de Poirot, por ejemplo.
Como siempre el bueno de Poirot pone el punto de inteligencia y serenidad, siempre entremezclando algunas palabritas en francés como es costumbre suya. En este caso se rodea de su amigo Hastings, con el que ha coincidido varias veces y que aquí va a ser el motor principal de la acción, teniendo Poirot un papel más secundario, algo curioso siendo el último caso de este. El resto del reparto es el clásico, muy variado y de los que iremos sabiendo cosas mientras avanza la trama. Una vez más he fallado al/la culpable, y eso que esta vez estaba convencido de haber acertado.
Me resulta muy curioso que aunque sea otra época se haga tan libremente un comentario como el de asesinar a una señora de un hachazo en la cabeza, así tal cual, dicho 3 o 4 veces. Vale que es una señora muy desagradable, pero no sé, queda muy forzado.
La novela tiene un giro final sorpresivo, pero no me gusta el hecho en sí.
Un cierre que podría haber sido algo más redondo, pero no me ha dejado insatisfecho. Ahora solo me queda leer el primero y otros muuuuchos más.
-------------------------------------
Of course I mean it. You and I, Hastings, are going hunting once again.
This novel is subtitled "Poirot's Last Affair", so it's easy to guess what it's about. Our favorite Belgian has to face a very complicated case, in which...I'm not going to say anything else, it's too much of a spoiler.
This book was written in advance and sat in a safe deposit box until Agatha Christie gave the green light for publication, so there is a lot of reference to earlier works but only to a point. It was always intended to be Poirot's last play. I haven't read more than a few, but for fans with more knowledge of her work this should be something very cool. Everything happens in the Styles mansion, like Poirot's first play, for example.
As always, good old Poirot puts the of intelligence and serenity, always throwing some little words in French as is his custom. In this case he surrounds himself with his friend Hastings, with whom he has met several times and who here is going to be the main driving force of the action, with Poirot having a more secondary role, something curious being the last case of the latter. The rest of the cast is classic, very varied and about whom we will learn things as the plot progresses. Once again I have failed to adivinate the culprit, and this time I was convinced that I had got it right.
I find it very curious that even though it is a different time, a comment like murdering a woman with an ax to the head is made so freely, just like that, said 3 or 4 times. Ok, she is a very unpleasant lady, but I don't know, it sound very forced.
The novel has a surprising twist at the end, but I don't like the fact itself.
A closure that could have been a little more round, but it did not leave me dissatisfied. Now I only have to read the first one and many more.
Desde luego, querido. Usted y yo, Hastings, vamos a dedicarnos de nuevo a la caza.
Esta novela lleva el subtítulo de "El último caso de Poirot", así que es fácil adivinar de qué va. Nuestro belga favorito se ha de enfrentar a un caso muy complicado, en el que...No voy a contar más, es mucho spoiler.
Este libro se escribió con antelación y permaneció en una caja fuerte guardado hasta que Agatha Christie dio luz verde a su publicación, por lo que hay mucha referencia a obras anteriores pero solo hasta un punto. Siempre fue concebida para ser la última obra para Poirot. No he leído más que unos pocos, pero para fans con más conocimiento de su obra esto debe ser algo muy chulo. Todo sucede en la mansión Styles, como la primera obra de Poirot, por ejemplo.
Como siempre el bueno de Poirot pone el punto de inteligencia y serenidad, siempre entremezclando algunas palabritas en francés como es costumbre suya. En este caso se rodea de su amigo Hastings, con el que ha coincidido varias veces y que aquí va a ser el motor principal de la acción, teniendo Poirot un papel más secundario, algo curioso siendo el último caso de este. El resto del reparto es el clásico, muy variado y de los que iremos sabiendo cosas mientras avanza la trama. Una vez más he fallado al/la culpable, y eso que esta vez estaba convencido de haber acertado.
Me resulta muy curioso que aunque sea otra época se haga tan libremente un comentario como el de asesinar a una señora de un hachazo en la cabeza, así tal cual, dicho 3 o 4 veces. Vale que es una señora muy desagradable, pero no sé, queda muy forzado.
La novela tiene un giro final sorpresivo, pero no me gusta el hecho en sí.
Un cierre que podría haber sido algo más redondo, pero no me ha dejado insatisfecho. Ahora solo me queda leer el primero y otros muuuuchos más.
-------------------------------------
Of course I mean it. You and I, Hastings, are going hunting once again.
This novel is subtitled "Poirot's Last Affair", so it's easy to guess what it's about. Our favorite Belgian has to face a very complicated case, in which...I'm not going to say anything else, it's too much of a spoiler.
This book was written in advance and sat in a safe deposit box until Agatha Christie gave the green light for publication, so there is a lot of reference to earlier works but only to a point. It was always intended to be Poirot's last play. I haven't read more than a few, but for fans with more knowledge of her work this should be something very cool. Everything happens in the Styles mansion, like Poirot's first play, for example.
As always, good old Poirot puts the of intelligence and serenity, always throwing some little words in French as is his custom. In this case he surrounds himself with his friend Hastings, with whom he has met several times and who here is going to be the main driving force of the action, with Poirot having a more secondary role, something curious being the last case of the latter. The rest of the cast is classic, very varied and about whom we will learn things as the plot progresses. Once again I have failed to adivinate the culprit, and this time I was convinced that I had got it right.
I find it very curious that even though it is a different time, a comment like murdering a woman with an ax to the head is made so freely, just like that, said 3 or 4 times. Ok, she is a very unpleasant lady, but I don't know, it sound very forced.
The novel has a surprising twist at the end, but I don't like the fact itself.
A closure that could have been a little more round, but it did not leave me dissatisfied. Now I only have to read the first one and many more.
September 19, 2024
A Brilliant, Respectful Ending for a G.O.A.T
قصد ندارم جزئیات رو فاش کنم که منجر به اسپویل بشه. صرفاً همین رو بگم که پایانبندی شخصیت هرکول پوآرو کاملاً درست، بهجا، درخشان و اونیکهمیباید بود. این پایان در واقع ادای احترامی بود به شخصیت و میراث پوآرو.
پایاندادن و مهمتر از اون، چگونه پایاندادن، به چنین شخصیتی قطعاً برای خالقش هم بسیار سخت و پیچیده بود. ولی کریستی بهنحو احسن از عهدهش براومد. من که واقعاً حظ بردم. و بسیار برام قابلستایشه که پوآرو در آخر عمر کاری خودش با بنیادیترین تردیدهای اخلاقی روبهرو شد و درنهایت دست به عملی زد که شاید بشه از منظر اخلاق ناشایست شمردش ولی درستترین و بهجاترین چیزی بود که باید برای چنین شخصیتی رقم میخورد. بهنظرم این پایان، میخ آخری بود به پایهی تثبیت پوآرو بهعنوان یکی از بزرگترین کارگاههای تاریخ ادبیات جنایی.
سرگذشت هرکول پوآرو از جنایتی در استایلز آغار شد و با جنایتی در استایلز پایان گرفت.
از نوجوانی تا بهحال خوندن این کتاب رو به تعویق انداخته بودم. خداحافظی با شخصیتهای داستانیای که باهاشون اخت گرفتهم، همیشه برام سخته. الآنم راستش یکم رقیق و احساساتیم. :))
اینم بگم از بین ترجمههای مختلفی که تابهحال از آثار آگاتا کریستی خوندهم، این ترجمه از همه بهتر بود. و از بین همهی طرحجلدها، این طرح جلد از همهشون قشنگتر بود.
گرچه که تا حالا خیلی از آثار کریستی رو خوندهم ولی این تنها کتابشه که ۵/۵ امتیاز دادم. عجیب ولی واقعی. :))
It was a nice journey. Farewell, my old friend.
قصد ندارم جزئیات رو فاش کنم که منجر به اسپویل بشه. صرفاً همین رو بگم که پایانبندی شخصیت هرکول پوآرو کاملاً درست، بهجا، درخشان و اونیکهمیباید بود. این پایان در واقع ادای احترامی بود به شخصیت و میراث پوآرو.
پایاندادن و مهمتر از اون، چگونه پایاندادن، به چنین شخصیتی قطعاً برای خالقش هم بسیار سخت و پیچیده بود. ولی کریستی بهنحو احسن از عهدهش براومد. من که واقعاً حظ بردم. و بسیار برام قابلستایشه که پوآرو در آخر عمر کاری خودش با بنیادیترین تردیدهای اخلاقی روبهرو شد و درنهایت دست به عملی زد که شاید بشه از منظر اخلاق ناشایست شمردش ولی درستترین و بهجاترین چیزی بود که باید برای چنین شخصیتی رقم میخورد. بهنظرم این پایان، میخ آخری بود به پایهی تثبیت پوآرو بهعنوان یکی از بزرگترین کارگاههای تاریخ ادبیات جنایی.
سرگذشت هرکول پوآرو از جنایتی در استایلز آغار شد و با جنایتی در استایلز پایان گرفت.
از نوجوانی تا بهحال خوندن این کتاب رو به تعویق انداخته بودم. خداحافظی با شخصیتهای داستانیای که باهاشون اخت گرفتهم، همیشه برام سخته. الآنم راستش یکم رقیق و احساساتیم. :))
اینم بگم از بین ترجمههای مختلفی که تابهحال از آثار آگاتا کریستی خوندهم، این ترجمه از همه بهتر بود. و از بین همهی طرحجلدها، این طرح جلد از همهشون قشنگتر بود.
گرچه که تا حالا خیلی از آثار کریستی رو خوندهم ولی این تنها کتابشه که ۵/۵ امتیاز دادم. عجیب ولی واقعی. :))
It was a nice journey. Farewell, my old friend.
May 14, 2019
A masterpiece for finishing the series. Although I haven't read all the books, only 5-6. I read what I had in hand.
A really good crime plot. I guessed some parts about the story, but not the parts of murderer.
Thought I grew out of classical crime fiction after school, but no. The impression was as good as it was about 15 years ago. Maybe it's time I reread Sherlock Holmes?
A really good crime plot. I guessed some parts about the story, but not the parts of murderer.
Thought I grew out of classical crime fiction after school, but no. The impression was as good as it was about 15 years ago. Maybe it's time I reread Sherlock Holmes?
December 8, 2022
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4.5 stars
Curtain bids a bittersweet farewell to the one and only Hercule Poirot. While I know that by this point Agatha Christie feelings towards him were less than amicable, her novel doesn't convey its creators impatience. Rather than hurrying Poirot off from the stage, Christie grants him one final performance.
I will admit that seeing the formidable Poirot altered in such a visible way did indeed affect me. Still, in spite of his physical appearance, his mind remains as sharp as ever and he is, as per usual, always a mile ahead of his naïve friend Hastings (who is yet again played like a fiddle). Surprisingly Hastings was not as irritating as he could usually be, and while his younger self was more of a stick-in-the-mud kind of chap (at times acting like little more than disgruntled child), this older Hastings seems far more genial. Hastings' feelings mirrored my own ones: being at Styles again brings about a bout of nostalgia, and his reunion with Poirot reveals that underneath his somewhat priggish British exterior, lies a deep affection for his Belgian friend.
Their banter was as amusing as ever, especially in those occasions when Poirot teases Hastings about his partiality for redheads.
While many of Christie's murderers are often motived by financial gain, in Curtain our 'X' is driven by much more fiendish impulses. Suspecting this, Poirot is forced to act fast. Sadly, his failing health does seem to disrupt his investigation so much so that Poirot finds himself seeking once again Hastings' assistance.
The group of people residing in Styles offer us with interesting little portraits of human nature: a domineering spouse, an ambitious doctor, a womaniser...some of these have indeed in some form or other in previous works by Christie but that doesn't make them any less interesting. Christie, as per usual, demonstrates that she is perfectly attuned to capture certain personalities—their attitudes, moral and political standpoints, as well as their fears and desires, their strengths and weaknesses—and the way in which they talk—through different word choices, expressions, and turns of phrases—so that each character leaves a vivid impression in the readers' mind.
Christie's own nostalgia is apparent in this novel, and Hastings, similarly to his creator, perceives the changes in his world with an uneasy acceptance. There are quite a few works by Christie that express uncertainty over the modernisation and rapidly changing social norms of her country, and these feelings particularly suited the story of Curtain as much of it seems to be a dialogue between the various cases that have shaped Poirot's career.
The mystery was skillfully executed, and I enjoyed reading of the way in which seemingly small events and exchanges seemed to alienate the characters from one another. The reveal was both clever and effective, bringing light to the whole affair.
I thoroughly recommend this one to fans of Poirot. Sad as it may be, it demonstrates Christie's greatest strengths (wit, murder, drama). And while the novel might be presenting us with Poirot's final case, I am eager to be reunited with him in his early adventures...
4.5 stars
“Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion?”
Curtain bids a bittersweet farewell to the one and only Hercule Poirot. While I know that by this point Agatha Christie feelings towards him were less than amicable, her novel doesn't convey its creators impatience. Rather than hurrying Poirot off from the stage, Christie grants him one final performance.
I will admit that seeing the formidable Poirot altered in such a visible way did indeed affect me. Still, in spite of his physical appearance, his mind remains as sharp as ever and he is, as per usual, always a mile ahead of his naïve friend Hastings (who is yet again played like a fiddle). Surprisingly Hastings was not as irritating as he could usually be, and while his younger self was more of a stick-in-the-mud kind of chap (at times acting like little more than disgruntled child), this older Hastings seems far more genial. Hastings' feelings mirrored my own ones: being at Styles again brings about a bout of nostalgia, and his reunion with Poirot reveals that underneath his somewhat priggish British exterior, lies a deep affection for his Belgian friend.
Their banter was as amusing as ever, especially in those occasions when Poirot teases Hastings about his partiality for redheads.
While many of Christie's murderers are often motived by financial gain, in Curtain our 'X' is driven by much more fiendish impulses. Suspecting this, Poirot is forced to act fast. Sadly, his failing health does seem to disrupt his investigation so much so that Poirot finds himself seeking once again Hastings' assistance.
The group of people residing in Styles offer us with interesting little portraits of human nature: a domineering spouse, an ambitious doctor, a womaniser...some of these have indeed in some form or other in previous works by Christie but that doesn't make them any less interesting. Christie, as per usual, demonstrates that she is perfectly attuned to capture certain personalities—their attitudes, moral and political standpoints, as well as their fears and desires, their strengths and weaknesses—and the way in which they talk—through different word choices, expressions, and turns of phrases—so that each character leaves a vivid impression in the readers' mind.
“As my taxi passed through the village, though, I realised the passage of years. Styles St Mary was altered out of all recognition. Petrol stations, a cinema, two more inns and rows of council houses.”
Christie's own nostalgia is apparent in this novel, and Hastings, similarly to his creator, perceives the changes in his world with an uneasy acceptance. There are quite a few works by Christie that express uncertainty over the modernisation and rapidly changing social norms of her country, and these feelings particularly suited the story of Curtain as much of it seems to be a dialogue between the various cases that have shaped Poirot's career.
The mystery was skillfully executed, and I enjoyed reading of the way in which seemingly small events and exchanges seemed to alienate the characters from one another. The reveal was both clever and effective, bringing light to the whole affair.
I thoroughly recommend this one to fans of Poirot. Sad as it may be, it demonstrates Christie's greatest strengths (wit, murder, drama). And while the novel might be presenting us with Poirot's final case, I am eager to be reunited with him in his early adventures...
September 20, 2016
Retko kojom kljigom sam toliko oduševljena da pamtim većinu detalja bez obzira na to što je pročitana pre više godina. Jednostavno, priča je toliko genijalna i fantastična.
Herkul Poaro i kapetan Artur Hejstings se vraćaju u Stajls kako bi uhvatili ubicu kojeg je Poaro opisao kao savršenog. Hejstings biva upoznat sa nizom dokumenata o slučajevima u kojima je razjašnjeno ko je počinilac jer su se oni sami predali policiji i suočili se sa suđenjem, poput devojke koja je ubila nasilnog oca koji je godinama zlostavljao nju i njenu sestru. Zbunjen, Hejstings po prvi put čuje da je Poaro ušao u trag osobi X koja je umešana u sva ubistva iz pomenutih dokumenata, ali ono što razdražuje Hejstingsa je činjenica da Poaro ne samo da zna ko je tačno X, već je on sa njima, u Stajlsu, i sprema se na novo ubistvo, a Poaro ne želi da podeli sa njim identitet ubice. Ubrzo čudne stvari počinju da se dešavaju, a rasplet je potpuno neočekivan.
Herkul Poaro i kapetan Artur Hejstings se vraćaju u Stajls kako bi uhvatili ubicu kojeg je Poaro opisao kao savršenog. Hejstings biva upoznat sa nizom dokumenata o slučajevima u kojima je razjašnjeno ko je počinilac jer su se oni sami predali policiji i suočili se sa suđenjem, poput devojke koja je ubila nasilnog oca koji je godinama zlostavljao nju i njenu sestru. Zbunjen, Hejstings po prvi put čuje da je Poaro ušao u trag osobi X koja je umešana u sva ubistva iz pomenutih dokumenata, ali ono što razdražuje Hejstingsa je činjenica da Poaro ne samo da zna ko je tačno X, već je on sa njima, u Stajlsu, i sprema se na novo ubistvo, a Poaro ne želi da podeli sa njim identitet ubice. Ubrzo čudne stvari počinju da se dešavaju, a rasplet je potpuno neočekivan.
July 22, 2023
This is the last book in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series, though it was written in the 1940s and structured to be the last if and when the series was going to end. This book reunites a withering Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings, who last appeared in Dumb Witness, for one last case. It was a very fine way to end this series, but only average as far as a book that stuck with me is concerned.
December 4, 2025
Fue la primera novela de Agatha Christie que leí, y hasta el día de hoy, más de 25 años después, sigue siendo mi favorita. Desde ese día he leído muchas otras obras de la autora. En general, me gustaron mucho más sus novelas que sus cuentos, y hubo algunas que me gustaron mucho, como Diez negritos, y Asesinato en el Expreso de Oriente. Pero ninguna logró repetir en mí esa fascinación, esa sensación de haber leído una maravilla, que experimenté con Telón. *
Tanto el descubrimiento del criminal como la forma en que éste llevaba adelante sus homicidios fueron cosas que me tomaron completamente por sorpresa. Jamás me lo vi venir. Tras el final, al repasar la novela me pareció que era todo tremendamente lógico y evidente. Pero, sencillamente, fue imposible de anticipar. ¿Y qué más se le puede pedir a una novela policial?
Hoy día, si tengo que ser 100% objetivo y honesto conmigo mismo, no sabría decir si Telón me gustó tanto porque realmente es la menor novela de Agatha Christie que haya leído, o simplemente porque fue la primera. Hay algunos autores -y me temo que la llamada Reina del Crimen sea una de ellos- que cuando los descubres son como una explosión de fuegos artificiales, que te maravillan por lo novedoso de su arte y no puedes creer lo que estás leyendo. Pero con el tiempo, a medida que vas leyendo más obras suyas, les vas agarrando el truco, vas entendiendo sus recursos y artificios y esa sensación mágica desaparece.
Temo que con Agatha me haya pasado algo de eso. Quizás por eso, nunca me atreví a releer Telón. En el fondo, puede que tenga miedo de descubrir que estuve todos estos años enamorado de un fantasma.
* 3/12/25: Recientemente tuve ocasión de leer otras novelas de Christie, y una de ellas, El asesinato de Roger Ackroyd, me recordó un poco aquella sensación. Sin embargo, en un ranking de mis novelas favoritas de la autora, esta ocuparía un segundo lugar: Telón sigue siendo dueña del primero.
Tanto el descubrimiento del criminal como la forma en que éste llevaba adelante sus homicidios fueron cosas que me tomaron completamente por sorpresa. Jamás me lo vi venir. Tras el final, al repasar la novela me pareció que era todo tremendamente lógico y evidente. Pero, sencillamente, fue imposible de anticipar. ¿Y qué más se le puede pedir a una novela policial?
Hoy día, si tengo que ser 100% objetivo y honesto conmigo mismo, no sabría decir si Telón me gustó tanto porque realmente es la menor novela de Agatha Christie que haya leído, o simplemente porque fue la primera. Hay algunos autores -y me temo que la llamada Reina del Crimen sea una de ellos- que cuando los descubres son como una explosión de fuegos artificiales, que te maravillan por lo novedoso de su arte y no puedes creer lo que estás leyendo. Pero con el tiempo, a medida que vas leyendo más obras suyas, les vas agarrando el truco, vas entendiendo sus recursos y artificios y esa sensación mágica desaparece.
Temo que con Agatha me haya pasado algo de eso. Quizás por eso, nunca me atreví a releer Telón. En el fondo, puede que tenga miedo de descubrir que estuve todos estos años enamorado de un fantasma.
* 3/12/25: Recientemente tuve ocasión de leer otras novelas de Christie, y una de ellas, El asesinato de Roger Ackroyd, me recordó un poco aquella sensación. Sin embargo, en un ranking de mis novelas favoritas de la autora, esta ocuparía un segundo lugar: Telón sigue siendo dueña del primero.
February 23, 2016
It would be wrong to say I loved this book (despite the 5 stars)... I hated it. I love Poirot so much that I couldn't bear to see him pass beyond the veil.
That said, I consider this one a fantastic mystery - and one which could be resolved only this way, with the death of the detective (read the book, and you'll get what I mean). Many people have complained that the premise is far-fetched, but IMO, that is its main charm. And let me tell you, it's not all that impossible...
BTW, Christie had written this long back and kept it with her lawyer with instructions to publish it only after her death. Poirot got an official obituary in the paper once this book was published.
That said, I consider this one a fantastic mystery - and one which could be resolved only this way, with the death of the detective (read the book, and you'll get what I mean). Many people have complained that the premise is far-fetched, but IMO, that is its main charm. And let me tell you, it's not all that impossible...
BTW, Christie had written this long back and kept it with her lawyer with instructions to publish it only after her death. Poirot got an official obituary in the paper once this book was published.
January 25, 2015
I had no idea I was capable of hating so indifferent a book so passionately. It's like Agatha Christie decided to pull a carefully crafted ACD-style "fuck you" to her readership and this was the result. That so many people regard this as the best of her novels is appalling. I don't want to become the Linus Torvald of goodreads reviewers (I am really, really not remotely in the same league of being a jerk (or the same league of intelligence or creativity, alas)), but seriously: this book sucks. Everyone is an idiot or an asshole or some unholy combination of both. Hastings is at his absolute worst; watching him bumble around and fail to evince a shred of empathy for a single human being who doesn't match his expectations is nigh-painful - not that it matters because everyone sucks. Usually he's pretty charming - this, the dude who starts the novel in which he meets his future wife by complaining that the hottie on the train used the word "hell," okay - and his impulsiveness and tendency to jump to the most immediately available conclusion serves some purpose, but it doesn't here because no one - but no one - is developed any further than they initially appear - it isn't the point of the novel, you see. It's like - there's this story that they threw darts to determine of conclusion of BSG - it's like Agatha Christie did that, but the dartboard was Agatha Christie Stock Characters, and then she just didn't bother. And no, "modern scientist has old-fashioned ideas about divorce" does not count. And the resolution? More idiotic and assholish than every character combined.
August 5, 2019
The book MUST be read only after you have read 33 novels and the 56 short stories featuring the ace detective. And what a befitting end to the series. Reading it i could feel myself part of the entire story line. I could hear Poirot telling- "We shall not hunt together again, my friend. Our first hunt was here-and our last…. Yes they have been good days". The range of emotions one goes through reading the story is difficult to put into words. Having read the entire series there is no way I can ever read Sophie Hannah's Poirot series. For me Poirot made a graceful exit having solved the most challenging crime.
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