And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Ten people with hidden nefarious pasts are on a remote island. They start dying off. Nobody can identify who the murderer is. Eventually it is down to two people. One woman ends up killing the last guy and then after seeing a gallows hangs herself. A nursery rhyme frames the story as people are knocked off one by one. After they are all dead, we hear from the authorities who have no idea what caused them to kill each other. Finally we hear the conclusion via a message in a bottle. A judge had set everything up to punish the unpunishable. He even faked his on death (via gunshut) early in the process. He then continued managing the deaths. After everyone died, he commited suicide, but staged it to look like the documented death. This is a classical story that I found even better when listened to earlier in dramatized form.

The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald

I've always had trouble focussing on the Odyssey. I know key points, like the Cylcops and "NoMan" as well as the sirens. However, I have trouble recalling whether I just read it, or have just absorbed it from popular culture. This is the long book about homecoming, with the voyage of the victors being as challenging as the war they just fought. The translation is not too long and is fairly accessible if you can pay attention.

The Iliad

The Iliad by Homer (Author), Robert Fitzgerald - translator (Author)

The version of the Iliad I listened to was different from either of the translations I have in paper. The story deals with wars. At times it goes in to details of the various leaders and their battles. Later it shifts into battles among the gods. The fate of the individual men is almost incidental to the battles between the deities, It does get slow going at times, but then key elements from legend pop out. Achilles plays a huge role here.

Casino Royale

Casino Royale (James Bond 1) by Ian Fleming

This is the first James Bond book. There is high stakes gambling, a narrow avoidance of death and romance. The novel is fairly short. There doesn't seem to be as much action as I would expect from the movie. Bond also has his upper-crust snobbery. there are the proper cuban cigars as well as the details of the card games. He does show uncharacteristic weakness - he is ready to leave the service and mary his love interest. However, that ends up becoming a moot point. The novel is not great, but I can see why it was popular. The most intense "action" sequence is probably when he makes moves to avoid getting shot at the card table (right as he is at the point of bankrupting his opposition spy opponent.)