THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD by Agatha Christie

Finished We 5/1/13

My post on Good Reads-

The reason that I read this novel is that it represents a classic example of the 'unreliable narrator' genre, and in this respect, the novel is a success. In almost every case in literature, the narrator is omnipotent, and that point of view is unquestioned and defines the reality of the work, and I find it fascinating when that voice is lying, deluded, or unaware of the truth. However, my least favorite mystery genre is when a myriad of characters are presented, many are incriminated and then the reader is asked to ascertain who is the true villain. And this is also the case with THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD. The author presents a dizzying array possible suspects, red herrings, blind alleys, and false clues which overwhelm the reader. If the writer knows how to write, the reader would never be aware of 'who dunnit' because the writer would be in control of his craft. Only poor writing reveals the villain before his time. I don't think a reader can really figure out the ending unless the beginning and the middle were incorrectly or badly presented. If the writer is doing a proper job, the reader will NEVER know anything before he wants you to know it, or it's not really a novel, but only a re-enactment of the board game, CLUE. And, that's an inept way to tell a story and a false manner in which to represent reality. People who read books to understand the outcome before it is revealed are only deluding themselves, and that seems to account for much of the appeal of Agatha Christie, and she is NOT one of my favorite authors.