Review of “Death in the Clouds” by Agatha Christie

I can see people secretly looking on me on the 8:18 bus, when I brandish my fresh new copy of Death in the Clouds. They are secretly thinking- not much of a reader, then. But let them frown….  Agatha Christie’s writing was never about style anyway, but more about the complex, multifaceted plots, which manage to develop at the same time as creating plausible characters . I like her books- i am mean, who doesn’t like trying to guess who the murderer is?

Without spoiling the plot of Death in the Clouds, Poirot finds himself not only trying to solve a crime which happened right before his eyes in a plane from Paris, but disapproving his own culpability as a potential suspect. The characters in the book are thoroughly compelling, and the plot fluid and exciting.

I must admit whilst reading Poirot books, I picture David Suchet. I have always found his performances in the ITV adaptations pitch-perfect.

By the end of this book, one has the feeling that, although well-explained, the ending is a little anti-climatic. I know what to expect from Poirot, but the ending wasn’t quite as powerful as the end of the book. For me, the thrill was more in the “chase” and not in the conclusion.

Great outing for Poirot. However, not quite as best as Agatha Christie’s magnum opus- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Rating: 4 stars

Review of Pho, Soho

I have a confession- I absolutely love eating in Soho. Diverse cuisine, lovely bright, vibrant colours and quaint-boutique-like restaurants. Having gone to Busaba Eathai last time I was there and being greatly impressed, my girlfriend and I went to the Vietnamese restaurant- Pho.

When we asked for a table, we were taken to the seats closest to the bar. We didn’t really mind…. We were so hungry we’d have sat outside, just as long as there was food coming in our general direction. When handed the menus, I thought to myself, a relatively good selection of food, at an extremely reasonable price. The mains were up to about £10, and soft drinks about £2 a pop (see what I did there).

We ordered a portion of sweet chilli crackers for starter, which turned up with our main courses, rather than before them. I had pork and lemongrass meatballs, and my girlfriend had lemongrass chicken. I didn’t expect them to be served at room temperature (probably should have read the menu a little bit better before ordering them).  I have to say, they were nice, with a good flavour, but I couldn’t help but think they would have been nice warm.

Pho prides itself on being “Vietnamese street food”, and since I have never been to Vietnam, I can’t say if this is the case or whether the food is just the anglicised Asian fayre, to which us British have become accustomed. I thought the food was nice, but nothing special. The entire place felt a little frantic, with staff rushed off their feet. I mean, it is fairly basic restaurant knowledge that a starter should come before a main course.

Pleased to say I went there, but then again, I probably wouldn’t go back

Two and a half stars out of five

Review of “Woman in Black” at the Fortune Theatre

On the 14th June, I went with my girlfriend to see the critically-acclaimed long running “scare-fest”, The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre. Although I desperately wanted to like the play, I thought it was understated, slow and poorly developed. 

Without giving away the plot, the basic premise of the play is thus: a lawyer is given the job of clearing out the estate of a recently deceased lady. Of course this in itself would not be enough to fill a play, falling slightly short of 2 hrs. The entire story is told by the now older  lawyer to a playwright/writer, with the intention of making his story commercial. Although this, as a device is quite interesting, the constant interruption of the “ghost story” narrative with the focus on meta-fictionality proves quite distracting, and doesn’t allow for the story to be properly developed.

By the end of the first act, I was feeling extremely underwhelmed. One thing that struck me was the fact there was no climax. Furthermore, I had heard it was supposed to be a chilling ghost-story, and there was up to that point (55 minutes in) no ghost in it. Please don’t misunderstand me- i am not adverse to a good old bit of exposition, but this is Woman in Black’s main shortcoming. Too much exposition, not enough showing. 

The scares in it felt cheap. Just shouting, lights getting turned out, and people appearing on stage, who were not previously noticeable. I think this can be attributed to the emotional vapidity that prevails throughout. This, consequently results in the last third of the play doing too much explaining, and not enough tidying up.

Saying all of this, I can imagine that the book is very good. I might read it at one point when the disappointment of the play is not so fresh in my mind.

Another gripe I had about the play, is the location. I spotted at least three ripped seats in the upper circle and the seats were extremely uncomfortable. I am not one to complain, but if a theatre insists on charging top prices, it should maintain basic standards conducive with quality performances. 

My girlfriend was impressed by the acting…. It didn’t strike me as particularly brilliant, but this is most probably because I thought play overall was rather insipid.

2 stars/5