classics – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Sprinkles is a huge Agatha Christie fan, so of course she was thrilled to see Caramel carrying around The ABC Murders, originally published in 1936. They are talking about the book today. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: I was so excited to see you reading an Agatha Christie book, Caramel! She is the best!

Caramel: Yeah, I can see that point of view, she is a pretty good writer.

S: Yay! So you liked the book! I mean, I know there are a lot of folks who would not consider Christie a serious literary figure, but I always enjoy her books and I think she is great at what she does.

C: Yup, she kept me guessing almost all the way to the end.

S: Was this your first Agatha Christie novel?

C: Nope. I had also read And Then There Were None when Marshmallow was reviewing it.

S: Ooh, that was a good one too. So, okay, back to The ABC Murders. I am sure I read this book but it must have been decades ago. And I do not remember much of the plot. Can you tell us a bit about it?

C: So Hercule Poirot receives a suspicious letter signed by “ABC”.

S: Oh, so this has Poirot as the main detective! That is cool! Go on.

C: Yes, so this letter tells him that there will be a murder in Andover, and then someone actually dies there, so Poirot goes to Andover to figure things out.

S: Poirot is Belgian, and often works with some British guy who writes about him, right? Kind of like Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes?

C: Yes. The main narrator is Arthur Hastings, and the book is written like he is recounting the story rather than living through it.

S: Apparently Hastings appears in quite a lot of Poirot mysteries. I suppose it is good to have a character like Hastings or Watson to tell us these stories about the genius detectives they are hanging out with and admire so much. This way the stories unfold naturally and we are in the dark about what is going on in the minds of these mysterious crime solvers until the very end.

C: Yeah, it’s like that, ‘cept Hastings ole’ fellow has quite the thinker on emself-

S: Wait, what are you saying? Please speak normally. You are not a British gentleman from the nineteen twenties.

C: Awww, ok, but that was fun! And I am only about a hundred years late! And not quite British… Anyways, the only difference is that Hastings is actually somewhat smart so he also figures some things out. Still it is clear to everyone including himself that he is not as smart as Poirot and is surprised when Poirot solves everything.

S: Yup, that agrees with my previous understanding of their relationship.

Caramel is reading The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. — Caramel is reading *The ABC Murders* by Agatha Christie.

S: So tell me a bit more. Could you tell the book was almost a hundred years old?

C: Well, it is exactly ninety years old actually. The book read fine to me. I did not think they were using old fashioned words or anything. And it is supposed to be happening in between the two world wars, and I could not even tell that, really.

S: Yes, I think Christie’s language is clean and simple enough for us to not even notice it. Every now and then she uses a phrase that is unfamiliar to me, or she mentions something historical to me but contemporary to the story characters, but most of the time, I cannot tell at all that she wrote these things such a long time ago.

C: Yeah, that checks out. Though it seems that in these books the detective and other people sometimes use words that today’s people might not understand. Like some words or phrases that refer to the railway map in Britain at the time. Of course I didn’t know that till they explained what it was they were talking about. But most of the time, I could totally forget this was supposed to be happening in the 1920s. That was even before your time Sprinkles!

S: Yes, of course it was before my time. It was even before my parents’ time, Caramel.

C: Oopsie, or is that what you want me to think?

S: Okay, let us put aside any implications that I might be undead or-

C: Or a lich?!

S: Okay, let us not go there.

C: Sure, that’s what a lich would say.

S: Caramel! These seem like ideas more fit for Midnight’s reviews.

C: Oh yes, Midnight does like his fantasy books. But I like them too.

S: I know. You like playing Dungeons and Dragons, and various versions of it.

C: Actually these days, I prefer Pathfinder, which is really just D&D 3.5 edition.

S: True. But Agatha Christie tells stories that are in some sense a lot simpler. She manages to find evil in mainstream people living regular lives. Seems like she has no need to go fantastic.

C: That may be true for the books she has already written. But maybe when she begins to write new books, from BEYOND THE GRAVE?

S: Okay, I have a feeling it is getting too late for us to be talking about books sensibly.

C: That’s lich talk! Okay, okay, don’t get mad, I am kidding. But yes, you are probably right, it is getting late and it is a school night…

S: Yep. So let us wrap up this review. Do you think you might read other books by Christie at some point?

C: Sure. They are fun to read, and I do love solving puzzles!

S: Sounds great to me. Okay then, Caramel. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie and recommends it to all bunnies who enjoy a little bit of detective mystery. — Caramel enjoyed reading *The ABC Murders* by Agatha Christie and recommends it to all bunnies who enjoy a little bit of detective mystery.

Midnight reviews The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Three members of the book bunnies household have been reviewing books since 2019 (how time flies!) but it was only late last year when the fourth member of our family, the mysterious and reclusive black bunny Midnight, decided to join in the book fun. So far he has reviewed Foundation and Foundation and Empire, the first two books of the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. But it was clear to all who read those reviews that he was actually itching to talk about other books. So today he is doing just that! To be more specific, today Midnight is talking to Sprinkles about The Silmarillion, a collection of tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, published after his death in 1977.

Sprinkles: So Midnight, welcome back! I am hoping that you are excited to be talking about a book by Tolkien today.

Midnight:I am a bunny of few emotions; it is difficult for me to admit to feeling excited. But I must admit this is one of my favorite books.

Sprinkles: Cool! So tell us a bit about it then.

Midnight: The Silmarillion is not a novel or a single story, like Tolkien’s other well-known works like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a collection of tales mostly from the ancient days of Middle-Earth long before rings and hobbits. Although Tolkien was working on this at the time of his death, these tales have their origin in his very early work when he was a young man in World War I. His son Christopher Tolkien assembled and edited these various works from his unpublished works, into something resembling a coherent whole.

Sprinkles: Oh, that sounds cool! So if one has read one of those Tolkien books, or even just seen some of the movies, then they would recognize Middle-Earth as the world where all those stories took place. And you are saying this book basically gives us a lot of the backstory of that world.

Midnight: Not quite. The world changed drastically over the ages. For example, in the First Age, the world was flat. When Numenor was destroyed in the Second Age, the world was made round, and the Undying Lands were removed forever from the world, at least as far as mortals were concerned. The Elves could still find their way there.

Sprinkles: So Middle-Earth that we might be familiar with is only the world of the Third Age?

Midnight: Yes. Although I believe that the very end of the Lord of the Ring movies takes place in the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the final defeat of Sauron.

Sprinkles: Oh, this is a very long history!

Midnight: Yes. Stretching back many thousands of years. In fact The Silmarillion begins with the creation of the world, and a run-down of the various gods of the world, the Valar (who are mentioned even in the Peter Jackson films by Arwen but only in passing, so people could easily miss this if they were not aware of their existence).

Midnight is reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. — Midnight is reading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sprinkles: That sounds cool! So how many tales are we talking about here?

Midnight: Quite a few. I don’t know the exact number off the top of my head. Or rather there are two chapters devoted to the cosmology of Tolkien’s universe. Then the bulk of the book is “Quenta Silmarillion”, which is itself a collection of more than twenty tales from the First Age of the world (and a little bit slightly before that). Then there are two more standalone chapters, one is about the fall of Númenor (where we see Sauron as the master manipulator) and the other is an essay providing some background information about the rings and the Lord of the Rings as a historical account.

Sprinkles: That sounds pretty eclectic! Does it read as a coherent book on its own?

Midnight: The different parts have different flavors. It is almost biblical in scope. So the coherence is basically in the story, not quite in the style. And as a whole, it provides a lot of information that makes Tolkien’s universe much richer.

Sprinkles: I see. So it almost reads like a collection of eclectic historical documents written throughout history by different scribes and then put together by an editor. Which makes sense for a book that was indeed put together by someone other than the author himself, and the segments put together were written at different times. that’s pretty cool.

Midnight: It is.

Sprinkles: So what is a Silmarillion? Why is the book titled that way?

Midnight: The title refers to the three Silmarils, magical gems of great beauty crafted by the greatest of the Elven smiths. They were stolen by Morgoth, the original bad guy. For example in the movies we hear Sauron called the servant of Morgoth, and the Balrog as the Balrog of Morgoth, so Morgoth is the original evil deity.

Sprinkles: Okay. I do remember that. So Morgoth takes the Silmarils and then what happens?

Midnight: He flees Valinor (the Elven paradise) with the Silmarils and many of the elves vow to pursue him, a god, to the ends of the world to retrieve the gems. There is lots of tragedy, hubris, betrayal, and general elf-on-elf violence. We see elves not as the ethereal and noble creatures of the films but rather as flawed, arrogant, and sometimes hotheaded.

Sprinkles: Sounds pretty epic!

Midnight: Indeed, the stories are epic in scope and mythical in character. It reads more as mythology than a traditional novel.

Sprinkles: Okay, so is that why The Silmarillion is one of your favorite books?

Midnight: Maybe.

Sprinkles: Which tale is your favorite?

Midnight: My favorite is “Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor”. This is, as you can tell, the history of Númenor and the tale of its downfall. It is Tolkien’s take on the Atlantis myth. Amazon’s Rings of Power series draws heavily from the history of Númenor outlined in the appendix in the Lord of the Rings, but this chapter in The Silmarillion gives us so much more!

Sprinkles: Neat! Okay, Midnight, I think this is enough for a post. And you told me enough to get me all excited about reading the book myself.

Midnight: It’s not for everyone but it is for me.

Sprinkles: That’s fair. I have enjoyed the movies and find the world Tolkien created fascinating. So I will give The Silmarillion a try. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Namárië, dear readers. That is, farewell, in Elvish.

Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear. — Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear.

Midnight reviews Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

Late last year the mysterious and reclusive black bunny of the family, Midnight, decided to join in the book fun and reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov, the first book in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Today he is talking to Sprinkles about the second book in the series, Foundation and Empire, originally published in 1952.

Sprinkles: It is nice to have you back here for another book review, Midnight!

Midnight: It’s good to be invited back. A being such as myself needs to be invited across a threshold before entering. (Bares teeth.)

Sprinkles: No need to try to be menacing Midnight; we appreciate you without the fear factor.

Midnight: Hmm. Underestimate me at your peril.

Sprinkles: Okay, whatever. So last time you and I talked about Asimov’s Foundation. And today we are talking about the second book in the series: Foundation and Empire.

Midnight: Foundation and Empire is really two long stories put together in one volume.

Sprinkles: Like the first book, which was five stories put together, right?

Midnight: If you want to put words in my mouth, then I suppose so.

Sprinkles: Okay, then you can use your own words. Go ahead.

Midnight: As I was saying, there are two stories. The first story is called “The General”. It is about Bel Riose, an ambitious general of the Galactic Empire who wants to fight for the glory of the Empire. He wants to attack the Foundation, which is by now a serious galactic power itself.

Sprinkles: But Hari Seldon comes through for the Foundation once more, right?

Midnight: Yes. However, by this point in galactic history, Hari Seldon is long dead. But as this rabbit can tell you, the long dead may still pose a great danger to the unwary. (Bares teeth.)

Sprinkles: Midnight! Stop scaring our readers. Some of them are young.

Midnight: Some people say I overcompensate for my modest size. Anyway, I thought you did not want to provide too many spoilers in these reviews, so I was trying to be entertaining.

Sprinkles: Yes, you are right, maybe we should not go too deep into the plot. But I think it is an important setup for the second story …

Midnight: Yes, in some ways. The second story is called “The Mule” and it is about a new challenge for the Foundation that Seldon could not have predicted. Things get out of hand, and a small group of people from the Foundation heads out to look for the mythical Second Foundation in order to reclaim Seldon’s legacy.

Sprinkles: Yes, I think this is a good summary of the plot.

Midnight: Glad you approve.

Midnight is reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov. — Midnight is reading *Foundation and Empire* by Isaac Asimov.

Sprinkles: Anyways, maybe that is enough about the plot.

Midnight: Now what do we talk about?

Sprinkles: What else do you want to say about the book?

Midnight: Not much. I think I am not an Asimov fan. This book was better than the first book though. The characters were a bit more developed. The jumps in time were less drastic. The first book skipped around five different times or something. Here we have only the two, separated by about a century. So that allowed him to focus on the characters in each story a bit more.

Sprinkles: I did like the characters in this book a lot more actually. I also really liked the idea of the visi-sonor, the musical instrument the clown Magnifico played in the second part. It could combine sound and images and affect people’s emotions. It fit the storyline really well, too.

Midnight: True. Also, there is a twist at the end of “The Mule” which I had not expected, so that was successful.

Sprinkles: I did not catch it either. And I agree. It was good.

Midnight: I guess you will want to talk with me about the third book next.

Sprinkles: That would be great!

Midnight: I am not committing to it. I may take a break from Asimov for a while. No one commands Midnight.

Sprinkles: Sure, we can take a break from Asimov, I suppose. I would love to get back to it eventually, but maybe you will enjoy talking about some Tolkien next.

Midnight: That sounds great! I really enjoy watching science fiction, but somehow reading it is not my beverage of choice.

Sprinkles: Yes, you are more into fantasy. So maybe that is what we can talk about the next time you visit.

Midnight: No promises.

Sprinkles: Okay, Midnight. This is a good place as any to wrap up this review. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Farewell, dear reader. Until such a time as the Black Bunny sees fit to reappear.

Midnight enjoyed reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov. He might even come back some day out of the shadow realm where he normally resides to pontificate about the next book in the series. — Midnight enjoyed reading *Foundation and Empire* by Isaac Asimov. He might even come back some day out of the shadow realm where he normally resides to pontificate about the next book in the series.

Sprinkles reviews Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

Today Sprinkles reviews a classic book of poems about cats, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, originally published in 1939. The edition reviewed here was illustrated by Edward Gorey and published in 1982.

After chatting with Marshmallow about s most interesting book written by a cat, I decided to see if I could read more books about or by cats. This is how I first laid my paws on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. This book was not claiming to be written by a cat but rather an old possum, but of course the possum was none other than the famed poet T.S. Eliot. Having reviewed a poetry book about dogs, I thought it would be fun to review a poetry book about cats as a way to balance the issue.

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats is a small book, with a total of fifteen poems spread over less than sixty pages. Every poem is accompanied by at least one full-page illustration, drawn expertly by Edward Gorey. Most of the poems have relatively simple and standard rhyme structures, so that they can be read out loud to a little one with much pleasure for all involved.

I should warn the reader that the book does include a poem, “Growltiger’s Last Stand“, that has a serious racist slur. This particular poem is about a dangerous cat named Growltiger, a bad bully of a cat, who hates Siamese cats because he was beaten by one and lost an ear to it. So it is within reason that he could be hateful towards all Siamese cats, but the poet himself did not need to use a racial slur to describe the latter. [It is honestly jarring to see this word in an otherwise perfectly enjoyable poetry collection. I’d recommend parents reading poems out loud to their little ones to consider skipping this poem, or perhaps rephrasing the line with the problematic word.]

Sprinkles is reading "Macavity: The Mystery Cat" in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. — Sprinkles is reading “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” in *Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats* by T.S. Eliot.

When I started reading Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, I had no idea that it was the main inspiration for the outrageously successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, which premiered in 1981. I had seen the musical itself way back in the last millennium, when I was about Marshmallow’s age. At the time, I had been overwhelmed by the sounds and the lights and knew that I was probably missing more than half of the plot. (I was seeing it performed in German, a language that I admire but am not terribly fluent in, so maybe you will give me some grace.) Now reading about it in more contemporary outlets, I can see that I did miss a lot. In particular the musical can apparently be viewed at a lot more adult, sensual level, and this totally evaded me back then. However, I am not at all upset about having missed all that. The cats were so fascinating, and they were so alien, and yet so irresistibly alive, I vividly remember leaving the performance hall excited and full of curiosity. Reading T.S. Eliot’s little book that started it all completes the circle for me, bringing me back to the joy and humor, to the simple appreciation of the many feline characters introduced so playfully by the poet in his letters to his godchildren.

While writing this review I also learned of a relatively recent movie production of the same content. Apparently it was a big flop, but looking at the trailer, I have to wonder how much of the failure was due to the uncanny valley effect, the discomfort humans tend to feel when a character in a book or a movie is almost too humanlike but not quite. As a bunny of course, this would not affect me as much, so I might end up trying to watch the movie some day.

Coming back to Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, I would like to suggest that readers should take a look at it for sure, especially if they are cat parents, of course, but even if one is not especially fond of cats, the book can offer some pleasure and fun.

Sprinkles loved reading Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and recommends it to all bunnies, young and old, who love cats, musicals, and whimsical poetry. — Sprinkles loved reading *Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats* by T.S. Eliot and recommends it to all bunnies, young and old, who love cats, musicals, and whimsical poetry.