Thread: Agatha Christie
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Old 06-22-2012, 10:07 AM   #24
Iznogood
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Well, i half agree with you in that she plays fair in the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, but only half. The reader gets all the information he/she needs to solve the mystery, but the means to hide the truth from the reader is not fair.

As John Dickson Carr stated in "The Hollow Man":
Quote:
The words 'according to the evidence' have been used. We must be very careful about the evidence when it is not given at first hand. And in this case the reader must be told at the outset, to avoid useless confusion, on whose evidence he can absolutely rely. That is to say, it must be assumed that somebody is telling the truth - else, there is no legitimate mystery and, in fact, no story at all.
Spoiler:

And the person to be assumed truthful is the narrator if not otherwise stated. If even the narrator cannot be assumed to tell the truth, the reader cannot trust any of the evidence or statements in the case, and the whole concept of "fair game" looses its meaning

Last edited by Iznogood; 06-22-2012 at 11:03 AM. Reason: Adde spoiler
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