I’m listening to this on audiobook in the car. I’ve already read the novel a couple of times, and watched the movie, too (bad - they changed the ending). Obviously I love this book.
The audiobook has made something clear again. I admire Philip Lombard. I mean, his crime was one of the worst - abandoning 20 natives to death. But I admire him for his cool & collected demeanor even in the face of death. I like the way, as danger grows nearer, he grows more efficient and careful. “Like a panther”, the books says.
I feel faintly guilty about this because his crime was terrible. Abandoning 20 natives and never thinking of them beyond “they were natives, it doesn’t matter”? Yeah, that’s pretty heinous. But…he’s still pretty cool.
I freaking hated the ending. I mean, last time I looked, it was SOP to be able to solve the mystery yourself from the clues provided. But at the end, the killer revealed the clues he left behind, and they made no fucking sense, save to a equally insane compatriot of the madman killer-judge.
Yes, I agree. I’ve always thought that the Philip Lombard character had certain admirable qualities too.
One thing has always jarred with me though. It seems to be drawing rather a long bow to accuse Emily Brent of being responsible:
for the death of her pregnant servant, given that all she did was throw her out of the house. A lack of compassion certainly, but responsibility for the girl’s death?
[spoiler]The girl threw herself into the river very shortly after Brent turned her out. Brent knew her parents wouldn’t take her in, so the girl had no place to go except Brent’s, so she felt she had no other place to turn.[/spoiler
I obviously disagree. I do think Brent was responsible.
La Llorona: In the book, the judge killed seven people. Then Vera kills Philip Lombard, and hangs herself.
In the movie, the last two don’t die. The judge’s “red herring” is seen through, and the last two people - Vera and Phil - confront him. In the book, Scotland Yard is mystified and the Judge send a a message-in-a-bottle excplaining everything before he shoots himself. I thought it was much more satisfying when everyone died and we were left with the mystery.