Convergere VERSO L’ORA ZEROUn gruppo raccolto attorno al caminetto è composto da avvocati e uomini di legge. “Gli esseri umani … Ce ne sono di tutti i generi, di tutte le qualità, di tutte le forme, alcuni hanno cervello, molti ne sono privi …”Tutti sono attenti a seguire l’evolversi degli eventi che hanno portato ad un delitto le cui dinamiche sono avvolte nel mistero. Peccato solo che manchi Hercule Poirot a indagare! Resta comunque un romanzo di Agatha Christie e, di conseguenza, è un’interessantissima lettura.“Mi piacciono le belle storie gialle ma, come sapete, cominciano sempre dal punto sbagliato. Cioè cominciano con il delitto. Ma il delitto è la FINE. La storia inizia molto prima, a volte anni prima, con tutte le cause e gli eventi che portano certa gente in un certo posto a una certa ora di un certo giorno. […] Tutto sembra convergere verso un punto prestabilito. E poi quando arriva il momento ecco … L’ORA ZERO. Sì, tutta questa gente si è trovata a convergere verso l’ora zero …”Una citazione importante che svela non solo le dinamiche del delitto, ma anche la psicologia che sta dietro un atto delittuoso e Agatha Christie ci insegna quella che è l’ideologia alla basa sia delle vicende umane sia delle sue strategie narrative.La trama è presto detta: come sempre c’è chi si ingegna per organizzare il delitto perfetto, trovando il modo di rimanere impunito. Infatti, occorre pianificare in anticipo tutte le mosse che porteranno al risultato finale. Invece, in VERSO L’ORA ZERO, quando avviene l'assassinio di Camilla Tressilian, austera nobildonna uccisa nella sua villa in Cornovaglia, risulta subito chiaro che è stato organizzato nel modo peggiore. Il killer ha lasciato davvero troppi indizi e tutti puntano in un’unica direzione, cioè mirano a incolpare Nevile Strange, il quale, guarda caso, è l'erede universale della vittima. Non c’è Hercule Poirot, maI il sovrintendente Battle, il quale è però convinto che quell'omicidio non sia che la prima mossa di un piano, più astuto e macchinoso, per sopprimere un’altra vittima …Scritto scorrevolmente, le indagini vengono approfondite, in maniera costante, da indizi, dettagli e colpi di scena, mentre i tanti personaggi di questo racconto si avvicendano, in primo piano sulla scena, nella villa della Cornovaglia, scelta come meta di vacanza.Avvincente ed enigmatico, tiene viva l’attenzione del lettore, grazie alla costruzione tipica dei romanzi gialli di Agatha Christie, ossia la frequenza dei dialoghi, nei quali risiedono sia il dubbio, ma anche la soluzione e l’univoca verità che porta al delitto.
I've been getting more and more bogged down in books that I've started but haven't finished, so this was a bit of a palate cleanser for me. I love Agatha Christie. She deals in stock characters and situations, and bait-and-switch resolutions, but that's partly what I like. I'm kept guessing, trying out situations in my head, always attempting to sift fact from decoy. Christie's focus, like mine, is not on the character, or the implications, or even on murder. It's on the puzzle.I read 'Towards Zero' in a day, mostly wandering around a new town before meeting a friend for coffee. I got it from the library, and read it on the train, and wandered along a beach with my nose firmly in the book. That, for me, is the ultimate in comfort reading. I found it very easy to read, not too taxing, but with plenty of scope for guessing.As for the content, I found the ending a little unsatisfying - it was a bit too far removed from the set-up for me, although maybe that's sour grapes that my suspicions as to the murderer were almost entirely wrong. I was also sadly dissatisfied by the Deus Ex Scotsman (if you will) - he needed more page time, for a start. It did contain a few of Christie's stock characters: the crotchety old lady with the sharp tongue, the elderly lawyer with the excellent stories but no concept of what 'criminology' actually is, the handsome young tennis player. And of course, the dective was the lovely Superintendent Battle, who I always love coming across. This book is set in the Poirot-verse, if I can call it that, and Poirot is referenced once or twice, although he never appears. It's so good to see books like this - and Seven Dials, which is one of my old favourites - where the Superintendent gets to show off why he got promoted so far.I would also like to take this opportunity to give a brief standing ovation for one of the most Christie-ish methods of murder I have ever read. The situation, solution and motive are all vintage Christie, and so is the take-away message, but that death - it's like a fingerprint. Nobody else could get away with it. Absolutely marvellous. Christie is never about the mechanics, she's always about the puzzle. This story is an excellent illustration of exactly why I am so fond of her.As a palate cleanser, it was perfectly good. Not taxing, not particularly challenging, but a delight and exactly what I needed to get me back into reading.
What do You think about Towards Zero (2015)?
عُرفت السيدة اجاثا ببراعتها في إخفائِها لحقيقة القاتل كانت هذهِ أول رواية أقرأها لهذه السيدة العجوز التي تميزت بدهائها في تسطير رواياتِها البوليسية ، رغم انني كنت أعلم منذ زمن انها أفضل روائية في العالم إلى أني لم ابداء بفتح الباب الذي يجعلني اغوص في اعماق مخيلتها العجيبه أما الآن ففتحت الباب بمفتاح "ساعة الصفر" قد تكون بعض أحداثها عاديه نوعاً ما ولكني استمتعت جداً بها ، احسست وكأني اشاهد فلماً سنمائياً ، عند قرائتي لم أشعر بثقل الوقت كدت أن أنهيها في جلسة واحده لولا انشغالي بأُمور أهم.. أُحب القصص البوليسية مُنذ الصغر فقد كنت من أشد المعجبين بالمحقق كونان ولا اخفي عنكم اني لازلت اُشاهد بعض حلقاته حتى الآن وإن كنت قد شاهدتها من قبل..!! أستمتع بفك خيوط الجريمة وبأحداثها الغامضة..ساعة صفر... في البداية ظننت اني تفوقت على اجاثا بتخمين القاتل من أول مره ولكني تفاجئت حين كان ذاك هو أول الضحايا !!بعد موت الضحية الأولى بدأت الأمور تتضح لي أكثر وعرفت أن القاتل هو...... لكن سرعان ماغيرت رأيي بعد حدوث الجريمة الثانية ..هل وقعت في الفخ؟ أم أن أحداثها غير مترابطه؟!.. بعد أن كُشف الستار عن القاتل علمت اني قد اصبت في تقديري له بعد حدوث الجريمة الأولى.. نهاية غريبة..!! حمستني على أن أقراء المزيد من روايات اجاثا كريستيلن أفسد عليكم الرواية ولن أحكي لكم شيئاً من تفاصيلها أقراؤها واستمتعوا بوقتكم :)
—Esraa
Agatha Christie isn't just murder mysteries - she deals a lot with philosophy and psychology, too. Miss Marple believes that one can know a lot about people just by observing others, even if those observations occur in a small village - because people are so very alike everywhere. Christie's characters have that element of similarity, as do her stories, even when they appear to be very different. I like Inspector Battle and often wish he were featured more - he tends to be a secondary character, but even when he is the main one, he seems secondary because he isn't dramatic like Poiroit or dithery like Miss Marple. Toward Zero explores the idea that the murder is actually the END of a series of events, not the beginning. What brought people to this point - coincidence, fate, God? Her books are comfort food to me.
—Ryan
Inspector Battle isn't nearly a favorite Christie detective of mine. I have a soft spot in my heart for the little Belgian, Hercule Poirot, and that grand dame of country life, Jane Marple. Battle is, however, starting to rise in my esteem and estimation.In this book, a murder of a family matriarch throws the local constabulary into a quandary until one of the officers calls his uncle, Inspector Battle, who isn't all that sad at leaving an uncomfortable family situation to help out. What I really loved about this book was the incredible backstory, which we don't often seen with Christie. Usually, the murder occurs fairly quickly and the detective on-hand gets to sleuthing right away. In this story, we are introduced to all the red-herring and guilty players right away and have to figure out from their motives which one of them might have made the masterful kill. There are a lot of little side stories that are tidily tied up at the end. Christie, true genius!This is probably one of my favorite Christie books, and certainly my favorite Inspector Battle. I loved the side stories and backstories of all the characters. Each of them was so interesting and it had me guessing until the very last page. These aren't books you necessarily have to read in order so, if you're a bit tired of the typical Christie mystery, you might want to give this a read. A jolly good yarn!
—C.C. Thomas
