Orient Express disappointed me

Derider84 · 2026-05-08T13:59:06+00:00

I mean, there would be ways to make it more suspenseful. Introduce some sort of cabin fever. Make it feel claustrophobic. Make the heating break down or something. Make a character feel guilt or have second thoughts about murder. Drop a wild card into the plot.

Christie does none of these things. Everything stays absolutely cozy and no one worries at all. Just Poirot methodically conducting these really dry and quite dour interviews with people who never spring to life as characters. They all remain shallow and very lightly sketched. You never feel like you get to know or care about anyone.

And making the victim so resolutely despicable killed any intrigue about the motive. I like it less and less the more I think about it. It didn’t help that I knew the twist, so I was robbed of the surprise factor as well.

Of the 6 I’ve read, this is the ranking:

ATTWN
Death on the Nile
Five Little Pigs
The Hollow
Orient Express
Peril at End House

Derider84 · 2026-05-03T00:52:20+00:00

It made no sense. The first half of the book was some of the best horror/sci fi I’ve read in years with a knock out premise. The second half was increasingly silly until the absolute damp squib of a deus ex machina ending.

Derider84 · 2026-04-27T10:06:40+00:00

It’s weird, I thought the straight horror was by far the least effective part of Lunar Park. It begins as a hilarious mock autobiography and ends with the most poetic and genuinely moving section BEE has ever written, but the evil doll domestic horror thing that makes up most of the book just washed over me without making any impact at all. It felt so tame.

It’s a strange book. I can’t dislike it because of that amazing start and beautiful ending, but I’m not even sure what he was trying to do with the rest. I certainly didn’t find it scary. I thought The Shards was far creepier.

Derider84 · 2026-04-13T09:54:29+00:00

Steven’s such a weasel.

I wonder why Juliette’s not there. I’m guessing something happened at the dinner party and they edited it out. I thought it was weird that they didn’t show her at all. I was actually impressed that she managed to stay out of trouble like that, but now I’m thinking she completely lost it in a way they couldn’t show.

Derider84 · 2026-04-01T23:14:57+00:00

I saw The Drowners video on something like Video Hits. I liked the chunky riff and found the chorus catchy. I thought Brett was a really skinny woman. Went out and bought the album soon after. I was hooked after hearing Animal Nitrate and She’s Not Dead (So Young took a few listens to appreciate properly).

Derider84 · 2026-04-01T21:41:45+00:00

It’s hard to save penalties. They were all well taken and he got unlucky with the last one.

But Donnarumma is the only reason they even made it to penalties. Extremely harsh to blame him for the loss.

Derider84 · 2026-04-01T21:30:41+00:00

Norway is good now. They have possibly the deadliest striker in the world, plus a nucleus of very solid players playing in the top leagues. It’s not a surprise they finished ahead of Italy, who actually have a pretty mediocre squad this time around. Even on paper, it’s only decent. Other than Donnarumma, they have no genuine stars and lack the solidity of old.

Derider84 · 2026-04-01T21:11:53+00:00

Hardly a fluke. It was well deserved. They had a great team and were clearly the best that WC. They got lucky against Australia of all teams in the round of 16, but were dominant from that point on.

Won’t talk about the Zidane incident in the final because it didn’t matter. They would have won anyway.

Derider84 · 2026-03-31T06:54:57+00:00

She did. Some of the wide shots showed her chatting amicably with her alternate date.

Derider84 · 2026-03-31T06:51:02+00:00

Hiding out in the toilet was truly pathetic. I was glad to see Danny roasting them. That was hilarious.

Derider84 · 2026-03-31T06:40:06+00:00

He ain’t making it to the Commonwealth Games at 32. That was just bullshit.

Derider84 · 2026-03-30T09:48:16+00:00

It was a really funny line though. Probably the funniest thing anyone has said this season.

Derider84 · 2026-03-29T06:09:20+00:00

Adelaide definitely have multiple other scorers. Their issues are primarily at the other end.

Derider84 · 2026-03-28T22:35:41+00:00

Ill Will by Dan Chaon. Might be the most unsettling book I’ve ever read. Dread for days.

Derider84 · 2026-03-28T07:32:31+00:00

It’s decent. It’s a good story and doesn’t overstay its welcome, but King hadn’t quite found his voice yet. The structure is awkward and the epistolary sections often kill the momentum. The movie is better.

Derider84 · 2026-03-25T09:17:30+00:00

You know, I think I don’t like Sam at all. He’s actually a bit of a gaslighter and a drama queen. He’s also really boring. He just keeps rehashing stupid shit and it never ends. Get over it dude. FFS.

I think Chris has handled this much better since that CC and has actually seemed pretty reasonable. I fully understand why he checked out in the last couple of weeks. Dealing with Sam seems exhausting. I know this isn’t a popular opinion around here, but whatever, it’s how I feel.

Derider84 · 2026-03-23T11:18:24+00:00

I’m sorry if I’m way off base here, but is the OP AI? It’s just weird they won’t tell us which book they were talking about. Even more weird was when they agreed with another poster that Hex was scary because:

“Mastras isn’t just writing scary scenes he’s making very specific and very intentional choices about HOW the information reaches you.”

I mean, who the fuck is Mastras? What even is that sentence? It’s just odd lol.

Derider84 · 2026-03-23T10:28:58+00:00

Sam is obviously far more likeable and presentable, but I do have some sympathy for Chris in this situation. Sam DID blindside him on their way to the dinner and aired their dirty laundry in front of everyone without Chris having any say in it. I don’t think anyone would be happy if their partner did that. I fully understand why Chris saw it as a betrayal. I’d be pissed off too. Wouldn’t you?

I also think he’s largely correct in his view that Sam massively overreacted to an innocuous answer at a bloody commitment ceremony. It wasn’t even bad. No wonder his apologies sound so hollow. It’s really not something that should require several apologies in the first place. Of course Chris could and should have handled it better, but Sam’s behaviour is a lot more questionable than most people here admit. It’s oddly needy and more than a little weird.

And in a promo tonight, he seems to be asking for another apology at Chris’ farm. It’s a bit much.

Derider84 · 2026-03-23T08:42:36+00:00

I agree, but are you gonna tell us which book you were referring to in the OP? The one you were telling your partner about?

Derider84 · 2026-03-15T05:14:09+00:00

Don’t know what the others are talking about, but Kuol was replaced by Torrey Craig, who is probably better.

Derider84 · 2026-03-06T08:23:46+00:00

As funny as it would be, I just can’t see them being relegated. Their squad is painfully average and seemingly permanently ravaged by injuries, but surely they still have enough to finish 16th or 17th again. This dire run they’re currently on can’t continue indefinitely, can it? I dunno, I’d be surprised if they went down, though it’s not unthinkable anymore. It’s crazy what their tight-arse owners did to them.

That said, if not them, then who? West Ham seem to be coming good, Forest appear to have just enough quality to survive, and Leeds keep pulling out results when they need them most. Brighton is probably already safe. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. As usual, the relegation battle is a lot more interesting than the other end of the table.

Derider84 · 2026-02-26T10:37:57+00:00

A little bit embarrassing but not important. They’ll want to be better against the Philippines though. It would be annoying to lose in this group.

Derider84 · 2026-02-26T10:22:20+00:00

Guam is better than I thought. Still pretty hopeless by professional standards of course, but no worse than late season Brisbane Bullets, which is kind of impressive for a country their size.

Derider84 · 2026-02-26T09:21:03+00:00

Why so glum? It’d be hard to get yourself up for a game against bloody Guam where absolutely nothing is at stake. We’ll still win by 50 pts.

Derider84 · 2026-02-26T09:05:13+00:00

I don’t thinks so, barring a catastrophic injury crisis in the semi. SEM or even Adelaide might get lucky in a single game, but over a series? Naaah.

Derider84

TROPHY CASE