Two Mini Reviews

The Pilgrim's Progress, Part Two (John Bunyan and Alan Vermilye.)  

Firstly, check out my review of the very famous Part One

This is the sequel to John Bunyan's famous masterpiece; the tale of Christian's wife and kids. Although Christiana and their four sons initially resisted Christian's pleas for them to go with him to the Celestial City, they now have second thoughts and decide to follow in his footsteps. The boys are called Matthew, Samuel, Joseph and James, but we don't find that out upfront. Their names unfold along with the story.  

It begins when Secret delivers a gold-written invitation for Christiana to embark on the same journey her husband took. Mrs Nervousness tries to talk her out of it, advocating the safety of a comfort zone, but a young woman named Mercy opts to travel with the family, although she fears she'll be rejected because she has no personal invitation. When Christiana advocates for Mercy, they discover the Lord will accept all who believe in Him, no matter how they come to be pilgrims. So we traverse the same ground as before, beginning with the Slough of Despond, the Wicket Gate, the Interpreter's House and so on. 

Some readers claim to love Part Two for its more corporate vibe, but I tend to agree with Emily of New Moon, who felt the crowd that surrounds Christiana at every turn dispels the fascination. Their guide, Greatheart, faces most of the dangerous foes on their behalf. All Christiana's party really has to do is tag along and hide behind him, which isn't my idea of a riveting adventure. 

That's not to say nothing interesting ever happens to the family at all. Matthew gets a bad stomach ache from snacking on fruit hanging over someone's fence. It turns out to be Beelzebub's orchard, so no wonder! And remember the Giant Despair. He gets his just desserts. 

Interestingly, Greatheart tells the family that although Christian faced Apollyon in the Valley of Humilation, that doesn't make it a bad place per se. It's a pretty good place to settle down. 'I've known many working men who have magnificent estates in the Valley of Humiliation, because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.' 

I think this has to be a 3-star read. Its slower pace and lack of challenge for the main characters probably deserves just two, but I guess the spiritual insights lift it to three. 

I didn't enjoy it half as much as the original. 

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The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Early one morning, Mrs Bantry is woken by hurried footsteps passing her bedroom door, followed by the maid's frantic news, 'There's a body in the library!' Incredibly, a pretty young girl lies dead on the library hearth, a stranger to the Bantrys and staff alike. Mrs Bantry's first impulse is to phone her friend, Jane Marple, because, 'You are so good at bodies.' 

Miss Marple's driving force for helping this investigation is to shield poor old Colonel and Mrs Bantry from the backlash of rumours which has already started buzzing, since the victim was found in their residence. Sure enough, our elderly sleuth homes in on the killer before the plethora of police have a clue. 'People have been much too credulous and believing.' Although Miss Marple is too kind and modest to say it, it's highly unlikely the police would ever have stumbled on the truth.

It's pretty clever unmasking of some cold-hearted, calculating crime. 

This is one of Christie's usual page-turners. The dead girl, Ruby Keene, turns out to be a dancer on the entertainment staff of the nearby Majestic Hotel. It's revealed that one of the wealthy guests there, the magnetic and mesmerising Conway Jefferson, had intended to adopt Ruby as his daughter and heir, which infuriates his family. His son-in-law, Mark Gaskell, calls Ruby a, 'half-baked, nitwitted little slypuss.' To daughter-in-law Adelaide, she's, 'a vulgar, gold-digging little simpleton.'

Miss Marple, as usual, draws heavily from other anecdotal examples in her memory banks to make educated conjectures. This prompts her old mate, Sir Henry Clithering, to remark, 'I must say I do dislike the way you reduce us all to a general common denominator.' I'm sure we can all anticipate Miss Marple's inevitable reply. 'Human nature is very much the same anywhere.' 

Agatha Christie gives herself a plug in this story. A nine-year-old character, Peter Carmody, boasts how he's collected autographs from all the current crime writers. 'I've got Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Dickson Carr and H. C. Bailey.' I like how she gives her mystery writing peers a shout-out as well as depicting herself as someone who would be gracious enough to sign a young boy's autograph album. 

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