Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories

The short and smart detective had held my fascination the first time I got to know him, but through television series. So when I saw the book containing the complete short stories I lost no time but got hold of it in the early part of the millenium. But still today the stories are as intellectually charming as ever. Devoid of a rush of adrenaline, this kicks in the real stimulant refreshing the spirits at any time. The passionately orderly, daintily dressed complete to the patent leather boots, with an obsessive fussiness over tidiness, the little Belgian, the self proclaimed greatest (maybe without an error there too!), deductive genius had always proved his point in matters baffling the authorities. With a diversity of characters to deal with, the psychologist in Poirot always seem to catch the basic of the problem before others. With a reasoning unmatched with the authorities, the little detective with his shrewd traps has been the saviour to the police in several cases. Thus Harper Collins is to be complimented on their compilation of all the short stories featuring the Hercules of the mystery genre but it had surely made a mistake by stating that it contains more than fifty stories by counting the foreward of one of the collections making the total just one more than the half century. But this is really one of a kind getting the complete set in one book. The treasure trove is listed below.

1. The Attair at the Victory Ball
2. The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
3. The King of Clubs
4. The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim
5. The Plymouth Express
6. The Adventure of the Western Star
7. The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
8. The Kidnapped Prime Minister
9. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
10. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
11. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
12. The Chocolate Box
13. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
14. The Veiled Lady
15. The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
16. The Market Basing Mystery
17. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
18. The Case of the Missing Will
19. The Incredible Theft
20. The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
21. The Lost Mine
22. The Cornish Mystery
23. The Double Clue
24. The Adventure of the Christimas Pudding
25. The Lemesurier Inheritance
26. The Under dog
27. Double Sin
28. Wasps' Nest
29. The Third-Floor Flat
30. the Mystery of the Spanish Chest
31. Dead Man's Mirror
32. How Does Your Garden Grow?
33. Problem at Sea
34. Tringle at Rhodes
35. Murder in the Mews
36. Yellow Iris
37. The Dream
38. The Labours of Hercules - Foreward
39. The Nemean Lion
40. The Lernean Hydra
41. The Arcadin Deer
42. The Erymanthian Boar
43. The Augean Stables
44. The Stymphalean Birds
45. The Cretan Bull
46. The Horses of Diomeded
47. The Girdle of Hyppolita
48. The Flock of Geryon
49. The Apples of the Hesperides
50. The Capture of Cerberus
51. Four-and Twenty Blackbirds

Well these stories may be categorised as anybody wishes but there is a classification that may be not of the conventional type. Theres are stories narrated by the composed Captain Hastings, there are others by Christie where Poirot almost plays the lone hand, others necessitates the assistance of the faithful George and some of them features Miss Lemon the methodical secretary. Also special mention may be made of 28, 34, 37, 43 which are favourites.

Rakhis Ma Rosheboshe

Where the last volume stopped, this one started with the same fervor. Starting from the family life of the common Bengali household to the social life, the satire is complete with revelations that deeply stirs the intellect but never becomes boring due to the spontaneity of the episodes. Though a bit more serious than its predecessor the writing remains as lively as always. The collection culminates with a very optimistic note that also speaks the undiminished hope that the intellectual holds for the Bengali. That the projected life of the common man which appears with its apparent ill and gore there still remains hidden the pure and the beautiful has been cleverly directed by the author. Though malice is not left out but the criticisms are always healthy as they indicate the path of the righteous and it remains upon the society to make the choice.