I don't think Christie should have written a different ending at all.  If you don't know the other ending don't read any further.  Christie gave the play a happy ending - if you can have a happy ending after eight people have been murdered!  And the films have followed this ending.  To me the book is just perfect as the wheels of justice have turned full circle.  Perhaps one day another film version will be made with the book ending and if so it will be interesting to see what people make of it. 

True, but remember that one of Christie's main reasons for writing that alternate ending is because hanging wouldn't have worked too well onstage.

The original ending is the best, IMO. Christie's words succeed in building tension and conveying a sense of guilt and apprehension throughout, and it reaches its climax when it comes to her ending. It's also unexpected, which is always nice. ;)

Personally, I think the killer's identity in ATTWN is far less well "clued" than Christie's other "controversial" novels (most famous being Roger Ackroyd and Orient Express). It still plays fair, but it is a lot harder to spot the killer than you'd think.

I was quite shocked when I first read the ending. I've reread the book many times since.

Having grown up watching the early film adaptation starring June Duprez, I was rather astonished when I first read the novel.  However, I think that both are in and of themselves excellent.  I don't think the novel could possibly be any better and is in fact one of my favorite Christie novels.  Realistically, at the time that the novel was adapted, you'd be hard pressed to find a movie studio willing to make a film that ended in such a way.  When Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca was adapted, several key plot points were altered to make one of the characters and the ending a bit more palatable for audiences.  Yet I love both the novel and the film.  All things considered, the adaptations of this terrific novel could be a lot worse, in my opinion.

I have not yet read the novel but a few months ago I saw the old b/w film one saturday afternoon on BBC 2. I watched it with my Mother who is also a huge Christie fan. However, when the film ended my Mother was surprised and told me that the novel does not end the way the film did. However, just now reading these posts regarding these endings I phoned my Mum and told her that the ending in the film was supposed to be that way - so, mystery solved.

what exactly happens in the original ending i kno only the edited one

Despite the villain's plan being a sort of a Xanatos Roulette, that book is one of the AC books that impressed me much. The theme of morality of blind justice is an interesting one - despite technically being an agent of justice, Wargrave is one of the least sympathetic characters in the novel - most of his victims are more sympathetic then him.

in the original ending vera kills phillip like in the ten little indians poem and then she hangs herself.  the police find the ten bodies in the afterward.

I'll never forget how I found this book...

I was in my favourite ever bookshop- (now sadly closed a few weeks ago)

and a complete stranger handed me this. All she said was: "If you're looking for Agatha Christie... This is the best one." And then she disappeared like smoke on the breeze! (Well, not really. I'm being poetic again- she just walked away.) But it was a great book, and I wholeheartedly agree with you, Mysterious Stranger Lady.

This was the first Christie novel I read and I loved it. This was terrifying, clever, ingenious, and amazing. I did not have much sympathy for the ten characters. However, I did feel a little bit sorry for General Macarthur. I can see how he would want to kill his wife's lover. But the others were only asking for their punishment. Wargrave I thought was a frightening, warped, and sinister man. Emily Brent disturbed me because she was suppose to be a decent Christian lady and yet she kicked Beatrice Taylor out and was not sorry she killed herself. My sympathy tends toward her maid. Lombard, Blore, and Marston are also very rotten. This novel is a perfect combination of how people can escape their past for a while but then it will come back to them and there will be retribution.

I knew this one was going to be different, but I didnt realise how I would be on the edge of my seat. I was racing towards the end, trying to take in everything. I knew I couldn't read it before I went to sleep, my mind would be still focused on the book.

I kept wondering, was there someone else in the house or island that was killing people, or was it one their number? I even wondered if there was a supernatural element involved. Then the last page you find out..

It's the Judge who scares me. He was a sadist who chose his occupation just to punnish others. His memoir at the end was so twisted. I think AC really got into his character, which must have been disturbing. The idea of people's behaviour during childhood, shaping them as adults reoccurs in several books.

I read this book back in the early '70's. I was in a big hurry to get to the end, to find out what happened. DOH!!

I'll have to read it again, and give myself time to enjoy it, this time.

Welcome huntgoddess. I know exactly what you mean, I just wanted to finnish and find out what happens in the end. The pace is really breathtaking and the suspense is electric.

im reading this book right now it is great so far i like the whole concept of the story

The thing with Judge Wargrave... despite the majority of his victims being pretty outright villainous creeps, most of them are far more likeable them him.

If done right, I think this could become a good movie- but only if done right. No added lesbians or nuns.

There are already some movies based on ATTWN, afaik.

I finished reading this yesterday and I am exhausted! So many characters, so many guilty secrets and so many possibilities for the outcome. I was convinced there was somone else on the island.(I didn't guess who did it!)

I thought the little soldier boys nursery rhym and Vera hanging herself at the end were horrible, but saying that I wouldn't have wanted it to end another way. After all real life doesn't always have a happy ending.

The nursery rhyme is very disturbing. I'm glad I never read that one as a child.

I also thought there could be someone on the island, but I was left guessing until the last page. I put the book down in a state of shock!

I think I will read it again to see if there are any clues I missed as to the murderers identity.

I enjoyed both the novel and the play.  Something I haven't seen mentioned is that readers and audiences of the time it was written had a different set of social values.  So, something that was shocking at the time has a whole different context in the 21st century.

Now that's a very interesting thought, Number3. Christie used the concept of differing degrees of guilt in this novel, and I think she showed herself to be more than usually enlightened for her times when she singles out Philip for prolonged suffering, as he had caused the death of 12 men, although Vera, echoing the social values of the time, says that they were "only natives".

Of cours, Vera, as a child murderer, would have been condemned in both eras (although I'd always thought he sounded a miserable little brat!)

If Marsden had been a drink-driver, then he would have been much more condemned in the present day.

I agree with a previous poster that General Macarthur had extreme provocation and perhaps would be looked upon with more sympathy.

Poor Mrs Rogers seemed to be relatively innocent, acting under the direction of her husband.

Personally, I've always found the doctor to be the most repellent character in the novel.

What do other people think about the difference in values from when this novel was written?

(By the way, to answer an earlier comment re the ending, I saw the most recent London production of the play a couple of years ago. and it ended with Vera hanging herself very convincingly centre stage!)

General Macarthur again, I have sympathy for him. But he's the one that seems to actually felt the most remorse. he's so accepting of his fate.

I think that Miss Blunt had no guilt, she acted in a way that was heartless and unchristian. She was too blind and had such a closed mind.

Vera had acted terribly and never had guilt over the boys death. Phillip was completely callous. Those tow are the toughest on the island and I think that's why they were left until last.

Yet the character I find the most utterly unredeamble is Judge Wargrave.

Despite the 10 stranded characters being rather villainous at best, I held out hope that some will survive 'till the end. That's why the end was so shoking to me.

I really liked the film, avn't seen the play but reading your posts has put me in mind to read the book again, thanks for that

I bought this book online a few months ago. The night I got it in the mail, I decided to read the first couple of chapters just to get started. Haha, it did NOT happen like that. I couldn't put the book down and read it all night. At the end, I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open in shock. I even re-read it the next day at a slower pace. The whole time I was reading it I was developing wild theories as to who the murderer was. I didn't even consider the idea that a death could've been faked. I love this book!

This is the first book ever that I read in one breath. Before, I thought that that was only a myth . I didn't put it down till I finished it. Oh, and it is the first book that gave me a scare ! It is absolutely fantastic, though it is not my favourite.

I think that practically all of the characters are unsympathic and not likeable at all. Rogers dominate his wife, Miss Brent is very harsh and strict and unkind to her maid Beatrice Taylor, Lombard is not sorry that 21 natives died and he thinks they don't mind dying. I think everybody from the upper-class to the lower class matter. Tony Marston is very reckless, spoiled, and rotten and is not upset that he ran down two kids. Vera seems sympathic at first but when we find out she did kill Cyril Hamilton she is seen from being sympathic to a cold-blooded killer. Armstrong although he had no reason to kill Louisa Cless he knows better than to get drunk and operate on an innocent person he violated the sacred trust of the medical profession. Blore let an innocent man die in prison all because he was mixed up in a criminal gang. Another person who violates his position as being a member of the law. The General although his wife did have a lover he perfectly knew that the mission he sent Richmond on in WWI was dangerous and could kill even though he did not stab or shoot him but it was murder. Wargrave is probably the most sinister, ugliest, and even demented of all of them. This novel I also think can be class as an early psychological thriller which is good.

It's odd because normally with characters that are hard to like, I don't care what happens to them. Yet somehow Christie made me want to contunue reading, to find out what going to happen to the characters. I think the really tough characters were left until last, their suffering was prolonged. Vera is very had, but eventually she to starts to crack, yet never does she feel remorse at what she has done.

But although all of the people on the island had either killed someone directly or indirectly, the Judge is evil is the fact he kills, not for revenge, or gain but for his own amusement. Very frightening and unusual for a Christie character.

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite Christie book is, even though I can never choose, ATTWN is always a contender. It is so different from her other mysteries, it's actually breathtaking. There is really no optimism (aside from the bleak view that everyone gets what they deserve!) and no one is left standing, which is obviously unusual for her.

But I appreciate this book because it shows a darker side, and it does take your breath away as you're reading it. I actually performed in the play (Ten Little Indians) in high school and got to play Vera, which was great of course, but it would have been much more interesting to have played the Vera from the book, who continues to show very little remorse.

And Nofret, I'm glad to hear that they staged a play with the book's ending. I would have loved to have seen that.

I was fortunate enough to see a local community theatre put on the play, just weeks after first discovering AC and not long after reading the book itself. It was a very pleasant evening (I still have the program), and the original sense of menace and inevitability was still there- but the excrutiating psychological tension was lost in the process, replaced by bits of comedy (oh, Blore and his biscuits....)

why does there must always be a movie that is not at all like the book. I know that they only get the copyright to get the characters names and what happens, but why with this i mean the plot in the book was perfect besides the fact that mrs. marple or pirot, but other then that they should have made it true to the book. 

I have only seen the 1960's version with Fabian, Wilfred-Hyde White and Shirley Eaton first and later I saw the 1945 version with Barry Fitzgerald. I thought the 1945 version was a little bit close to the novel although they changed some of the characters' names, crimes, methods of murder, and the ending. I have often wish someone today would create a new version of this novel and not change the important things especially the ending.

And Then There Were None was the first Christie book I read.  I thought it was very well done, and could not imagine a different ending.  I still have yet to see the film.

I know I have mentioned in an earlier reply that I am not too sorry for the ten characters. However, I find that I do have sympathy for General Macarthur because his wife was carrying on with a younger officer in her husband's command. It seems to me that at first he denies what he has don't but later on before he dies he realizes that he did murder Arthur Richmond and waits to die. I feel sorry for him but the others are too cold-hearted, unemotional, and in Wargrave's case sadistic and twisted. Vera Claythorne seems sympathic and innocent but in the epilogue and manuscript we know Vera' true colors and she is a ruthless and cruel murderess who drowned Cyril Hamilton so her lover Hugo could inherit that explains why she felt he no longer cared for her because of her crime. My sympathy for her is gone. This novel to me is almost like the slasher movies we see today like Scream and I Know What you Did Last Summer. Also last summer I saw a show on CBS called Harper's Island which is sort like ATTWN.