Rating: 
Summary: elephants do forget.....
Review: i was so astonished when reading this book as it kept me on the exciting pace with the good plot....(not near perfect as in death on the nile, murder on the orient express and and then there were none)but it took me to the upper level of curiosity....try this one...
Rating: 
Summary: Unexpected :)
Review: I've read almost all of Agatha Christie's books and this one is a masterpiece, in my opinion. The plot is good, the conclusion is wonderful and she has a way of dealing with the people's personalities that just makes you get in their minds and actually share their emotions. It's nice, I loved the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Even Agatha Christie can run out of convincing plots.
Review: Inspite of a good character analysis and settings, this book falls much much below the usual standard of A.C. The plot especially is a BIG let-down and the climax falls flat. That even A.C should resort to such predictable wool-over-the-eye is amazing. The structure is very little different from Five Little Pigs - if Elephants Can Remember then Pigs can recall much better!
Rating: 
Summary: If this had been a true-blue detective novel ...
Review: It could have been solved in half the time. But it is not, and to appreciate or understand this novel, readers must place it in the proper context.The problem was at first vague; Ariadne Oliver was asked by a stranger if the mother of Ariadne's goddaughter killed the father, or was it vice-versa. The deaths were actually some twenty years or more before. As the stranger was the mother to a man who was contemplating marriage to Ariadne's goddaughter, she could be partially forgiven for her apparent concern. Of course one of the things Ariadne did was to call on Hercule Poirot, and together they embarked on elephant-chase to pry for secrets from the past. "Elephants can remember" was published in 1972, that is 52 years after the first Poirot novel "The Mysterious Affairs at Styles". Many people did not even live that long. Agatha Christie aged her characters along with the years, and therefore there were cases that were different from bodies being found all over the place. Other similar novels before this whereby Christie's detectives investigate deaths long in the past included Dumb Witness, Five Little Pigs, Mrs McGinty's Dead, Ordeal By Innocence, and Nemesis. The common theme among them was that the investigator(s) had to depend on memories of various people who might not even be present; but from their recollections, clues were found to provide either the definitive picture of the culprits or the definitive picture of the crime. What a lot of impatient readers would find irritating was having to sift through the useful information from the useless. Elephants is such another tale. Mystery veterans would probably have been able to jump to the solution before Poirot's grand finale, but would they have been able to unravel the threads in the manner necessary? Proofs have to be gathered, and evidence, motivation, etc were all the necessary persuasions for Elephants before they would give up their secrets. The meat and drink of this novel is more than solving the mystery of who killed who, but to recapture the atmosphere, the mood, the aura of that time in the past, and to be able to put events in their proper perspectives. Also no less important was Poirot's being able to relate the past (in its correct perspective) and its impact on the present in order for persuade the elephants to give up their secrets.
Rating:
Summary: If this had been a true-blue detective novel ...
Review: It could have been solved in half the time. But it is not, and to appreciate or understand this novel, readers must place it in the proper context. The problem was at first vague; Ariadne Oliver was asked by a stranger if the mother of Ariadne's goddaughter killed the father, or was it vice-versa. The deaths were actually some twenty years or more before. As the stranger was the mother to a man who was contemplating marriage to Ariadne's goddaughter, she could be partially forgiven for her apparent concern. Of course one of the things Ariadne did was to call on Hercule Poirot, and together they embarked on elephant-chase to pry for secrets from the past. "Elephants can remember" was published in 1972, that is 52 years after the first Poirot novel "The Mysterious Affairs at Styles". Many people did not even live that long. Agatha Christie aged her characters along with the years, and therefore there were cases that were different from bodies being found all over the place. Other similar novels before this whereby Christie's detectives investigate deaths long in the past included Dumb Witness, Five Little Pigs, Mrs McGinty's Dead, Ordeal By Innocence, and Nemesis. The common theme among them was that the investigator(s) had to depend on memories of various people who might not even be present; but from their recollections, clues were found to provide either the definitive picture of the culprits or the definitive picture of the crime. What a lot of impatient readers would find irritating was having to sift through the useful information from the useless. Elephants is such another tale. Mystery veterans would probably have been able to jump to the solution before Poirot's grand finale, but would they have been able to unravel the threads in the manner necessary? Proofs have to be gathered, and evidence, motivation, etc were all the necessary persuasions for Elephants before they would give up their secrets. The meat and drink of this novel is more than solving the mystery of who killed who, but to recapture the atmosphere, the mood, the aura of that time in the past, and to be able to put events in their proper perspectives. Also no less important was Poirot's being able to relate the past (in its correct perspective) and its impact on the present in order for persuade the elephants to give up their secrets.
Rating:
Summary: Sad inability to escape the past
Review: Poignant story contains more dialogue than action but does have one of Christie's best twist endings, which is also a real heartbreaker. Poirot and Adriane Oliver try to discover who killed who in a murder suicide and find out that the tragedy never really went away. A really good story for readers who like to listen to characters speak and recall their history. Plot seeking others might want to delve into Agatha's more exciting yarns for suspense. This one is mostly about the power of memory. I found it touching and quite involving.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, I guess
Review: This book was one of the worst Agatha Christie books I've ever read. Usually I love Hercule Poirot mysteries; they are fascinating. But I found this novel unbelievably repetitive and the end wasn't much of a climax. It beats other most other author's work, though!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Captivating
Review: This is a beautifully written mystery, definately one of Christie's best. Hercule Poirot is in his prime. The end of the book is positively horrifying, as it should be. I really could not put this chilling book down. Every mystery fan will enjoy this fabulous piece of work, and will also be shocked by the outcome in the end
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Mystery - No elephants Involved.
Review: This mystery novel with 'Elephants' in its title uses the word elephant metaphorically to identify humans with long memories. The protagonist, Ariadne Oliver, with help from investigator Hercule Poirot, contacts such 'elephants' to find the answers to a twelve year old double suicide or murder-suicide; that being the mystery. Story has nothing to do with real elephants and no elephant ever appears in it. Enjoyable typical of Christie stories I think.
Rating:
Summary: Old Sins Cast Long Shadows
Review: This novel written in the twilight of Dame Agatha's long and illustrious career (1972) would have been better left on the cutting room floor. It was especially painful for me to read because I not long ago re-read her vibrant, lively and completely mystifying "Murder at the Vicarage" which was written in 1927. The comparison was depressing. Hercule Poirot is teamed with Mrs. Oliver, a crime novelist, to find the truth of a 15-20 year old murder/suicide. Mrs. Oliver's goddaughter, Celia is the daughter of the couple who supposedly entered this pact. For the first one-half of the book, we are not advanced an inch in any direction. Many people are interviewed (the "elephants" of the title) and most have vague memories of the couple, as does Mrs. Oliver herself. Mrs. O's dithering is not artlessly charming, for we are as confused as she. Saddest cut of all, the red herrings are not "herrings" at all. They are giant signposts. Rather than Poirot gracefully unraveling the mystery on the last page, the reader has left him in the dust 50 pages ago. The prose has a distinctly purplish hue. According to the publisher, "Elephants Can Remember" was originally published as "Five Little Pigs." I do not recommend this book, because it does not do Dame Agatha justice. There are 75 titles to choose that will far better reflect her abilities and why she earned the title "Queen of Crime."
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