Giving it away

For 58 years,the longest-ever running play in the world has managed to keep its secrets. After every performance of Agatha Christies The Mousetrap,the actors enjoin the audience to keep the famous ending to themselves. Now,Christies estate has discovered to its chagrin that The Mousetraps killer twist is open to everyone on Wikipedia. In fact,all her plot summaries have long been available there.

With movie reviews,critics generally have a code,and tell you where to stop reading. But it is futile asking for that kind of cordon sanitaire on the Web,where responsibility is so scattered. The buzzing hive destroys all that relies on closely guarded knowledge TV shows,sports matches,movies and books anything that seeks to keep watchers hooked from an unfolding story,a tantalising trickle of information. But on the other hand,users and forum moderators often preface the spoiler with blank space or highly visible stop signs.

So is Wikipedia out to wreck all the fun,or is the Christie estate missing the point? Anybody who has seen these entries would know that reading the bald plot leaches all the drama and agonised,suspenseful pleasure of a Christie work,and is absolutely no replacement for the real thing. It does her play a disservice to think that the twist is all there is it is the patient build-up,the hints,the maniacal guesswork you put in through the book or play that makes the end so rewarding. Theres no danger of a Wikipedia entry ever killing that joy.