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Agatha Christie - Where to start?

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C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#26: Jul 9th 2012 at 7:20:18 PM

The problem with Christie is that she reuses too many of her own plots, often with only paper thin disguises. And it's never immediately obvious if you've read basically the same book before. At least it's something she admmited to doing.

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terlwyth Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
#27: Jul 9th 2012 at 11:26:22 PM

Not to mention the murderer is always met at the beginning (come to think of it only Psych sometimes and Patricia Cornwell books ever seem to avert this)

In fact there should be a trope called The Murderer Is At The Beginning or something like that

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter
BornIn1142 from Estonia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#28: Jul 10th 2012 at 2:51:07 AM

Er, what exactly do you mean? I'd be rather pissed at a murder mystery where the killer is some random schmoe introduced at the end.

AnEditor Since: Sep, 2011
#29: Sep 9th 2012 at 1:38:21 PM

I don't recall Christie ever randomly introducing moles at the very end, but sometimes she does introduce random motives we didn't know anything about. They tend to involve fake identities, illegitimate children, incidents that happened fifty years ago in a character's troubled backstory, stuff like that.

The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them.
Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#30: Sep 9th 2012 at 6:43:28 PM

This may have been mentioned, but I recall reading that Christie's strategy was often to write the book to nearly the end, determine who the least likely culprit would be. and then go back and rewrite to make it all make sense.

Murder on the Orient Express is an entertaining, quick read, but avoid movie versions if at all possible; the one from the 70's with Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, and Lauren Bacall is mostly Poirot explaining stuff, and the more recent BBC version mucks with Poirot's character and motives a bit too much for my taste. I liked "And Then There Were None" until the reveal at the end (which was too much of what Raymond Chandler called "Having God sit in your lap," meaning fortune had to favor the villain FAR too much); for those having trouble finding the book, the computer game actually comes with a copy.

JohnPotts Since: Sep, 2012
#31: Mar 18th 2013 at 7:35:33 PM

One of the probelsm you're going to run into is that a lot of the "Whodunnit" Tropes were invented by Agatha Christie, so they can seem completely cliched to the modern reader, such as "The Murder on the Orient Express" solution (I won't spoil it if you don't know it, but it's pretty famous). Then there are facts that were commonly accepted in their day - you could set a watch by the times trains left (The 4.50 from Paddington) or that a latter sent today would arrive tomorrow (The ABC Murders). If you can cope with that, then they're probably as good today as when they're written. My personal favourite would be "...And then there were None" (or Ten Little Indians/Niggers, depending how old a version you read).

Ultrayellow Unchanging Avatar. Since: Dec, 2010
Unchanging Avatar.
#32: Mar 19th 2013 at 7:15:27 PM

I wouldn't start with Orient Express. It's not really a typical Poirot. Start with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which is actually chronologically the first Poirot.

Edit: But for Christie overall, start with And Then There Were None. IMHO, it's her best.

edited 19th Mar '13 7:16:18 PM by Ultrayellow

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.
kalel94 Rascal King from Dragonstone Since: Feb, 2011
Rascal King
#33: Mar 20th 2013 at 1:26:16 PM

Yeah, read And Then There Were None. It's the most well written, and definitely the most non-standard Christie story.

The last hurrah? Nah, I'd do it again.
C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#34: Mar 20th 2013 at 1:35:50 PM

I've always felt Curtain was her best, although that's probably not the place you'd want to start.

Am I a good man or a bad man?
chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#35: Mar 20th 2013 at 8:33:15 PM

And Then There Was None is the only Christie I have read. I can definitely see why it can be considered one of her best.

DomaDoma Three-Puppet Saluter Since: Jan, 2001
Three-Puppet Saluter
#36: Mar 21st 2013 at 4:07:42 AM

I read the aforementioned essay of Chandler's, because I always like a good kvetch, and it's basically "why I write better detective stories than Agatha Christie." Good essay, really, if it weren't written by someone with so obvious a vested interest.

Hail Martin Septim!
TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#37: Mar 21st 2013 at 4:07:55 PM

I hate to bring a mercenary note to this discussion, but who sold more books? Christie or Chandler?

whimsyful Since: Sep, 2010
#38: Mar 21st 2013 at 4:16:10 PM

[up] Christie by a lonngggg shot. She's known for being the bestselling author of all time (after Shakespeare and the Bible).

Leaper Since: May, 2009
#39: Mar 21st 2013 at 4:19:32 PM

She also used a little too much of the "single word in chapter six is the one and only clue that unlocks the whole mystery for the reader" business that some of her contemporaries complained about.

Xtifr World's Toughest Milkman Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
World's Toughest Milkman
#40: Mar 21st 2013 at 5:08:45 PM

Christie also had several decades head start on Chandler, and wrote probably more-than ten times as many books, so it's not too surprising that she sold more. On the other hand, both authors are considered pretty much The Masters of their respective subgenres.

Another interesting question might be: which author has inspired more imitation/homage. Here, again, I suspect that Christie has the lead, but Chandler might be a little closer than in the sales department.

As a big fan of both, I can't really take any of these comparisons too seriously, though. :)

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.
C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#41: Mar 21st 2013 at 5:26:26 PM

[up] I imagine Christie would win overall homages by a long shot, but as a single character Marlowe would win. I think a lot of the homages would be to the noir films as much as anything.

Am I a good man or a bad man?
Lyendith I'm not insane, I'm not… not insane! from Bègles, France Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
I'm not insane, I'm not… not insane!
#42: Jun 9th 2013 at 6:46:54 AM

I recently read And Then There Were None (which, curiously, I found literally the minute I stepped in the bookshop). Great setup and atmosphere, with interesting characters. I liked the mystery, although I found the whodunnit a bit… cheap. I did suspect the right culprit very early − if you start from the whydunnit it's quite obvious actually −, but nowhere is it mentionned or implied that Wargrave had any opportunity to kill Brent in the living-room (since he was supposedly with the others in the kitchen). Even the bottle message hand-waves it as "oh, I had a chance at some point". So I assumed that the death-faking business had taken place before that, and changed my prime suspect…

Now if I understood what was said about this book, it's a peculiar one in the work of Christie. I would be curious to see some of her more… "orthodox" works, but one with an interesting atmosphere and characters if possible… from what I saw on TV, I'm not sure I would like Poirot that much, but maybe he's more interesting in the books…

edited 9th Jun '13 6:52:23 AM by Lyendith

Flippé de participer à ce grand souper, je veux juste m'occuper de taper mon propre tempo.
Sisi Sisi from Toronto Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Sisi
#43: Jun 10th 2013 at 7:30:31 AM

mmm...If you like character, I'd say stick with the books that don't feature any of her main characters. Towards Zero is excellent,as is Crooked House. Endless Night is good too, though it looses some of the magic if you've already read Murder of Roger Ackroyd - whoch is also good, if you you want a more orthodox Christie story. Curtain is also good, but you need to have read A LOT of Christie before hand (specifially the first book, Mysterious Affair at Styles), as it's literally a finale book.

In terms of TV and film, I actually thoroughly enjoyed the BBC Murder on the Orient Express as it DID give a bit more character development to it's protagonist as well as the other characters. I'm also probably in the minority that DON'T think that Poirot was OC in that movie. It's the only film in the series thus far that openly demonstrates Poirot's Catholicism, but the books did mention it more than once, so it's not an ass pull. I also like that there is conflict in the resolution. It fits with Poirot's disapproval of murder IMO. Anyway, my advice is, if you're not familiar with Christie or Poirot enough, you should enjoy that movie with out getting too rankled about characterization or rewrites. I honestly think the writers just wanted to differentiate their adaptation from the Finney movie, since that one was already a perfectly faitful adaptation and we didn't really need another page for page adaptation. They wanted to bring something new to the plate.

Stay away from the ITV Marple series though, most of them anyway. I can think of maybe one or two episodes that were good, but most of them are just...odd. Most suffer from complete rewrites due to the unceremonial cramming in or ramping up of lesbians (seriously), or the unceremonial cramming in of Marple into stories she was never in (though I did genuinely like Pale Horse for some odd reason). Now I'm not a purist and the movies are by no means BAD movies, it's just that the rewrites were pointless and stupid. Anyway, hope this helps you pick your next Christie ^^

edited 10th Jun '13 7:32:26 AM by Sisi

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Lyendith I'm not insane, I'm not… not insane! from Bègles, France Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
I'm not insane, I'm not… not insane!
#44: Jun 15th 2013 at 6:03:04 AM

Hum… in that case, I may try Crooked House or Endless Night… the titles are somewhat more appealing to me. tongue

Flippé de participer à ce grand souper, je veux juste m'occuper de taper mon propre tempo.
ThisThing Since: Dec, 2012
#45: Jun 15th 2013 at 3:23:28 PM

My favorite has always been Towards Zero, though I also love Crooked House. (Christie's favorites herself were Crooked House and Ordeal by Innocence, so those are good places to begin.)

whimsyful Since: Sep, 2010
#46: Jun 15th 2013 at 9:11:24 PM

Towards Zero and Crooked House are both excellent. If you want good starting books for her series detectives, I'd suggest The Tuesday Night Club Murders/The Thirteen Problems and The Moving Finger for Miss Marple, and Death on the Nile and The ABC Murders for Poirot.

TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#47: Jun 17th 2013 at 1:00:45 PM

I watched a porn version of "And Then There Were None" a while ago. Stuck pretty closely to the outline in the original novel, which meant that there were a lot of gruesome murders in amongst the various hard core sex acts.

TheGeekArtist08 Hello? Hello, hello? from Hurricane, Utah (no not really) Since: Feb, 2020 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Hello? Hello, hello?
#48: Nov 27th 2020 at 8:10:14 AM

Dang, I really wanna read the Agatha Christie series.

I really do.

Dunno where it is sold here.

Edited by TheGeekArtist08 on Nov 27th 2020 at 11:11:24 PM

artsy geek | any pronouns | "well, if you're hearing this, then chances are you've made a very poor career choice."
Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#49: Nov 27th 2020 at 10:35:28 PM

[up] She's in print pretty much everywhere, and her work is literally available anywhere that sells fiction. I can't imagine there are many public libraries that wouldn't have at least a few of her books (though I did encounter one public library where all they had by Christie was one copy of Murder on the Orient Express and four copies of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd).

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#50: Nov 27th 2020 at 10:37:19 PM

[up] She's in print pretty much everywhere, and her work is literally available anywhere that sells fiction. I can't imagine there are many public libraries that wouldn't have at least a few of her books (though I did encounter one public library where all they had by Christie was one copy of Murder on the Orient Express and four copies of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd).


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