6 ms·
The Case of Agatha Christie
- whatever_dude 8y agoBehind a registration wall.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- larsga 8y agoLike everything else John Lanchester writes, very much worth reading.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- everdev 8y ago> You cannot read such a book, you run through it to see the problem worked out I read dozens of Christie novels in middle school. Somehow I kept getting hooked by the obvious question: "Who did it?" and gobbled up the book until I had the answer. With my last Christie book I decided to skip the 150 pages of "fluff" and go straight to the last chapter. The immediate gratification allowed me to get busy with other things, but felt so much less interesting than the delayed gratification. It was a point of no return though and I never went back to another Christie book or another mystery novel.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- umvi 8y agoI hope you at least read her books with the biggest payoffs: And Then There Were None Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder on the Orient Express The ABC Murders
- interfixus 8y agoThe Murder at the Vicarage was the first non childrens' book I ever read, albeit in a translation to my native language. I was eight at the time, and found it enjoyable enough, even if it didn't really leave a lasting impression. Recently, fifty years later, I tried to reread, solely for nostalgic reasons. And must confess agreement with Wilson as quoted: The thing was wooden, flat, and ultimately unreadable - I opted out halfway. In contrast, a couple of years ago, I read straight through the Peter Wimsey novels, and absolute found them still worthwhile. Wouldn't have cracked them at eight, though. 14 or 15 first time around.
- projektir 8y agoFunny, The Murder at the Vicarage was the book I started with about a year ago and I was _hooked_.
- howard941 8y agoDid Christie take herself and her writing so seriously? I don't know. I'm not sure it's meant to be highbrow entertainment. I prefer to imbibe Christie by way of the various TV adaptations. Notably enjoyable IMO are the first three or four seasons of the PBS Masterpiece Poirot series with David Suchet as Poirot, the Joan Hickson Marple television films from the 90s, and the short-lived Partners in Crime series.
- hyperpallium 8y agoAm I right in thinking it is impossible to solve an Agatha Christie story before the end, because crucial evidence is always withheld til then? i.e. it's not a "fair puzzle". Also, the only two fans of her work that I have met don't actually like or engage in the puzzle aspect; they don't try to solve (nor - curiously - even have a concept of evaluating multiple hypotheses). These two observations make me wonder if popular detective fiction isn't puzzle fiction at all...
- projektir 8y ago> Am I right in thinking it is impossible to solve an Agatha Christie story before the end, because crucial evidence is always withheld til then? i.e. it's not a "fair puzzle". I'm not sure about impossible. There was one story, Peril at End House, where I have figured out who the murderer was very early on, in the first few chapters or so. It was a weird feeling of thinking that Poirot was being led astray for a while. That being said, as your other comments say, this is not really a goal for me. If I was serious, I'd lay out the story carefully with pen and paper. But mostly I'd rather just read the story.