Agatha Christie, Queen of Mystery - Anyone here a fan?

[Guestx]

Agatha Christie: British mystery writer, born in 1890, died in 1976. I assume everyone here has at least heard of her. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she is the best-selling novelist of all time. Not the best-selling MYSTERY novelist, but the best-selling novelist period, with over two billion copies of her work in print.

Personally, I've finished two of her books--The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Cards on the Table--and am about a hundred pages away from finishing And Then There Were None.

What I can appreciate about her work is that they're the definition of page turners. I've read 150 pages out of And Then There Were None today, which is pretty much something I never do. I just don't read that much in a day. But her stories really MOVE and with much of her work being 300 pages or less it doesn't take long to finish a book. You get in and get out rapidly.

I also am a big fan of Sidney Lumet's 1974 rendition of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Great fucking movie with an all-star cast.





And I am also a fan of the BBC's Poirot series, based on her novels with her most famous character, Detective Hercule Poirot. Running from 1989 to 2013, the series was on for nearly 25 years.

Anyone else here a fan? Or has anyone considered checking out any of her work? If the latter, then I definitely recommend it. Great stuff. Just based on what I've read, either Cards on the Table or And Then There Were None are both fine places to start.

 

[BisexualMMA]

I read a couple of her books a long time ago and liked them, but mystery isn't a genre I spend much time in.

There was a movie in the late 70s where Vanessa Redgrave played Agatha Christie. I think she got nominated for it. I wouldn't call it an exciting film, but it's worth watching.

 

[Guestx]

I read a couple of her books a long time ago and liked them, but mystery isn't a genre I spend much time in.

There was a movie in the late 70s where Vanessa Redgrave played Agatha Christie. I think she got nominated for it. I wouldn't call it an exciting film, but it's worth watching.

I do love a good mystery, whether it's books, movies/TV, or real life. Do you read a lot of fiction? I used to always have a novel (or three) that I was working on but in the past few years I got away from that and read mostly non-fiction. I've just recently come back to novel reading with a vengeance.

Thanks for the heads up on that movie. I'll look into it. Did you ever see the '74 version of Murder on the Orient Express?

 

[BisexualMMA]

I do love a good mystery, whether it's books, movies/TV, or real life. Do you read a lot of fiction? I used to always have a novel (or three) that I was working on but in the past few years I got away from that and read mostly non-fiction. I've just recently come back to novel reading with a vengeance.

Thanks for the heads up on that movie. I'll look into it. Did you ever see the '74 version of Murder on the Orient Express?

i saw the 74 Murder on the Orient Express a long time ago. I liked it for the genre, but mystery is something I only consume in small doses.

Given the choice, when it comes to movies, if I can only have one activated of emotions and intellect, I'll take emotions. Both is great (don't get me started on Terminator again) but with movies and even books, if I am going to do something that is a mostly or purely intellectual exercise, then I'd probably rather learn something new about history or science than devote that mental energy to figuring out a fictional murder that has no bearing on anything.

Do I read a lot of fiction... Probably 50/50 fiction and non-fiction.

 

[AgedFlatus]

Always a ac or eq digest in my folks/grandparents bathrooms for some reason. Could never get into them.

 

[Guestx]

i saw the 74 Murder on the Orient Express a long time ago. I liked it for the genre, but mystery is something I only consume in small doses.

Given the choice, when it comes to movies, if I can only have one activated of emotions and intellect, I'll take emotions. Both is great (don't get me started on Terminator again) but with movies and even books, if I am going to do something that is a mostly or purely intellectual exercise, then I'd probably rather learn something new about history or science than devote that mental energy to figuring out a fictional murder that has no bearing on anything.

Indeed. I've always been interested in the investigative process and case building. A while back I took some journalism classes so I could learn more about how to look into things, research, and assemble the evidence into a story. Investigative journalists (and that includes documentarians) who are able to do this at a high level are something like heroes to me.

Mystery fiction touches on the same interest. I enjoy witnessing the protagonist's procedure in compiling the clues and slowly building a case until . . . ALAS! IT WAS MR. GREEN IN THE STUDY WITH THE CANDLESTICK!

Like I said in the OP, Christie's books are real page turners. I just HAVE to find out who did it!

 

[Guestx]

Was the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie the inspiration for Gone Girl?

First, the facts behind her disappearance:

In late 1926, her husband Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He was in love with Nancy Neele, who had been a friend of Major Belcher, director of the British Empire Mission, on the promotional tour a few years earlier. On 3 December 1926, the Christies quarrelled, and Archie left their house, Styles, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming, Surrey. That same evening, around 9:45 pm, Christie disappeared from her home, leaving behind a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire. Her car, a Morris Cowley, was later found at Newlands Corner, perched above a chalk quarry, with an expired driving licence and clothes.

Her disappearance caused an outcry from the public. The Home Secretary, William Joynson-Hicks, pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward. Over a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes scoured the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle even gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find the missing woman. Dorothy L. Sayers visited the house in Surrey, later using the scenario in her book Unnatural Death.

Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now the Old Swan Hotel[a]) in Harrogate, Yorkshire, registered as Mrs Teresa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from Cape Town.

Christie's autobiography makes no reference to her disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from amnesia (see Fugue state), yet opinion remains divided as to why she disappeared. She was known to be in a depressed state from literary overwork, her mother's death earlier that year, and her husband's infidelity. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or attempt to frame her husband for murder.

The 1979 Michael Apted film Agatha features a disclaimer in the opening credits stating that what follows is an imaginary solution to an authentic mystery. The film starred Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Dalton as Agatha and Archie, and depicts Christie planning suicide in such a way as to frame her husband's mistress for her "murder". An American reporter, played by Dustin Hoffman, follows her closely and stops the plan. The film outraged Christie's heirs who fought two unsuccessful lawsuits in the United States to try to prevent it from being distributed.

Author Jared Cade interviewed numerous witnesses and relatives for his sympathetic biography Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days, revised 2011. He provided substantial evidence to suggest that she planned the event to embarrass her husband, never anticipating the resulting escalated melodrama.

The Christies divorced in 1928, and Archie married Nancy Neele. Agatha retained custody of daughter Rosalind and the Christie name for her writing. During their marriage, she published six novels, a collection of short stories, and a number of short stories in magazines.

And now, an interesting article that theorizes on this incident inspiring Gone Girl:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-original-gone-girl-agatha-christies-mysterious-disappearance-9839497.html

 

[ThereIsNoSpoon]

I'm a huge fan, i've read at least 30 of her books.

Favorites and highly recommended:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (the best, most unexpected twist i've seen/read in any medium)
The Peril at End Street
The ABC Murders
The Mysterious Affair at Styles

And of course, And Then There Were None

 

[Ijedi]

I think she (like Alfred Hitchcock) is a great "ideas person"

Isn't Murder on the Orient Express being made remade as we speak??

 

[Peteyandjia]

I fucked her

 

[Guestx]

I'm a huge fan, i've read at least 30 of her books.

Favorites and highly recommended:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (the best, most unexpected twist i've seen/read in any medium)
The Peril at End Street
The ABC Murders
The Mysterious Affair at Styles

And of course, And Then There Were None

Cool. It's pretty amazing that she was able to pump out as many books as she did--no so much from the standpoint of physically getting them written, but that she was able to come up with so many unique plots.

I'm surprised to see that you have The Mysterious Affair at Styles in your "highly recommended" list. It's one of the the three books of hers that I've read and it is easily at the bottom of that list. I just found it far more dull and plodding than the other two. In fact, if I had made the unfortunate mistake of starting with Styles, then I'm not sure I would've gone on to read any more of her work.

BTW I think you mean Peril at End House rather than Peril at End Street.

 

[Pixelated Porn]

Was the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie the inspiration for Gone Girl?

First, the facts behind her disappearance:




And now, an interesting article that theorizes on this incident inspiring Gone Girl:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-original-gone-girl-agatha-christies-mysterious-disappearance-9839497.html

Shirley Jackson was depressed and had a cheating husband and was a writer (pretty good one).

I read ten little indians, but what I remember not liking was that the story had to fake you out. It gave you bad info about a person dying and then this was the key to the mystery. Not as bad as Poe's "the orangutan did it" mystery

 

[Guestx]

I think she (like Alfred Hitchcock) is a great "ideas person"

Isn't Murder on the Orient Express being made remade as we speak??

It is indeed, directed by Kenneth Branagh. I believe he is trying to go the Lumet route and put together an all-star cast.

The interesting thing about MOTOE is that, similar to other classics stories like, say, A Christmas Carol, it keeps popping back up and being re-adapted. There was the '74 Lumet version and also a 2010 BBC version with David Suchet. In 2001, there was a shitty modernized version with Alfred Molina. And in 2015, there was an interesting regionalized Japanese TV version. And in the 90s, there was also a British radio adaptation.

For anyone who is curious, here's the trailer for the Japanese version:

 

[blaseblah]

Save the mystery for Agatha Christie

 

[Guestx]

Shirley Jackson was depressed and had a cheating husband and was a writer (pretty good one).

I read ten little indians, but what I remember not liking was that the story had to fake you out. It gave you bad info about a person dying and then this was the key to the mystery. Not as bad as Poe's "the orangutan did it" mystery

I finished the book this morning. Good story and very well-paced, but I admit that the twist with the unreliable narrator was unfortunate. That took a bit of wind out of the sails.

 

[oldshadow]

Yea I really like most all of her work.

I love the BBC mystery shows.

 

[Guestx]

I love the BBC mystery shows.

They're fun, I think. I find that many people--especially younger people--find them too slow, but I enjoy them.

 

[Pixelated Porn]

Yea I really like most all of her work.

I love the BBC mystery shows.

Like, how big will it get?

 

[shonuf]

I like all of them. They're above average page turners but not greatness or anything. Just fun mysteries. Always good if you don't have something to read. You know what you're getting. I've read most of them throughout the years. I can't think of any that really stick out more than others but i like Poirot the best.

Movies are good too (except for Agatha witth Dustin Hoffman. Which is actually about her. Zzzzzzzz. lol.) Check out Ten Little Indians (1965 ) if you can. Never enjoyed any of the BBC stuff.

I love the old Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple movies as well. They'd definitely be an acquired taste and i doubt 1 out 500 users on here would be able to really watch them. lol

1961 Murder, She Said Miss Jane Marple
1963 Murder at the Gallop Miss Jane Marple
1964 Murder Most Foul Miss Jane Marple
1964 Murder Ahoy! Miss Jane Marple

 

[Guestx]

I like all of them. They're above average page turners but not greatness or anything. Just fun mysteries. Always good if you don't have something to read. You know what you're getting. I've read most of them throughout the years. I can't think of any that really stick out more than others but i like Poirot the best.

As I mentioned in the OP, the thing I can appreciate the most about her work--at least what I've read so far--is that they tend to be real page turners. They're the kind of books where I get to the end of the chapter--at which point I said I would stop for the day and get on with my life--and I end up reading 30 more pages. There are NOT many authors who can do that for me.

BTW, were you aware that a new writer has been granted permission by the Christie estate to use Poirot in new stories? It's true. The first book came out in 2013 and the next is due out later this year.

Movies are good too (except for Agatha witth Dustin Hoffman. Which is actually about her. Zzzzzzzz. lol.) Check out Ten Little Indians (1965 ) if you can. Never enjoyed any of the BBC stuff.

I like the BBC Poirot series as well as the aforementioned '74 version of Murder on the Orient Express and the '78 version of Death on the Nile. It's interesting to see how different actors portray Poirot. They're all so different. It's also interesting to watch Christie fans argue over who was better.

I love the old Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple movies as well. They'd definitely be an acquired taste and i doubt 1 out 500 users on here would be able to really watch them. lol

1961 Murder, She Said Miss Jane Marple
1963 Murder at the Gallop Miss Jane Marple
1964 Murder Most Foul Miss Jane Marple
1964 Murder Ahoy! Miss Jane Marple

I might have to check those out.