The joy in discovering that the author you wrote off as irrelevant may be just the woman to teach us how to bounce back, be wildly productive, deal with haters, and always get the last laugh
The thing I come back to again and again with Agatha Christie is her nuanced, dead-on grasp of human nature. She understands us on both superficial and shadow-deep levels. The settings and customs of her stories may feel quaint, but her sense of people is just on point today as in her nearly post-Victorian era.
Similarly, Poirot may be (and, okay, totally is) an egotistical fusspot, but he's also a splendid mirror for society who either waxes sycophantic for selfish ends, or simply dismisses him as an eccentric "frog" (never mind that he's Belgian). Few take him seriously until it’s their ass in the drawing room reveal.
The “reveal” is a trope that worked, in part, because people were/are that absurdly short-sighted, presumptuous, and arrogant about their relative standing to others – something Christie understood from quite a few different angles and could unpack for you with sobering clarity and precision through her detectives. (Although I believe the apple-chomping Ariadne Oliver was Christie’s preferred alter ego, within the Poirot series at least)
What a lovely comment with some great observations! I think some readers may miss the quick wit and "read-between-the-lines" nature of some of Christie's characterizations. As for Poirot--one thing that won me over to Christie, belatedly, was discovering that she called Poirot a CREEP and wanted to get rid of him. (I have a feeling you know this story already. For those who don't: Christie wanted Poirot dead at least since the early 40s. She wrote a book called CURTAIN and stored it away. It wasn't published until 1975.)
If you haven't seen David Suchet's superb portrayal of Poirot in the British television series of the same name, you really should. He brings the character's fussiness and exaggerated sense of self-worth to the series but adds the character’s subtle wink-and-a-nod humor and those rare bittersweet moments of loss and loneliness that are also easy to miss when charging through a book.
Agatha Christie, sadly, never got to see her creation through Suchet. That honor went to Albert Finney in the film adaptation of _Murder on the Orient Express_ -- a great film, arguably closer to the intolerable ass Christie occasionally imagined Poirot to be, but an altogether distinct presence when compared to Suchet’s long-running portrayal.
Personally, I think David’s Poirot is tops and he had a wonderful supporting cast to really bring those stories alive. If you're interested in checking them out, you may be able to stream the series via BritBox or Prime.
I haven’t read a single Christie Book but I discovered all of the films based on the books and recently have watched Agatha with Dustin Hoffman. I can’t get enough of watching Poirot. I absolutely love it! It has everything you could want. Thrill, Comedy, Romance. You just keep guessing along the way. I will be reading something soon. Loved your article.
The thing I come back to again and again with Agatha Christie is her nuanced, dead-on grasp of human nature. She understands us on both superficial and shadow-deep levels. The settings and customs of her stories may feel quaint, but her sense of people is just on point today as in her nearly post-Victorian era.
Similarly, Poirot may be (and, okay, totally is) an egotistical fusspot, but he's also a splendid mirror for society who either waxes sycophantic for selfish ends, or simply dismisses him as an eccentric "frog" (never mind that he's Belgian). Few take him seriously until it’s their ass in the drawing room reveal.
The “reveal” is a trope that worked, in part, because people were/are that absurdly short-sighted, presumptuous, and arrogant about their relative standing to others – something Christie understood from quite a few different angles and could unpack for you with sobering clarity and precision through her detectives. (Although I believe the apple-chomping Ariadne Oliver was Christie’s preferred alter ego, within the Poirot series at least)
What a lovely comment with some great observations! I think some readers may miss the quick wit and "read-between-the-lines" nature of some of Christie's characterizations. As for Poirot--one thing that won me over to Christie, belatedly, was discovering that she called Poirot a CREEP and wanted to get rid of him. (I have a feeling you know this story already. For those who don't: Christie wanted Poirot dead at least since the early 40s. She wrote a book called CURTAIN and stored it away. It wasn't published until 1975.)
If you haven't seen David Suchet's superb portrayal of Poirot in the British television series of the same name, you really should. He brings the character's fussiness and exaggerated sense of self-worth to the series but adds the character’s subtle wink-and-a-nod humor and those rare bittersweet moments of loss and loneliness that are also easy to miss when charging through a book.
Agatha Christie, sadly, never got to see her creation through Suchet. That honor went to Albert Finney in the film adaptation of _Murder on the Orient Express_ -- a great film, arguably closer to the intolerable ass Christie occasionally imagined Poirot to be, but an altogether distinct presence when compared to Suchet’s long-running portrayal.
Personally, I think David’s Poirot is tops and he had a wonderful supporting cast to really bring those stories alive. If you're interested in checking them out, you may be able to stream the series via BritBox or Prime.
Let's go surfin' now everybody's learning how, come on a safari with me.
Beach Boys should have included a line about what writer girls are like.
I haven’t read a single Christie Book but I discovered all of the films based on the books and recently have watched Agatha with Dustin Hoffman. I can’t get enough of watching Poirot. I absolutely love it! It has everything you could want. Thrill, Comedy, Romance. You just keep guessing along the way. I will be reading something soon. Loved your article.