Ghostly Characters: a short comparison of some of Agatha Christie's people, with comment on Sophie Hannah's Poirot

 

  When i bought my latest Christie book at the bookstore, the bookseller was eager

Agatha Christie's Poirot and the novel/movie Third Girl

   It's no secret that Agatha Christie did not like her popular Poirot character. She even (spoiler!) killed him off in a late 1940s novel.

  And then kept writing about him.  After all, her public loved, and still loves, him.  (And publishers love following proven success with more of the same thing.)

  But this created a problem.  Her 1940s novels were definitely 1940s novel.  When i first read (novel referred to above), i felt a dreamike disconnectedness.  Poirot was still active in the 1960s and early 1970s; a novel written in the 1940s doesn't give the same feel.  Christie also wrote a Miss Marple novel at the same time, but, since she did not kill the character, it's easy to disregard its tagline, Miss Marple's Last Case.

  Third Girl is definitely a 1960s novel.  The girls wore their hair long, loose, and straight, or maybe bouffant; drug culture and nonrealistic art were strong background elements.  i'm unfmailiar with the "stepped from a VanDyck painting" fashion of the young men in the story, but, ok, that's undoubtedly a part of what Christie was seeing in the 1960s.

Third Girl is billed as Agatha Christie’s foray into the swinging sixties. And it is certainly a portrayal of the 1960s, as seen by an older generation who cannot understand why these young people won’t take a bath and get the hair out of their eyes. Taken purely as a mystery novel, however, Third Girl is enormously satisfying, a twisty puzzler that, for all its surface modernity, proves that nothing is more timeless than murder.    from https://deadyesterday.wordpress.com/2020/03/22/third-girl-1966-by-agatha-christie/

   In the Suchet film, numerous changes are made to the story. For a list, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Girl#Adaptations_for_television  The film is gorgeous.  i actually like a few of the changes , such as a murder victim in the novel is NOT murdered. There also seems to be better closure with the criminals's story.  The movie, as is the entire series, is well done.

  However, the filmmakers moved the setting back to the 1930s. In itself, that solves the problem presented by that novel from the late 40s, the one that killed off the character.

  But overall, the timeshift isn't a problem.  The side effect of Norma's changed hairstyle, a chic period pouf instead of stringy unwashed hair, is disconcerting. And while Miss Lemon and Dr. Stillingfleet added greatly to the novel, the time change may not have made their absence necessary.  i missed especially the fiery doctor, who appears all too seldom..

 

Words on Wednesday: More on the Lord Peter books

  This post contains an annotated list of the Lord Peter novels.

  But first, a question for you:

  How do the Lord Peter novels and stories resemble the Big Bang Theory TV show? 

Reading Old Mystery Novels in Time of COVID

  Like usual, these are novels i've read before. Most recently, it's been several about Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, as well as some of Sayers' other short stories.*

  This go-around, i've been more than usually impressed by the signs of the times, especially regarding: 

Words on Wednesday: Current Reading

  My sister is clearing out books again, a never-ending job.  She loves reading as do i.
  i don't know if these are all of her Robin Jones Gunn books.  i know she's still got a couple of Sisterchicks  titles of mine somewhere, so maybe there are more of these.
  Something she said about these books got to me.

Words on Wednesday: Agatha Christie's First "Professional" Novel

  Christie will put surprising autobiographical references into her novels. 
  She surfed a bit in the 1920s.  This is referenced

Words on Wednesday: Binge Reading His Lordship

Current Reading

  A few weeks ago, i included, two in one book club edition Wimsey novels.  And about that time,

Recent Reading, AKA Words on "Wednesday," a day late

Some of my Recent Reading

In the photo, but no particular order:

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Revisiting Ruth

  A few years back, i did a vew Saturday Sister meditations based on my reading of several Ruth novels.

  Then i couldn't figure out what i could say without spoiling the plots of all of them.

  Recently, i came across some illustrations that i made for posts never written, and thought i'd share them anyway.

This one i could not get to scan nicely, so i redid it in Windows Paint.

Words on Wednesday: Rereading an Old Series

William X. Kienzle: the Father Koestler mystery novels

  Back in the 1980s, a friend gave us a copy of mind Over Murder, by William X. Kienzle.

Words on Wednesday: More from the Summer Reading List

  Left out a few books last week, and i really enjoyed them.
  These

In Love with a Fictional Creation?

  i may be wrong about this, but it seems female fans often fall in love with Sherlock Holmes & Lord Peter Wimsey, but not with Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe.

  Of course, Lord Peter's title and wealth are a plus, and Nero Wolfe's irascibility is a negative, but Wolfe is wealthy and Holmes is irascible, so that can't cover it.
   i think the key

Words on Wednesday: Recent Reading

Detective Fiction and Biblical Novels, with Some Surprises!

 

Saturday Sisters: Looking at a Fictional Character

  When i began this blog, and the Saturday Sisters, i never thought i would write about a totally fictitious character.  But this one is hits a place a lot of us have wondered about.

turning into a lit major?

  This was kinda hard for me when i was in school, but i can't not think this way now. . .

Reading History

In our Village of Merici Westside Book Club, we're reading Stevenson's Kidnapped.
It's a rollicking good story, but, between the Scots words peppered throughout the story and the complex political background, i'm not sure our members are picking up on enough.
No doubt i think they need more than they do.
Anyway.  Turns out i actually wanted my OTHER blue text, about the History of England. But of course i had to explore the US history book before replacing it on the shelf.
And i found this quote by a guy i'd never heard of, but should have:

Midweek Image: One Step at a Time

   These are kinda doodles done while thinking of something else - yes, the top one was done over 2 or 3 hours.  i was watching a movie on TV.
  The lower one i did during book club, with my mind on the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe..  The quote is from one of the pages we were reading, and i think there was  unicorn in the chapter.  Something else in the chapter, i don't remember what, evoked the image of the Bugling Beagle.

  Max is convinced, no matter what i say, that i know what i'm going for when i begin.  No, i have no clue.  Sometimes i deliberately choose one of more elements, and if i wanted to make "finished art" out of one of these, yes, i would plan in advance.
  But these things are something i do with my hands to keep me focused and awake while listening. 

If you'd like to make regular designs similar to these, you might check here  https://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/borders-art-design-art-beginners/
When i started these strokework things years ago, i used paint & brush, but the pencil/pen is handier.

Words on Wednesday: My Favorite Agatha Christie stories, and Others' Nominees

 This list led me to consider my own favorites.  i'll

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: the scrapbook my mom assembled for me

This is the cross stitch which she made and put on the cover.

How likely is this? Passport Description in Novels

Some of my recent reading:

• Sayers' Clouds of Witness
• Christie's There is a Tide, aka Taken at the Flood
• Christie's The Secret of Chimneys
• Christie's So Many Steps to Death, aka Destination Unknown

 Maybe i'm making too much of this, but