Agatha Christie

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Re: Agatha Christie

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Oh, Pete: dropped a bit of a clanger there, didn't you? :wink:
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Whilst we are compiling a list about the fictional locations and world of Enid Blyton,lets not leave Agatha Christie out for she too created a fictional world inhabited by her own well loved characters;



Fictional World of Agatha Christie

In the fictional world of Christie, there are historical figures and events included in her books. There are many fictitious towns of England and even countries in her world. Some political groups and events are hers only, and yet they are recognizable in the real world. Christie's world is really her own, as with any author (one doesn't have to look any farther than another popular writer like J. K. Rowling). Even in her world of England and detective fiction, Christie's two popular sleuths Poirot and Marple have never met. Let's look at this first.

Poirot & Marple: Same Universe?

Many Christie readers have asked themselves why on earth (pun intended) Poirot and Marple have never met. Perfect answer is from Agatha Christie herself (from An Autobiography): "but why should they?" Christie says these two wouldn't get along at all. She says, "Hercule Poirot, the complete egoist, would not like being taught his business by an elderly spinster lady." Christie argues that he is a professional and therefore would not have place in Marple's "world", as Christie puts it. She stated that she would never place them in the same story, unless "I feel a sudden and unexpected urge to do so." I would have always liked it if they had met, but I do agree with Agatha Christie.

Poirot and Marple met for the first timein 1990 for Agatha Christie's centenarycelebration in her hometown of Torquay.
David Suchet portrayed Poirot at thetime, and he still does. Joan Hickson portrayed Marple,as well as on the television series in the 1980s.

Poirot is a professional, not Marple. Poirot has more help and access to information by being--again--a professional. He has the local police, Scotland Yard, Mr. Goby, and people of influence as recourse. Not Marple. Poirot is in exlusive and popular circles of London. Not Marple; she doesn't go meet people of society and mingle with them. She stays in her village of St. Mary Mead, whereas Poirot travels the world. Of course, Marple has been to the Caribbean on holiday, but Poirot has been to many more cultures because he has the money and means to do so.

He would never have met the Beresford couple, also. Tommy and Tuppence were amateur detectives--why would they work with Poirot? The Beresfords also had a family. Poirot and Marple surely belonged to families, but they themselves never married. (More on Tommy and Tuppence later...)
Proof of Same Universe Theory

So, the question: did Poirot and Marple actually exist in the "same" universe of Christie's? The answer would be "yes", through linking common facts together like a spider's web (or like the famous Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon!).

Poirot has met and collaborated with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver, the mystery writer, on many occasions.
Ariadne Oliver has met the Reverend Dane Calthorp and his wife in The Pale Horse.
Reverend Dane Calthorp and his wife are friends of Marple, as evidenced in The Moving Finger.


Two more connections can be made between Poirot and Marple, only indirectly.

Poirot met the young lady Katherine Grey from The Mystery of the Blue Train, having lived in St. Mary Mead.
St. Mary Mead is of course the village where Miss Marple lives (although some has dismissed this, saying that there are two villages with same name).


Here is another connection:

Poirot has met the mysterious financial master Mr. Robinson in Cat Among the Pigeons.
Mr. Robinson was involved with the goings-on in a hotel Marple was residing in, in At Bertram's Hotel.


Of note: Mr. Robinson also meets Tommy and Tuppence Beresford in their final novel, Postern of Fate. Thus, we see that the Beresfords do operate in the same universe as Poirot and Marple do. Or . . . do they? The dilemma is that in the Beresford short story "The Man Who Was No. 16" (in the collection Partners in Crime), Tommy parodies Hercule Poirot! Tommy does this like he imitated all the other fictional detectives in those adventures. So, it seems that to the Beresfords, as early as the mid-1920s, Poirot was a fictional character. We must assume this, because: 1) in all the short stories T & T copied fictional detectives, and 2) it was never explicitly stated in the short story that Poirot was a "real" detective in their "world". It is my own opinion, that for everything to fit harmoniously, that Tommy and Tuppence do exist in the same universe as do Poirot, Marple, and Mrs. Oliver.

However, Agatha Christie herself would have to be included in that "same universe": she's mentioned by a character in the Miss Marple novel The Body in the Library, who's a big fan of hers!

Imaginary Places

Agatha Christie created many towns in her books for a wise purpose: a perfect setting to place and set up the mystery she crafted. The best and an excellent example is her fictional town of St. Mary Mead, where the spinster lady Miss Jane Marple resides. She created this microcosm to represent human nature throughout the world. St. Mary Mead was an experimentation or a petri dish of sorts. Here Christie was able to introduce residents representing jealousy, adultery, greed, lust, pride, and deceipt. To cure this bacteria, Christie injected Marple into the village.

Of course, St. Mary Mead is an extreme example. Other towns she created in her writings include Chipping Cleghorn (A Murder is Announced), Lymstock (The Moving Finger), Much Benham (numerous Marple stories), King's Abbot (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), St. Loo (Peril at End House), Woodleigh Common (Hallowe'en Party), Warmsley Vale (Taken at the Flood), Market Basing (numerous Poirot stories), Wynchwood (Murder is Easy), Much Deeping (The Pale Horse), and Deering Vale (The Mysterious Mr. Quin). Even Indian Island in the novel And Then There Were None was fictional, although based on the real Burgh Island off the coast of Devon (which was an inspiration also for Evil Under the Sun). The coastal town of St. Loo is the actual town of Torquay, Agatha's birthplace. It is described in the novel that it is near the river Dart, and that it is "30 miles from Plymouth"

Agatha had created a few nations in her stories, but none probably more famous than the Eastern European nation of Herzoslovakia. Herzoslovakia is the fictitious small Balkan country in The Secret of Chimneys, also mentioned in the The Labors of Hercules short story "The Stymphalean Birds". Most people knew the capital was Ekarest and the country's "hobby" was "assassinating kings and having revolutions." The last of the Obolovitch rulers was King Nicholas IV, who fell in love with a Parisian actress named Angele Mory. They married and he proclaimed her Queen Varaga of Herzoslovakia (although she had no royal blood in her). Because of this deception and marriage, King Nicholas was assassinated in 1918 along with the Queen as part of a political revolution. Count Stylptitch was the Prime Minister at the time and fled to Paris, France. This "Grand Old Man of the Balkans" survived an assassination attempt in 1921 with the help of a young man named James McGrath. The Count had later died in 1925, but had arranged that McGrath receive his written memoirs and request of him to have these published. After some machinations by the Comrades of the Red Hand who promoted the rebellion--which included the murder of one Prince Michael Obolovitch, next heir to the throne. It was then time the Herzoslovakian people were ready for the dead Prime Minister's memoirs, and a new King and Obolovitch at the throne, Nicholas V of Herzoslovakia.
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Re: Agatha Christie

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This looks pretty good. If you read this after it has gone out, listen to it on iPlayer! :D
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Got the regular newsletter today,which included her grandson Mathew's Blog;

Here at last is a short report on the competition that asked you to match your 10 favourite Agatha Christie titles with my grandmother’s favourites for inscribing on the memorial sculpture which will be unveiled in Covent Garden in November.

http://www.agathachristie.com/insight/M ... /#comments" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have you ever tried to list your ten favourite Christies?
I'm going to have a go at it quickly without too much deliberating to see what sort of list I come up with...

1.1925 The Secret of Chimneys
2.1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
3.1930 The Mysterious Mr.Quin
4.1931 The Sittaford Mystery
5.1932 Peril at End House
6.1932 Parker Pyne Investigates
7.1937 Death on the Nile
8.1944 Towards Zero
9.1961 The Pale Horse
10.1967 Endless Night


There's a list of all her work here if you fancy making your own top ...

http://www.deliciousdeath.com/allmenu.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

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I always loved the phrase Delicious death. It reminds me so much of a chocolatey dessert, for some reason.
Image

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Re: Agatha Christie

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In which Miss Marple book was "Delicious Death" mentioned - it's driving me crazy
trying to remember!
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Re: Agatha Christie

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A Murder Is Announced

Chapter 2 BREAKFAST AT LITTLE PADDOCKS


"Don't work yourself up over it. Bunny," she said. "It's just somebody's
idea of humour, but I wish I knew whose."
"It says today," pointed out Miss Bunner. "Today at 6:30 p.m. What do
you think is going to happen?"
"Death!" said Patrick in sepulchral tones. "Delicious Death."

Regards

Pete
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Francis »

Thanks Peter - I can put my mind at rest!
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Darrell71 »

Has anyone read Endless Night? It's nice, just there's a kiss scene. :roll:
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Endless night published 1967 is a very good book-I'm looking for a nice hard backed copy at the moment.

From The Official Agatha Christie Newsletter;

Curtain call for Poirot

It’s official. The final scene of the final Poirot story has been shot and David Suchet’s long association with Agatha Christie’s famous character comes to a close. Well, not exactly, we’ve still got The Big Four, Elephants Can Remember, Dead Man’s Folly and The Labours of Hercules to film. And of course, we’ve no idea yet of broadcast dates. It is rumoured that David wanted to film Curtain first because it would be such an emotional moment for him – and he wanted to remember Poirot in his prime. Those who have read Curtain will understand what this means. Read Curtain.

New Agatha Christie documentary

Coming to your screens next Spring in the UK and possibly soon after in the US, will be a brand new Agatha Christie documentary led by none other than David Suchet. David has spent more of his life acting out the plots and dramas created by Agatha Christie than anyone else in the world. Now he undertakes a journey around Britain to get under the skin of the Queen of Crime and give us a fresh perspective on a complex woman and above all her amazing life’s work.

http://www.agathachristie.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

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I love the way David Suchet insisted on not leaving Curtain until the last to be filmed. He just didn't want to stop on such a depressing book. I feel the same when reading it, I immediately have to read another Poirot straight away!
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

I found this blog.....
What's interesting is that he delivers a visual commentary for the books he has read..


Christie in a Year

(or so...) This year (2012) I am attempting to finish reading every novel and short story collection written by Agatha Christie, a project I began in 2008.


Concept
I was so impressed with Dodge's Blog and her commitment to reading and reviewing a certain number of books per year that I have decided on creating a similar project. Those of you who know me know that I make no secret of my love of Agatha Christie's mysteries. Since I've only read about half of them, I've decided to tackle them all in 2008. On this blog I want to not only review them but also explore common threads that run through them.

I've always thought Christie was fantastic at plots and while I never put her on the same level as Ishiguro, Walker or Austen, I do feel some resentment when people dismiss her as a writer of fluff. Her significant contribution to the development of the mystery novel is undeniable. I was encouraged when I discovered a serious reassessment of her significance in this blog article.

So every three or four days I'll be posting a summary (with no spoilers, unless absolutely necessary), major themes that run through the work, and my opinion of the work. If you want to read along with me, you are most welcome. I'll shortly put up a list of the novels (I'm reading them chronologically by publication date). If you have read the novel I am reviewing, I invite you to comment on it and provide your own take.

Start of Blog

http://www.christieinayear.blogspot.co. ... -results=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Current blog entry 2012
http://www.christieinayear.blogspot.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



I wonder if a similar visual commentary type of review is something that would interest World Of Blyton at all????
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Fiona1986 »

Wordpress does support embedded videos, but you won't catch me filming myself!
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
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World of Blyton Blog

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Re: Agatha Christie

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Fair point-I wonder if there was anyone who would rather contribute by video than text????
Possibly not! :wink:
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Darrell71 »

pete9012S wrote:Endless night published 1967 is a very good book-I'm looking for a nice hard backed copy at the moment.

I know, I have one! It has a purple cover so as that's my fave cover I loved it! I know, a bit kiddish isn't it?
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