Insane to see you write this, as I just finished my first ever Christie novel the other day and we’d not talked about it.
The latest editing of Murder of Roger Ackeroyd has her reflections on Poirot as a character — it does appear she did not initially like him, but grew more and more fond of him as the years went on.
To see an example of her making fun of how she felt about Poirot in a novel, read Mrs. McGinty's Dead (which is a fun story, to my mind, especially once it gets going).
3. People on the internet are generally wrong, of course. People don't realize how much of the mystery genre was invented by her. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express, just as two examples (because they're my favorites) were beyond revolutionary when she wrote them.
4. I think people were more polite about calling people by their foreign titles in those days, and it was probably also a form of posh bigotry--"I know you aren't from here."
5. That's an excellent point, which is also why she had to officially unretire him and then retire him again.
7. That's a very good point. Poirot usually has permission to be where he needs to be. Marple doesn't.
8. Someone we both know also scorns such commas. I'll leave it to you to figure out who I mean... ;-)
9. The Body in the Library in particular feels very modern for lots of reasons.
On a general note, I hope that you also listen to the BBC Radio dramatizations with John Moffat as Poirot and June Whitfield as Marple. They're fantastic.
Interesting points. Especially hearing the critique, etc from the perspective of an editor. And of course, Christie is the quintessential mystery writer, so we already know she knew how to create the ultimate who-done-it.
Insane to see you write this, as I just finished my first ever Christie novel the other day and we’d not talked about it.
The latest editing of Murder of Roger Ackeroyd has her reflections on Poirot as a character — it does appear she did not initially like him, but grew more and more fond of him as the years went on.
To see an example of her making fun of how she felt about Poirot in a novel, read Mrs. McGinty's Dead (which is a fun story, to my mind, especially once it gets going).
3. People on the internet are generally wrong, of course. People don't realize how much of the mystery genre was invented by her. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express, just as two examples (because they're my favorites) were beyond revolutionary when she wrote them.
4. I think people were more polite about calling people by their foreign titles in those days, and it was probably also a form of posh bigotry--"I know you aren't from here."
5. That's an excellent point, which is also why she had to officially unretire him and then retire him again.
7. That's a very good point. Poirot usually has permission to be where he needs to be. Marple doesn't.
8. Someone we both know also scorns such commas. I'll leave it to you to figure out who I mean... ;-)
9. The Body in the Library in particular feels very modern for lots of reasons.
On a general note, I hope that you also listen to the BBC Radio dramatizations with John Moffat as Poirot and June Whitfield as Marple. They're fantastic.
Interesting points. Especially hearing the critique, etc from the perspective of an editor. And of course, Christie is the quintessential mystery writer, so we already know she knew how to create the ultimate who-done-it.
I am also a fan.