Up until this year, I had read only one book by Agatha Christie- Then There Were None. I love her though...I have seen all the ITV episodes of both Poirot and Miss Marple, I cannot recommend these TV shows enough. They are very true to text and don't really deviate from the stories in the books. Especially the Poirot ones are pretty much the books come alive. You can watch all the Miss Marple episodes HERE. Yes, you can thank me later... preferably with chocolates or something! ;)
So, anyway, since I had watched all these episodes, I thought why read the books? Especially since these are detective stories and if you know who the killer is why read the books? Well, that doesn't apply to these books. As great as the TV series is, and it is BRILLIANT, the books still deserved to be read and I am so glad I am finally getting to them. I am choosing books whose stories I like best and some of them that weren't made into episodes as well as the stand alone books.
The Agatha Christie books basically fall under three broad categories- The Poirot Books, The Miss Marple Books and the stand-alone books featuring none of the super sleuths. She also wrote plays.
If you haven't read any of her books, I'd suggest start with one of the stand alone books. Not that you can't read the Poirot books or the Marple books, even if you start from the middle of the series, it doesn't quite matter as the mysteries and the characters have very little to almost nothing to do with their previous stories.
These are some of the Agatha Christie books that I have bought recently and I am slowly making my way through them....
What I Love: Agatha Christie is a master at showing the lurking evil that resides in the most benign, harmless sorts. She is a master of understanding human nature, motivation and human vices, especially, envy, petty jealousies and long-seated, simmering resentments. Her characters are still very relatable, ordinary, regular and a lot like the people that you will find in your real life. For instance, in The Sittaford Mystery, Agatha Christie takes on the complicated nature of friendship and petty rivalry, especially, how these two themes don't really go away with time. Similarly, in Elephants Can Remember, she delves into a very commonplace phenomenon of sibling rivalry and resentment and how that plays out in sinister ways. Her two main detectives- Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot- are different from each other in very interesting ways, which also makes for two very different styles of storytelling and, therefore, two very distinct reading experiences.
Miss Marple relies on everyday, often very domestic, common sense and life lessons. She looks at people in almost an analogous fashion- comparing the characters in the case at hand with people she knew in the past and drawing parallels in their behaviour, motivation etc. She uses simple, everyday logic to get to the root of the crime and find the killer. The Miss Marple books, therefore, tend to be a little rambling and not as succinct as, perhaps, the other Christie books.
Hercule Poirot, on the other hand, relies, largely, on "the little grey cells" or logic to solve his cases. Also, he focuses on the psychology of the crime and killer to solve his murders.
So, in sum, you have simply got to read these books! Especially, since Agatha Christie is out-sold only by the Holy Bible and Shakespeare! :)
Over the next couple of days, I'll be individually reviewing some of my favourite ones that I have read so far....
Do you have any Agatha Christie favourites? If so, do share!
See you soon!
So, anyway, since I had watched all these episodes, I thought why read the books? Especially since these are detective stories and if you know who the killer is why read the books? Well, that doesn't apply to these books. As great as the TV series is, and it is BRILLIANT, the books still deserved to be read and I am so glad I am finally getting to them. I am choosing books whose stories I like best and some of them that weren't made into episodes as well as the stand alone books.
The Agatha Christie books basically fall under three broad categories- The Poirot Books, The Miss Marple Books and the stand-alone books featuring none of the super sleuths. She also wrote plays.
If you haven't read any of her books, I'd suggest start with one of the stand alone books. Not that you can't read the Poirot books or the Marple books, even if you start from the middle of the series, it doesn't quite matter as the mysteries and the characters have very little to almost nothing to do with their previous stories.
These are some of the Agatha Christie books that I have bought recently and I am slowly making my way through them....
What I Love: Agatha Christie is a master at showing the lurking evil that resides in the most benign, harmless sorts. She is a master of understanding human nature, motivation and human vices, especially, envy, petty jealousies and long-seated, simmering resentments. Her characters are still very relatable, ordinary, regular and a lot like the people that you will find in your real life. For instance, in The Sittaford Mystery, Agatha Christie takes on the complicated nature of friendship and petty rivalry, especially, how these two themes don't really go away with time. Similarly, in Elephants Can Remember, she delves into a very commonplace phenomenon of sibling rivalry and resentment and how that plays out in sinister ways. Her two main detectives- Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot- are different from each other in very interesting ways, which also makes for two very different styles of storytelling and, therefore, two very distinct reading experiences.
Miss Marple relies on everyday, often very domestic, common sense and life lessons. She looks at people in almost an analogous fashion- comparing the characters in the case at hand with people she knew in the past and drawing parallels in their behaviour, motivation etc. She uses simple, everyday logic to get to the root of the crime and find the killer. The Miss Marple books, therefore, tend to be a little rambling and not as succinct as, perhaps, the other Christie books.
Hercule Poirot, on the other hand, relies, largely, on "the little grey cells" or logic to solve his cases. Also, he focuses on the psychology of the crime and killer to solve his murders.
So, in sum, you have simply got to read these books! Especially, since Agatha Christie is out-sold only by the Holy Bible and Shakespeare! :)
Over the next couple of days, I'll be individually reviewing some of my favourite ones that I have read so far....
Do you have any Agatha Christie favourites? If so, do share!
See you soon!
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