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stonepicnicking_okapiMurder on the Orient Express.
It's iconic and one of my favourite books of all time. I watched 3 versions in film over the weekend.
I will just talk about one or two points I found interesting in the re-read.
Some thoughts about Mrs. Hubbard. Her description is 'a stout, pleasant-faced, elderly woman who was talking in a slow clear monotone which showed no signs of pausing for breath or coming to a stop.'
Stout. Mrs. Hubbard is stout. Lauren Bacall is not stout. Neither are Barbara Hershey or Michelle Pfeiffer. But I thought it was interesting. Agatha Christie, especially in later years, was stout and in one story she has one character say in objection to dieting 'If the Good Lord made you stout, he meant you to be stout' [of course, that character ends up being murdered, but still].
Also, TMI time. I was raised, in part, by my maternal grandmother and she was very, very manipulative. Guilt was her number one weapon and she used it all the time to get what she wanted emotionally and logistically and really I think a lot of it might be considered emotional abuse in this day and age. But Mrs. Hubbard prattling on and on about 'her daughter' is absolutely a way of keeping her co-conspirators and accomplices committed to the crime they are engaged in. It's a masterstroke of manipulation and my grandmother would wholeheartedly support its employ. Two of the newer films cut this part out and I think that's too bad.
Making Mrs. Hubbard a MILF or cougar (the David Suchet one and the Kenneth Brannaugh one) is sort of sad. Sigh. The thing I liked about the Suchet one (one of the few things) was the beginning. Agatha doesn't give us a lot of "Untold Stories" (not like ACD) but what happened in Syria has always interested me.
But making it a morality play was not enjoyable. And even the Kenneth Brannaugh one had to give Poirot a heterosexual backstory and I have to roll my eyes at that. I loved seeing the actor who plays Joe in The Old Guard as Pierre Michel, though. Gorgeous! And the Brannaugh version had some beautiful scenery and inside shots of the train.
I've written a poem called "If I had but the pen of a Balzac" about that scene in the dining car when all the nationalities are gathered and Monsieur Bouc wishes he could capture it. I also wish I could incorporate into my vernacular the phrase 'Between Vincovi and Brod' to mean stuck somewhere unexpectedly so as to have a wrench thrown into one's plans.
Next up: we switch to Mary Westmacott's Unfinished Portrait.
It's iconic and one of my favourite books of all time. I watched 3 versions in film over the weekend.
I will just talk about one or two points I found interesting in the re-read.
Some thoughts about Mrs. Hubbard. Her description is 'a stout, pleasant-faced, elderly woman who was talking in a slow clear monotone which showed no signs of pausing for breath or coming to a stop.'
Stout. Mrs. Hubbard is stout. Lauren Bacall is not stout. Neither are Barbara Hershey or Michelle Pfeiffer. But I thought it was interesting. Agatha Christie, especially in later years, was stout and in one story she has one character say in objection to dieting 'If the Good Lord made you stout, he meant you to be stout' [of course, that character ends up being murdered, but still].
Also, TMI time. I was raised, in part, by my maternal grandmother and she was very, very manipulative. Guilt was her number one weapon and she used it all the time to get what she wanted emotionally and logistically and really I think a lot of it might be considered emotional abuse in this day and age. But Mrs. Hubbard prattling on and on about 'her daughter' is absolutely a way of keeping her co-conspirators and accomplices committed to the crime they are engaged in. It's a masterstroke of manipulation and my grandmother would wholeheartedly support its employ. Two of the newer films cut this part out and I think that's too bad.
Making Mrs. Hubbard a MILF or cougar (the David Suchet one and the Kenneth Brannaugh one) is sort of sad. Sigh. The thing I liked about the Suchet one (one of the few things) was the beginning. Agatha doesn't give us a lot of "Untold Stories" (not like ACD) but what happened in Syria has always interested me.
But making it a morality play was not enjoyable. And even the Kenneth Brannaugh one had to give Poirot a heterosexual backstory and I have to roll my eyes at that. I loved seeing the actor who plays Joe in The Old Guard as Pierre Michel, though. Gorgeous! And the Brannaugh version had some beautiful scenery and inside shots of the train.
I've written a poem called "If I had but the pen of a Balzac" about that scene in the dining car when all the nationalities are gathered and Monsieur Bouc wishes he could capture it. I also wish I could incorporate into my vernacular the phrase 'Between Vincovi and Brod' to mean stuck somewhere unexpectedly so as to have a wrench thrown into one's plans.
Next up: we switch to Mary Westmacott's Unfinished Portrait.
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