stonepicnicking_okapi

So we move from fiction to nonfiction with Come Tell Me How You Live. This is a memoir of Agatha Christie's years prior to WWII in archeological digs with her husband in Syria. And I have to say I loved it. I had never read it before. She is very funny and a bit catty and a bit colonial but very entertaining. The first chapter is about how fat women can't find cute traveling clothes and some things never change, eh? I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. In fact, I even toyed with buying a copy to have about but I won't (I didn't like it that much) but it was fun. Oh, and because I haven't read it before, I am going to put it as my Book Bingo square for female author. Yay. I do like having Agatha on the board. She's so important to me.

Next up: I am already re-reading The Labours of Hercules and I have to say I am finding it a slog. I read it a few years ago and even did a fic of Holmes doing 12 cases in similar fashion but it isn't fun this time around.

I'm going to count this as the Fannish 50 #3 post. Hopefully in February, I'll set up a proper schedule for Fannish 50.

So it looks like I didn't post about the books in November, The Moving Finger and Towards Zero but I did post about Absent in Spring as part of Snowflake Challenge. So this is just a catch up to make certain I'm up to date.

The Moving Finger. Miss Marple, so I love it. There isn't enough of her, of course. Love the murder. Love the twist. Poison pen letters are such an interesting phenomenon. Reminds me I need to read the classic poison pen letter novel Fear Stalks the Village by Ethel Lina White. Of course, never take relationship advice for Ol' Aggie but we knew this, yes?

Towards Zero A strange one. But very clever in the plotting, clues, alibis and what not. The people don't, in my opinion, act very naturally, but I like the mechanics. The cover had tennis on it. Misleading. It has very, very little to do with tennis.

Absent in Spring. I described in Snowflake post. Tough read but I respected it.

Death Comes as the End. A murder mystery set in ancient Egypt. I'm in awe of how she manages it. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Emilia Fox and she was lovely. And I was inspired to buy some ancient Egypt stickers and do a spread.



Sparkling Cyanide. A ho-hum story with a fabulous title. A Colonel Race mystery. Once again the relationship bits are dismaying but a okay story that beggars belief in parts. She is still playing with narration as a tool to misdirect and I like that. I listened to an audiobook version on Youtube with Hugh Fraser as narrator which was good.

Next up: The Hollow, which I don't remember at all so should be fun.

I am speeding right along--straight into 1941 and onto 1942!

Evil Under the Sun Summary:

During his holiday in Devon, Poirot notices a young woman who is flirtatious and attractive, but not well liked by a number of guests. When she is murdered during his stay, he finds himself drawn into investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder.

I remember this one very well, but I didn't like it as much as I remembered. I think there is a bit too much suspension of disbelief. The murder involves a lot of moving parts and timing, and I also don't wholly believe in the motivation. I mean, yes, money, but wow, that's a lot of work, and the murderers don't strike me as diabolical as they would need to be to go through with all this. Not convincing, that is what it is. Also, absolutely NEVER take relationship advice from Agatha Christie. She has some seriously fucked up ideas about marriage, compatibility, and romance.

N or M This is a Tommy & Tuppence one with spies in WWII. You can listen to it on Youtube unabridged read by James Warwick (who played Tommy in the 1980's series). Summary:

After the outbreak of the Second World War and many years after they worked for British intelligence, middle-aged Tommy and Tuppence Beresford feel useless and sidelined. Then, Tommy is approached by a secret agent named Grant to go undercover once more.

I was prepared not to like this one because I am not a huge fan of Tommy & Tuppence or espionage stories, but I really enjoyed parts of it (more than Evil Under the Sun, in fact). Parts of it are a bit trying but the misdirection is really, really clever, and they make Tuppence truly intelligence not just cutesy intelligent.

The Body in the Library. One of my favourite books of all time. We get Dolly and Miss Marple being besties, which I love. And re-reading it, I noticed at one point Sir Henry Clithering calls Miss Marple 'Fashion Queen'---CHEEKY! Not much else to say except the second murder (or other murder) struck me as incredibly cruel and psychopathic this time around. firecat linked to a New Yorker article about direction Rian Johnson talking about Agatha Christie works being not just detectives but also slasher (And then There Were None) and serial killer (The ABC Murders) and I think The Body in the Library could be an example 'kids in peril' genre which is a subset of thrillers these days. Summary:

The maid at Gossington Hall wakes Mrs Bantry by saying, “There is a body in the library!” Dolly Bantry then wakes her husband, Colonel Arthur Bantry to go downstairs. He finds the dead body of a young woman on the hearth rug in the library, with heavy makeup, platinum-blonde hair, and a silver-spangled dress. The colonel calls the police, and Mrs Bantry calls her old friend, Miss Marple.

Five Little Pigs This one is very clever, too. The cold case aspect of it is really tricky but she pulls it off beautiful. Once again, don't take relationship advice from ol' Aggie but after reading a few biographies of Great Artists, I do believe a lot of fucked-up scenarios with girlfriends and wives are plausible. Also, I love her twists and misdirection. Really a great case study in how to do it right. Summary:

The book features detective Hercule Poirot investigating five people about a murder committed sixteen years earlier. Caroline Crale died in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murdering her husband, Amyas Crale, by poisoning him. In her final letter from prison, she claims to be innocent of the murder. Her daughter Carla Lemarchant asks Poirot to investigate this cold case, based on the memories of the people closest to the couple.

Now: I am reading (or listening to, there's an unabridged version on Youtube) another Miss Marple: The Moving Finger. Props to Agatha Christie for titles, too.

So we are squarely in the pre-war year of 1940 now with Sad Cypress. I didn't plan on reading any Agatha this month, but my library had a Large Print version and I did A LOT of sitting and waiting in the car this month (mostly at soccer practices) so I had time to finish it.

I had no memory of reading this ever before. It's a decent story, but not one I'll read again.

It's an Hercule Poirot but he doesn't appear until the second half.

The novel is written in three parts: in the first place an account, largely from the perspective of Elinor Carlisle of the death of her aunt, Laura Welman, and the subsequent death of Mary Gerrard; secondly Poirot's account of his investigation in conversation with Dr Lord; and, thirdly, a sequence in court, again mainly from Elinor's dazed perspective.

So we have the old rich aunt dying and then the young companion dying and then a court case. Because I've read so much of Agatha Christie now, you could kind of piece together what's going to happen and who did it from previous short stories and novels. The elements are there, just sort of rearranged.

Next up: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe which is another Hercule Poirot but my library doesn't have a copy so I am forced to read it online, which will be slow going.

I had a 4 hour wait at the repair shop, and I finished Murder is Easy [1939]. Here's the summary:

Upon his return to England after his overseas job in the police, Luke Fitzwilliam shares a London-bound train carriage with Lavinia Pinkerton. She talks with him about her reason to travel to Scotland Yard, hoping for agreement. She plans to report a serial killer in her village and tells him who was killed and who will next be killed. Amy Gibbs, Tommy Pierce and Harry Carter have been killed, and Dr John Humbleby will be the next victim. This woman reminds him of a favourite aunt, so he replies politely and recalls what she said.

He reads of Miss Pinkerton's death the next day, and then of the death of Dr Humbleby, who has died of septicaemia. Luke will not let this rest, and he travels to the village, Wychwood under Ashe. He poses as one finding material for a book on beliefs in witchcraft and superstition, as he investigates.

There are things I like about it. I like the setup, the idea of hearing something on a train and finding out later there's a mystery attached. I like the idea of an expatriate returned home and at loose ends. I like the idea of a serial killer going undisturbed in a village, and the body count is Midsomer range. The whole idea of mistaking hat paint for cough syrup in the middle of the night and poisoning yourself is so bizarre as to be intriguing. These villages seem to be full of people who drink things in the middle of the night without paying attention to what they are. To their fatal folly!

The romance subplot I could have done without. The psychology of the killer is a bit suspect, too. But, in general, I liked it.

Oh, but NEXT! Next we have And then there were none, one of my favourite books of all time and Vera Claythorne, the fictional character I sometimes most identify with! She's not right at all, but I understand her. I will save it for September when the boys are back in school and savour it.

Death on the Nile [1937] is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels. I love the setting and the plot and the cast of characters. Once you know that Jacqueline de Bellefort's mother was from South Carolina (my mother, and father, were also from South Carolina) EVERYTHING makes sense. Really. Everything makes sense. Someone once said South Carolina was too small to be its own country and too large to be an insane asylum. That's us. I have often felt like Jacqueline in my life. Fortunately, I never had a Simon Doyle. Or a Lynette Ridgeway for that matter. This has Hercules Poirot and Colonel Race. As with the novel below, Christie used her own experiences on archeological digs and travels in the Middle East to inform her works and add verisimilitude. And the 1977 film version is wonderful. David Niven stabbing a cobra is the only one of the best bits. Angela Lansbury as drunk sensationalist novelist is so funny--maybe that's why she moved to Cabet Cove!

Also, I listened to Kenneth Branagh's narration of it on Youtube here. In my opinion, it is MUCH better than David Suchet, but then I am not a fan of David Suchet's narration. If I close my eyes, Branaugh sounds a bit like Cumberbatch when he narrates. They have some of the same cadences.

Appointment with Death [1938] This is also set in the near East. Jerusalem and Petra. An American matriarch who is a 'mental sadist' (!) brings her tormented family on holiday and gets killed. I tried listening to the Hugh Fraser narrated version but it was painful to listen to so many scenes of emotional abuse, gaslighting, and manipulation so I turned to the physical book because it's easier for me to deal with it. It was a tough read for that reason but really a rather ingenious plot and means. The motive we will see again when Miss Marple takes an island holiday (but with a more clever twist) but I can see ol' Aggie leading up to it. This is also Poirot. There is a Ustinov version 1988 too on Tubi. I may watch that tonight.

Next up is Poirot's Christmas.

I am in 1936 to 1937. I also got at the library the very informative The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie: A Biographical Companion to the Works of Agatha Christie by Charles Osborne. I foresee checking this out many, many times. It's just what I need.

Death in the Clouds. This is the one on the airplane with Hercule Poirot. There are some bits that remind me of The Mystery of the Blue Train because the damsel is Jane Grey instead of Katherine Grey. A satisfying tale.

Murder in Mesopotamia. This is the one about the archeological dig in Iraq with Hercule Poirot. There is an underlying premise to the solution that I simply don't believe BUT it has a very clever method of murdering which I highly approve of. And the victim is supposed to be based on Katherine Woolley who was wife of archeologist Leonard Woolley.

Cards on the Table. This is one is about bridge with Hercule Poirot. I don't know how to play bridge, but she even includes the scores. There is a good bit of xenophobia/racism related to the choice of victim and it hints at the future And then there were none in that a crazy man invites four murderers to play bridge along with four sleuths and the host himself is killed after he taunts everyone. Lots of twists. There is the introduction of Ariadne Oliver, who is Christie herself. I liked most the character of Rhoda Dawes. She will appear later in The Pale Horse married to another character in this book but I am tempted to write a short thing about her and Ariadne Oliver and her and her roommate Anne Meredith (one of the bridge players). I enjoyed this once I got past the first part. I listened to the audiobook version with Anna Massey as narrator on Youtube and the recording is a bit dodgy in places, but the narration is very well done.

Murder in the Mews and Other Stories. Four stories. The first one breaks my heart every time. Blackmail, suicide, murder, and Poirot gets on his high horse (hypocritical considering how he handed the Orient Express murder) at the end. I am very affected by the female roommate stories. The second story is Important Papers Go Missing. The third story is a typical country house murder with a quirky prop introduced. And the last is a wife poisoned on holiday which hints at Evil Under the Sun as well as Death on the Nile. Here is the audiobook version with Hugh Fraser narrating.

Next up is Bob, everyone's favourite sleuthing wire-haired terrier, in Dumb Witness.

I am posting early in the month because someone else in my library's circulation requested Parker Pyne Investigates and so it is due back today.

It's a dozen short stories. Here's the summary:

James Parker Pyne is a retired government employee who considers himself to be a "detective of the heart". Advertising his services in the "Personal" column of The Times, he works alongside his secretary Miss Lemon, novelist Ariadne Oliver, handsome "lounge lizard" Claude Luttrell and disguise artist Madeleine de Sara.

The first six stories deal with Pyne solving cases in England, while the second six stories detail Pyne's vacation, where he hopes not to have to do detective work only to end up helping others anyway.

Ol' Aggie is sort of shit at relationships so it is mostly Cringe and Eye-Rolling-Worthy. Example, Parker Pyne says:

"It is a fundamental axiom of married life that you must lie to a woman. She likes it!"

Only one thing I found interesting. Murderer in one story gives victim a 'cachet of dreams' to take which contains...strychnine! I like the phrase cache of dreams.

Also I learned new vocabulary: peplum and embonpoint.

It was a slog to get through these. I hope the next up: Three Act Tragedy is better (and less in demand at the lending library!).

Murder 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.

This month, I only tackled one Agatha Christie novel, Lord Edgeware Dies. The interesting thing about reading Agatha in order is that you can see the evolution of ideas. In this, we get the idea of an actress and another actress who looks like her being involved in a crime (alibis, was the one you saw the real one or the imitator) which was seen in "The Affair of the Bungalow" short story earlier. Also, interesting that Edgeware is a sadist and therefore a Bad Dude, so, you know, sort of got what was coming to him (from the book's perspective, not mine). I watched the 1985 film adaptation (called 13 at Dinner) I like Peter Ustinov as Poirot and Faye Dunaway (she steals the show, in my opinion) and was surprised that David Suchet was Japp.

The book was okay. I can't say it's my favourite or really stands out. Hastings is there, which can be a plus in some moods and a minus in other.

The next book in order is a collection of short stories called The Hound of Death in 1933 when it was published. I have found ALL of the stories EXCEPT "Witness for the Prosecution" in a modern collection called The Last Seance and Other Stories so that's on deck for November.