While looking for a biography about her, I ran across "8 Things You May Not Know About Agatha Christie."Granted I knew most of them, but it's still an interesting list. One of the items on the list is the fact that she's almost as popular as God -
"According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Agatha Christie’s popularity is only bettered by the Bible and the Bard. She is indisputably the best-selling novelist of all time. A 1959 UNESCO report claimed her books had been translated into 103 language, and to date she’s sold over two billion copies—more than the entire population of China and America combined."
One of the reasons for this is because she wrote 72 novels and innumerable short stories, as well as poetry, memoirs, children’s stories and plays. I've read a couple of her plays and at least half of her novels. I've always been a huge mystery novel fan - I grew up on Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Judy Bolton Mysteries (my personal favorite!), The Bobbsey Twins, etc. I think my first instance of "binge reading" was probably when I bought a stack of Agatha Christie novels and couldn't put them down. :)
Several of my personal favorites (which I have read multiple times) are, in no particular order:
The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)The newly-orphaned Anne Beddingfield came to London expecting excitement. She didn't expect to find it on the platform of Hyde Park Corner tube station. When a fellow passenger pitches onto the rails and is electrocuted, the 'doctor' on the scene seems intent on searching the victim rather than examining him. Armed with a single clue, Anne finds herself struggling to unmask a faceless killer known only as 'The Colonel' - while 'The Colonel' struggles to eliminate her..
And Then There Were None (1939)
First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.
The Pale Horse (1961)
"Wickedness...such wickedness...."
The dying woman turned to Father Gorman with agony in her eyes. "Stopped....It must be stopped....You will...."
The priest spoke with reassuring authority. "I will do what is necessary. You can trust me."
Father Gorman tucked the list of names she had given him into his shoe. It was a meaningless list; the names were of people who had nothing in common.
On his way home, Father Gorman was murdered. But the police found the list and when Mark Easterbrook came to inquire into the circumstances of the people listed, he began to discover a connection between them, and an ominous pattern....
Every name of that list was either already dead or, he suspected, marked for murder.
Ordeal by Innocence (1958)
Recovering from amnesia, Dr. Arthur Calgary discovers that he alone could have provided an alibi in a scandalous murder trial. It ended in the conviction of Jacko Argyle. The victim was Jacko's own mother, and to make matters worse, he died in prison. But the young man's innocence means that someone else killed the Argyle matriarch, and would certainly kill again to remain in the shadows. Shaded in the moral ambiguity of murder, the provocative psychological puzzler of guilt, vengeance, and blood secrets is among Agatha Christie's personal favorites.
Toward Zero (1944)
An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house...What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull's Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It's all part of a carefully paid plan - for murder...
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
In the village of King's Abbot, a widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study--but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. King's Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd's wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim's home. It's now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to King's Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd--a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard, and by Sheppard's ingenious sister, Caroline.
The ABC Murders (1935)
There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans.
The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930)
Harley Quin is an enigma. Even his friend Mr Satterthwaite is unable to understand how the man seems to appear and disappear almost like a trick of the light - and when he does appear it's usually in the sparkle of sunshine, or surrounded by a spectrum of coloured light pouring through a stained glass window...
In fact, the only consistent thing about the Mysterious Mr Quin is that his presence is always a harbinger of love ... or death.
Have you read any of Agatha Christie's novels or plays? If so, do you have a favorite(s)?
~ Katie
Song of the day: I have never been a huge fan of American Idol, but there have been a few winners (or singers in the top 3) that I've really liked. One of those is Kris Allen, the winner of season 8. He's come out with three CDs (I own all of them) since winning in 2009. While Horizons (2014) is not my favorite of his CDs, I think "Lost" is my favorite song...followed closely by "Loves Me Not" from Thank You Camellia.
And Then There Were None (1939)
First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp, who helped him to his new life. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. When the woman is killed, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery.The Pale Horse (1961)
"Wickedness...such wickedness...."
The dying woman turned to Father Gorman with agony in her eyes. "Stopped....It must be stopped....You will...."
The priest spoke with reassuring authority. "I will do what is necessary. You can trust me."
Father Gorman tucked the list of names she had given him into his shoe. It was a meaningless list; the names were of people who had nothing in common.
On his way home, Father Gorman was murdered. But the police found the list and when Mark Easterbrook came to inquire into the circumstances of the people listed, he began to discover a connection between them, and an ominous pattern....
Every name of that list was either already dead or, he suspected, marked for murder.
Ordeal by Innocence (1958)
Recovering from amnesia, Dr. Arthur Calgary discovers that he alone could have provided an alibi in a scandalous murder trial. It ended in the conviction of Jacko Argyle. The victim was Jacko's own mother, and to make matters worse, he died in prison. But the young man's innocence means that someone else killed the Argyle matriarch, and would certainly kill again to remain in the shadows. Shaded in the moral ambiguity of murder, the provocative psychological puzzler of guilt, vengeance, and blood secrets is among Agatha Christie's personal favorites.
Toward Zero (1944)
An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house...What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull's Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It's all part of a carefully paid plan - for murder...
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
In the village of King's Abbot, a widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study--but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. King's Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd's wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim's home. It's now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to King's Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd--a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard, and by Sheppard's ingenious sister, Caroline.
The ABC Murders (1935)
There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans.
The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930)
Harley Quin is an enigma. Even his friend Mr Satterthwaite is unable to understand how the man seems to appear and disappear almost like a trick of the light - and when he does appear it's usually in the sparkle of sunshine, or surrounded by a spectrum of coloured light pouring through a stained glass window...
In fact, the only consistent thing about the Mysterious Mr Quin is that his presence is always a harbinger of love ... or death.
Have you read any of Agatha Christie's novels or plays? If so, do you have a favorite(s)?
~ Katie
Song of the day: I have never been a huge fan of American Idol, but there have been a few winners (or singers in the top 3) that I've really liked. One of those is Kris Allen, the winner of season 8. He's come out with three CDs (I own all of them) since winning in 2009. While Horizons (2014) is not my favorite of his CDs, I think "Lost" is my favorite song...followed closely by "Loves Me Not" from Thank You Camellia.
No comments:
Post a Comment