At 07:00 PM 10/13/2004, you wrote:
> >
>Re Christie, I just wanted to mention I'm a huge fan
of her books.
>I've read most of them (although it's been some
time), find them
>hugely entertaining, and whether you like the hard or
soft stuff
>you can learn a ton about plotting from her
books...
> > J
> > http://www.jasonstarr.com
>
>Like Jason, I have read lots of her stuff and mainly
for the plots.
>She *also* had an unlimited reservoir of nasty,
dislikable
>characters. While she worked the traditional
detection mystery,
>many of her books are bleak about the human animal.
For me,
>Christie is definitely not light
entertainment.
>
>On the other hand, her characterization is not very
deep, probably
>because characters had to serve her devilish plots
and her
>rhythm requires quick rotation of
characters.
>
>Best,
>
>MrT
MrT
I disagree in part. Here's an excerpt of my review of
Remembered Death, which appeared in a recent issue of
Mystery*File
(www.lewis-books.com/Mfile.htm).
....
You have read Agatha Christie, haven't you? Disaster happens.
If this is a cozy, it's a cozy with a sharp, wicked edge to
it.
Nor is
all what it seems, as I probably needn't warn you, and as an
"impossible crime," which this very nearly is, it's one that
just might, maybe, work. And not too many readers are going
to outwit Ms. Christie, and maybe that's why, of all of the
many, many practitioners of mysteries from the Golden Age,
Christie is the only one whose books you will find on the
shelves in Borders, Walden's or Barnes & Noble
today.
And not
only is Christie a master of deception, she has an exceeding
observant eye when it comes to people, and she can take what
she sees and convert it into words. (I notice that I'm using
the present tense. I think that's because I sense that as
long as her books are alive, so is she.)
With
just a bit of a dialogue of one of characters, she can match
him perfectly to her description of him later. George Barton
is talking to his wife's younger sister on page 17, and a few
lines later Iris thinks of him to herself as "kind, awkward,
bumbling." And he was. Exactly. A stereotype, perhaps, but
even stereotypes are based on reality.
And
what I understand now is that it's Christie's keen eye into
character that makes her mysteries work, with all of the
intricate machinations inherent thereto, and somehow I don't
think I realized that back when I was reading her books for
the first time. Back then it was the cleverness of the plot,
and that only, not thinking, or caring, that it's that way
that people act and react that's equally essential, if not -
dare I say it? - more so.
Best
Steve
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