RARA-AVIS: Re: list from over-the-pond Times

From: jacquesdebierue ( jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com)
Date: 22 Apr 2008


--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King <abrasax93@...> wrote:
>
> My problem with Agatha Christie is that her stories
> have no connection to real life and never did. She
> knows absolutely nothing about actual crime or
> criminals. I think that's why she's so popular. Her's
> are the types of criminals people would like to meet.
> Her imagination is as limited as that of her readers.
>

Many of her characters are nasty people. While she does not give them a proper life, they don't strike me as purely invented puppets either. It's a strange world if you come from hardboiledland, but still recognizably human. The emphasis on the puzzle is clear, but the puzzle would not do its job on the reader if the characters were too unbelievable. Now, if you are talking about Christie's England versus the real England of folks in the streets, I am sure that the distance is enormous.

Best,

mrt



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