When we started getting ready for this project last fall, the first thing we did was sit down and figure out exactly how many books we were going to be reading and in which order we should read them. Now, of course we could have just turned to the good old Google machine to look up a list of Agatha's works, but it's loads more fun to have them in a handy-dandy list format with a checklist and everything (#checklistsrule).
AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, our ever-favorite agathachristie.com has sorted all of Dame Agatha's works into just such terrifically organized lists! We have been using The Complete Agatha Christie Reading List as our guide for The Year of Agatha project, but you can also find helpful lists (including publication dates) of all Poirot and Miss Marple books on their site. The Poirot list is particularly interesting because it gives some fairly cryptic and intriguing suggestions about the reading order of several books - for example, it is suggested Lord Edgware Dies be read before After the Funeral...I'm sure we will give you some clues as to why when we get to those books later this year!
And so, dear readers, if our blog has piqued your interest in Agatha's works and should you find yourself needing to know (or simply curious about!) which books you'll need to add to your "Every Miss Marple Book" Amazon Wish List, may we heartily recommend the above mentioned resources! AND if you are interested in which books are coming up in February on The Year of Agatha, we have added next month's reads to our Reading Schedule.
-A. & E.
I've used the chronological list of her novels on Wikipedia - I am also (re-)reading all novels (just skipping the collections of short stories). I've started a few months, and I am now reading Cat Among the Pigeons (1959).
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting to notice the gradual changes in the British society during several decades!
Cat Among the Pigeons is such a good one - let us know what you think of it your second time reading it (we are scheduled to get to that one in September)! Re-reading Agatha Christie has been so fun for us because we're always catching little clues we missed the first time. Which has been your favorite so far?
DeleteHard to pick a favorite one :-)
DeleteI like those evil-in-a-small-village ones a lot, so I enjoyed for example A Murder is Announced (one of the view novels I could remember who the murderer was). On the other hand the glamorous stories set in in the Near and Middle East are also well done - e.g. Death on the Nile.
I liked those novels in particular that were set in St. Mary Mead and where Miss Marple was involved right from the start. One of my favorite (the only one I could remember both murderer and motive so far) was The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. It also combines the small village and the glamorous (improbably as it all may be :-))
Then I think Tommy and Tuppence should have deserved more fame - those novels have neither made it to the movies, have they? The Secret Adversary and also N or M were genius.
(I posted using my Google+ acccount now instead of Wordpress - seems there are issues to post using Wordpress now ... elkement = Elke Stangl)
DeleteI forgot to comment on Cat Among Pigeons: I found it it more schematic and contrived than others, so it was not among my favorites.
What I forgot to mention before: The Crooked House was also perfect. Christie said in the preface this was one she really enjoyed writing and it wrote itself - and I think it shows.
I (Audrey) also really love the novels set in St. Mary Mead - I like how the small village setting allows for more the reader to become more attached to recurring characters in the Miss Marple novels (I guess I'm thinking mostly of Dolly Bantry, who is one of my favorites, particularly in The Body in the Library and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.) A few Poirot novels have that small village feel (I'm thinking particularly of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), but it's just not the same. I prefer Poirot to have the glamorous feel that you mentioned - one of my favorites set in the Middle East is Murder in Mesopotamia. I love when Agatha writes about archeological digs!
DeleteI know Emily just adores Tommy and Tuppence (and so do I!) so we would both heartily agree with you that those two deserve more fame in the Agatha Christie world. I believe there is a new-ish TV adaptation called Partners in Crime (but is really more of an adaption of The Secret Adversary) which is not bad, but not to the level of the David Suchet/Poirot adaptations.
Crooked House is definitely one of my favorites - the plot line is just brilliant and one where you can tell Agatha is taking her crimes and writing to a new level. We are experiencing the same sort of "groundbreaking" feel with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd this week.
YAS Audrey and Elke! I don't know why Tommy and Tuppence aren't as well known as Poirot or Marple but I will be ever their advocate, because I love their cleverness and fun dynamic. Thanks Elke!
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