I was waiting for someone to come out with a video like this. One of the things I liked about Christie is that she continually tried to relate her books to the time period she was living in. As a child in the 60s, I really enjoyed Halloween Party despite it not being one of her best because it so reminded me of the kids I’d gone to school with and their mothers. Another book I enjoyed that others called a dud was Hickory Dickory Dock because I was fascinated by Christie’s attempt to portray the then current race relations between white Brits and black students from the colonies. I think even in her lesser books she provided such a snapshot of life, values and struggles from the time that it’s fascinating to read her books in sequence to see how the times and her author’s sensibilities change.
I haven’t made it all the way through your catalogue yet so apologies if there IS a video like this and I just haven’t seen it, but I would love to see a Part II on this topic that focuses more on trends in Christie’s work over time and what seem to have been her reoccurring interests and preoccupations by decade.
Another great video. I also agree with your ranking, with the exception of placing the 20s before the 50s. I believe that commenter Tim is right about the ones from the 50s being more rereadable. I also like the cold war thrillers, with their more relatable heroines, more than the 20s thrillers, with their madcap society girl heroines. But you almost persuaded me to change my mind. I strongly agree with your choice for best and worst decades. I first read "Passenger to Frankfurt" and "Postern of Fate" as a young teen Christie rabid fan, and even then I wondered why Postern had been allowed to be in print. I liked Passenger back then, because I thought the plan to establish the fourth Reich was chilling. I reread it a few years ago and had to conclude that it just wasn't very good. And the best Christies from the best decade are some of the best books ever written, IMHO.
Without seeing your rankings, here are mine: #6 -- 1970s #5 -- 1960s #4 -- 1920s #3 -- 1950s #2 -- 1940s #1 -- 1930s Though it was very hard for me to decide between the 1920s and the 1950s. The twenties had The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Poirot Investigates, and Partners in Crime. And when I was in my teens, I loved The Secret Adversary and The Seven Dials Mystery. So if anyone wanted to put the 1920s as better than the 1950s, I wouldn't argue.
Interesting to see the books collected by decade. I think it's a pretty uncontroversial ranking - her books are objectively at their peak in the middle of her career. Wow, the 30s were a great decade, imagine anyone else writing that many icons in that amount of time!
I agree with your order and also feel pretty strongly about the 20s being better than the 50s. Aside from everything you mentioned, she also wrote Witness for the Prosecution in the 20s, which is another first class story.
Please, please, please review The Mysterious Mr Quin at some point. He is my absolute favourite character as well as one of hers Keep the videos coming!
Pretty much totally convinced me with your ranking. I LIKE the 50s books more than the 20s, but I agree that the "importance" of the latter is much greater and the short stories really are terrific.
I agree with your order apart from the 1920s and 1950s. I'd rank the 1950s above the 1920s because I think the 50s books are more re-readable. I've reread "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" a few times but (knowing the solution) it's the cleverness of the writing I admire on the rereads, not particularly the plot. Whereas "A Murder is Announced" I've read over 20 times and "After the Funeral" (probably my favourite Christie) even more than that! That could be an interesting topic - which Christies do you reread the most!
The 20s and 50s were so close. And that is a good topic for the future. I used to have a morbid habit of reading After the Funeral after I went to a funeral. I no longer do that.
Though the 1970s is no question Christie's weakest decade, I defend Nemesis as her last great work. It's an innovative in a way I have never seen before: a mystery that at the beginning is completely undefined. There's something about its dreaminess that is deeply satisfying to me.
I, too, love Nemesis. I think it's her best Marple book since 4:50 from Paddington. And I love the way it's clear that it's Miss Marple's final case and she's going to go off and enjoy the heck out of that money. May she have eaten a lot of partridges and marrons glacés.
Interesting. This is exactly the reason, why I don't rank it very high (though it's better than the books surrounding it). To me, it just doesn't make any sense, why Rafiel sent Miss Marple on a wild goose chance instead of giving her some concrete informations, what she is supposed to investigate. This takes me out of the story every time.
I think Nemesis is the strongest of the 1970s and I think it does a lot of interesting things. It's strongest selling point is Miss Marple, her depiction and her finally claiming credit. But it is very difficult for me to overlook some of the plotting issues that are happening.
This element of the plot is interesting and I like how unique it is but I have hard time overlooking it because it's so nonsensical. I'm always willing to suspend credibility for the sake of the good story but this is a little too much.
The best thing about Nemesis is Miss Marple and this is her crowning achievement. It is a very good novel, in my opinion, in terms of the Miss Marple of it all.
Caribbean and Halloween show rapid decline. OTOH Clouds and Evans are very convincing imho (though I’m probably conflating the videos with the books). Quinn is uniquely enigmatic and remarkable.
I've slowly grown to like Evans much more. I think the recent adaptation had a lot to do with it. Next week's video is a review of A Caribbean Mystery and until this reread, I really didn't notice how much Christie slips a bit in that book. There are a number of plot holes and the ending is not wrapped up neatly at all.
I’m only giving you my reaction - I haven’t done your careful analysis. And my reactions are influenced by the video adaptations. In Evans, the protagonists are played by the original Beresfords - who are both very charming and attractive, especially the fellow who plays Tommy - the opening golf scenes are just short of hilarious (at least to this lousy golfer) - but then become very dark with the discovery of the body. I didn’t much like the Caribbean video - I’ll have to reread the book to see where the issue is. This decade analysis is superb - and thanks!
If you run out of ideas for content, you could consider reviewing fictional movies about the life of Christie. There is "Agatha," from the 1980s? about her disappearance; I remember it as being pretty good. And then there are the three recent ones made for British TV: one about her disappearance, one about her time in archaeological circles, and one about her time WWII. They were only so so, in my opinion. But you could tell what you think, and discuss if they are have any factual basis.
Thanks for an interesting video. I wonder if Christie's failing eyesight contributed to her decline. She had to dictate, rather than type, and I guess that might make an author more likely to ramble.
The Harlequin Tea-set is the only short story she wrote in the early 1970s. (NOT in the 1950s, as some site would have us believe.) It is, as a I am sure you know, an exceedingly feeble story.
I forgot about the Harlequin Tea Set because, well, it's very forgettable. Weird Christie randomly wrote another Harley Quinn story in the 70s after all that time.
I was waiting for someone to come out with a video like this. One of the things I liked about Christie is that she continually tried to relate her books to the time period she was living in. As a child in the 60s, I really enjoyed Halloween Party despite it not being one of her best because it so reminded me of the kids I’d gone to school with and their mothers. Another book I enjoyed that others called a dud was Hickory Dickory Dock because I was fascinated by Christie’s attempt to portray the then current race relations between white Brits and black students from the colonies.
I think even in her lesser books she provided such a snapshot of life, values and struggles from the time that it’s fascinating to read her books in sequence to see how the times and her author’s sensibilities change.
I haven’t made it all the way through your catalogue yet so apologies if there IS a video like this and I just haven’t seen it, but I would love to see a Part II on this topic that focuses more on trends in Christie’s work over time and what seem to have been her reoccurring interests and preoccupations by decade.
Oh that's a good idea. I haven't done anything like that yet. You've given me quite a few ideas for the future.
Another great video. I also agree with your ranking, with the exception of placing the 20s before the 50s. I believe that commenter Tim is right about the ones from the 50s being more rereadable. I also like the cold war thrillers, with their more relatable heroines, more than the 20s thrillers, with their madcap society girl heroines. But you almost persuaded me to change my mind.
I strongly agree with your choice for best and worst decades. I first read "Passenger to Frankfurt" and "Postern of Fate" as a young teen Christie rabid fan, and even then I wondered why Postern had been allowed to be in print. I liked Passenger back then, because I thought the plan to establish the fourth Reich was chilling. I reread it a few years ago and had to conclude that it just wasn't very good. And the best Christies from the best decade are some of the best books ever written, IMHO.
The 20s and the 50s gave me so much trouble. I kept flipping them around. But I ultimately felt the 20s are just more important.
I knew the 30's would come out on top. Way too many iconic books there.
Without seeing your rankings, here are mine:
#6 -- 1970s
#5 -- 1960s
#4 -- 1920s
#3 -- 1950s
#2 -- 1940s
#1 -- 1930s
Though it was very hard for me to decide between the 1920s and the 1950s. The twenties had The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Poirot Investigates, and Partners in Crime. And when I was in my teens, I loved The Secret Adversary and The Seven Dials Mystery. So if anyone wanted to put the 1920s as better than the 1950s, I wouldn't argue.
Very close! But we have the same thoughts as to the 20s and 50s.
You've no idea how excited I was to see this in my feed!
Thanks! Glad to hear it! Were you the one who recommended this? I apologize but I cannot remember who did.
@@summationgathering Yes, it was me. I was looking at her bibliography and was pretty stunned how many bangers she had between the 20s and 60s.
Interesting to see the books collected by decade. I think it's a pretty uncontroversial ranking - her books are objectively at their peak in the middle of her career. Wow, the 30s were a great decade, imagine anyone else writing that many icons in that amount of time!
There were other iconic writers churning out iconic novels in the 1930s as well but nowhere near Christie's level.
I agree with your order and also feel pretty strongly about the 20s being better than the 50s. Aside from everything you mentioned, she also wrote Witness for the Prosecution in the 20s, which is another first class story.
I love Witness for the Prosecution. I always forget it exists, though.
Please, please, please review The Mysterious Mr Quin at some point. He is my absolute favourite character as well as one of hers
Keep the videos coming!
I've been meaning to cover more short stories. I'm going to pencil in Mr. Quin for early August. It might get moved.
Something to look forward to, no rush :)
Pretty much totally convinced me with your ranking. I LIKE the 50s books more than the 20s, but I agree that the "importance" of the latter is much greater and the short stories really are terrific.
When I was looking at the list, I did think the 20s were a little lighter than the 50s, certainly not as strong as I thought it would be.
Great video. Very informative insight on her decades of writing.
Thanks!
I agree with your order apart from the 1920s and 1950s. I'd rank the 1950s above the 1920s because I think the 50s books are more re-readable. I've reread "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" a few times but (knowing the solution) it's the cleverness of the writing I admire on the rereads, not particularly the plot. Whereas "A Murder is Announced" I've read over 20 times and "After the Funeral" (probably my favourite Christie) even more than that! That could be an interesting topic - which Christies do you reread the most!
The 20s and 50s were so close. And that is a good topic for the future. I used to have a morbid habit of reading After the Funeral after I went to a funeral. I no longer do that.
Though the 1970s is no question Christie's weakest decade, I defend Nemesis as her last great work. It's an innovative in a way I have never seen before: a mystery that at the beginning is completely undefined. There's something about its dreaminess that is deeply satisfying to me.
I, too, love Nemesis. I think it's her best Marple book since 4:50 from Paddington. And I love the way it's clear that it's Miss Marple's final case and she's going to go off and enjoy the heck out of that money. May she have eaten a lot of partridges and marrons glacés.
Interesting. This is exactly the reason, why I don't rank it very high (though it's better than the books surrounding it). To me, it just doesn't make any sense, why Rafiel sent Miss Marple on a wild goose chance instead of giving her some concrete informations, what she is supposed to investigate. This takes me out of the story every time.
I think Nemesis is the strongest of the 1970s and I think it does a lot of interesting things. It's strongest selling point is Miss Marple, her depiction and her finally claiming credit. But it is very difficult for me to overlook some of the plotting issues that are happening.
This element of the plot is interesting and I like how unique it is but I have hard time overlooking it because it's so nonsensical. I'm always willing to suspend credibility for the sake of the good story but this is a little too much.
The best thing about Nemesis is Miss Marple and this is her crowning achievement. It is a very good novel, in my opinion, in terms of the Miss Marple of it all.
You could have mentioned the quite exceptional Curtain and Sleeping Murder, both written in the 1940s. But your overall classification is correct.
Yeah I should have done that since I basically excluded them from the 70s.
Caribbean and Halloween show rapid decline. OTOH Clouds and Evans are very convincing imho (though I’m probably conflating the videos with the books). Quinn is uniquely enigmatic and remarkable.
I've slowly grown to like Evans much more. I think the recent adaptation had a lot to do with it. Next week's video is a review of A Caribbean Mystery and until this reread, I really didn't notice how much Christie slips a bit in that book. There are a number of plot holes and the ending is not wrapped up neatly at all.
I’m only giving you my reaction - I haven’t done your careful analysis. And my reactions are influenced by the video adaptations. In Evans, the protagonists are played by the original Beresfords - who are both very charming and attractive, especially the fellow who plays Tommy - the opening golf scenes are just short of hilarious (at least to this lousy golfer) - but then become very dark with the discovery of the body.
I didn’t much like the Caribbean video - I’ll have to reread the book to see where the issue is.
This decade analysis is superb - and thanks!
If you run out of ideas for content, you could consider reviewing fictional movies about the life of Christie. There is "Agatha," from the 1980s? about her disappearance; I remember it as being pretty good. And then there are the three recent ones made for British TV: one about her disappearance, one about her time in archaeological circles, and one about her time WWII. They were only so so, in my opinion. But you could tell what you think, and discuss if they are have any factual basis.
Oh good idea! I've seen some of those but it's been a while and I don't remember them very well.
Thanks for an interesting video. I wonder if Christie's failing eyesight contributed to her decline. She had to dictate, rather than type, and I guess that might make an author more likely to ramble.
That has been suspected as a reason as well. I think that makes a lot of sense.
The Harlequin Tea-set is the only short story she wrote in the early 1970s. (NOT in the 1950s, as some site would have us believe.) It is, as a I am sure you know, an exceedingly feeble story.
I forgot about the Harlequin Tea Set because, well, it's very forgettable. Weird Christie randomly wrote another Harley Quinn story in the 70s after all that time.