What do you think?
Rate this book
Autobiografia
When Agatha Christie died on 12 January 1976, she was known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime, unrivalled as the best-selling novelist of all time with two billion books sold in more than 100 languages. Though she kept her private life a mystery, for some years Agatha had secretly written her autobiography, and when it was published after her death, millions of her fans agreed - this was her best story!
From early childhood at the end of the 19th century, through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan, this book reveals the true genius of her legendary success with real passion and openness.
From early childhood at the end of the 19th century, through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan, this book reveals the true genius of her legendary success with real passion and openness.
592 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1977
1112 people are currently reading
16993 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,543 books73.4k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,009 reviews
March 17, 2023
I have loved this book from start to finish. It has gotten me through a difficult time: I have changed to a new insulin pump and doing this has not been easy. Think no sleep and constant worry. This book has drawn me out of myself. A book that can do this, when you are stressed and worried, is worth its weight in gold.
Why have I loved this book as much as I do? Its lines. Thoughts and ideas are well expressed. It’s amusing. It’s interesting. I am in total agreement with much that is said. The book is lengthy but never dry. Every single time I picked it up, it engaged me, it drew me in, my pump problems flew from my head.
Agatha began writing this book when she was seventy-five. She had accompanied her second husband to Nimrud, Iraq, where he was working on an archaeological dig. The year was 1965. The book was first published posthumously by Collins in the UK. It is about her life. It is about those memories in her life that stand out. What comes through loud and clear is her personality. She admits, “I have remembered what I want to remember.” She states, the book is a “hymn to the joy of living.” She is a cheerful person, a curious person and loves life. She grabs what she can get from it. She is an introvert. I perceive her as a soul mate.
Agatha‘s childhood, growing up in Devon, England, is covered thoroughly. Her earliest memories are from when she was three or four. It proceeds in chronological order with sidetracks thrown in when they are called for. It flows smoothly through both wars, two husbands, the birth of her child and her extensive travels. In closing the book, one is struck by how well the reader has come to know not only Agatha but also the other members of her family. We see Agatha’s mother, father, grandparents, her sister and brother, her husbands, her child and grandson through her eyes. What she sees and thinks of them reflects on her own personality and way of being. She is a positive person. This is refreshing. Her observations are straightforward and clear. When speaking of others whom she is critical of, she often refers to them simply as Miss S. or Mr. R. The book is not simply a recalling of life events; it is a book that reveals Agatha’s personality, how she thinks and feels and what she values in life.
In this book there is so very much I personally relate to. Agatha’s philosophical views, how she has chosen to live her life and many small, insignificant details, they all speak to me. She wallpapers a ceiling. I have too. Like her, I appreciate a simple black dress; it doesn’t show dirt, is neat and can be worn on all occasions, anywhere. Agatha’s first argument with her husband bring back memories. It did for me. I am in sync with how this woman thinks and acts.
The book is chockfull of curious stories. A chest bought in Damascus that makes grinding noises! What is discovered in it? We read about Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, a British archaeologist known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. We meet his archaeologist wife, Katharine. She is something else; wait till you see what she gets up to. One reads of a speedy car race to catch up with a missed train. Agatha recalls memories in her life that stand out for her. They vary from the sobering and sad to the interesting and amusing.
I want to emphasize one more time that Agatha’s lines speak to me. Here, sample a few:
“One can never go back to the place that exists in memory.”
“He was a good man. Perhaps that is what made him so dull.”
Do you see the humor in this?
“Ah well, deary, I’d say me-self, that you are going to have a girl. Sickness means girls. Boys, you go dizzy and faint.”
Strange, but this was true for me too! And you?
“The important thing, once you had been hurt, is not to remember the happy times. You can remember the sad times. That doesn’t matter. But something that reminds you of a happy day or happy thing, that’s the thing that almost breaks you in two.”
“I know well enough that I was a dog character; dogs will not go for a walk unless someone takes them. Perhaps I was always going to be like that.”
No, she was not a mere follower; off to Iraq she went, and she went alone.
“You relapse into individuality as you age…..I have learned (to accept) that I am me.”
“The only person who can really hurt you in life is a husband. Nobody else is close enough.”
“The saddest thing in life and the hardest to live through is the knowledge that there is someone you love very much, whom you cannot save from suffering.”
Matthew, Agatha’s optimistic grandson said, “There is always hope.” And Agatha’s response? “One should adopt something like that as one’s motto in life.”
“To people like me, asking why is what makes life interesting.”
Agatha’s mysteries do little for me; I am not a reader of either thrillers or detective novels. In my view, the writing here in this autobiography is much, much better. It absolutely sparkles. Even when Agatha discusses how her books came to be, books I have not even read, I was captivated. She supplies small, interesting, amusing details that often make you smile. You need not be a fan of Agatha’s mysteries to enjoy this book.
Agatha has traveled all over the world. She speaks of the special things that stand out for her at each place. Where has she traveled? Glance at the GR shelves on which I have placed this book.
The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Judith Boyd. She speaks different accents marvelously—English, American, and French. She intones equally well men, women and children, the young and the old, those of a high class and those of the working class. Her narration is fantastic, and I have given it a whopping five stars.
I like this woman. I like her attitude toward life. Agatha Christie's personality comes through loud and clear.
***************
*An Autobiography 5 stars
*Come, Tell Me How You Live 4 stars
*Murder at the Vicarage 1 star
*The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1 star
Why have I loved this book as much as I do? Its lines. Thoughts and ideas are well expressed. It’s amusing. It’s interesting. I am in total agreement with much that is said. The book is lengthy but never dry. Every single time I picked it up, it engaged me, it drew me in, my pump problems flew from my head.
Agatha began writing this book when she was seventy-five. She had accompanied her second husband to Nimrud, Iraq, where he was working on an archaeological dig. The year was 1965. The book was first published posthumously by Collins in the UK. It is about her life. It is about those memories in her life that stand out. What comes through loud and clear is her personality. She admits, “I have remembered what I want to remember.” She states, the book is a “hymn to the joy of living.” She is a cheerful person, a curious person and loves life. She grabs what she can get from it. She is an introvert. I perceive her as a soul mate.
Agatha‘s childhood, growing up in Devon, England, is covered thoroughly. Her earliest memories are from when she was three or four. It proceeds in chronological order with sidetracks thrown in when they are called for. It flows smoothly through both wars, two husbands, the birth of her child and her extensive travels. In closing the book, one is struck by how well the reader has come to know not only Agatha but also the other members of her family. We see Agatha’s mother, father, grandparents, her sister and brother, her husbands, her child and grandson through her eyes. What she sees and thinks of them reflects on her own personality and way of being. She is a positive person. This is refreshing. Her observations are straightforward and clear. When speaking of others whom she is critical of, she often refers to them simply as Miss S. or Mr. R. The book is not simply a recalling of life events; it is a book that reveals Agatha’s personality, how she thinks and feels and what she values in life.
In this book there is so very much I personally relate to. Agatha’s philosophical views, how she has chosen to live her life and many small, insignificant details, they all speak to me. She wallpapers a ceiling. I have too. Like her, I appreciate a simple black dress; it doesn’t show dirt, is neat and can be worn on all occasions, anywhere. Agatha’s first argument with her husband bring back memories. It did for me. I am in sync with how this woman thinks and acts.
The book is chockfull of curious stories. A chest bought in Damascus that makes grinding noises! What is discovered in it? We read about Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, a British archaeologist known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. We meet his archaeologist wife, Katharine. She is something else; wait till you see what she gets up to. One reads of a speedy car race to catch up with a missed train. Agatha recalls memories in her life that stand out for her. They vary from the sobering and sad to the interesting and amusing.
I want to emphasize one more time that Agatha’s lines speak to me. Here, sample a few:
“One can never go back to the place that exists in memory.”
“He was a good man. Perhaps that is what made him so dull.”
Do you see the humor in this?
“Ah well, deary, I’d say me-self, that you are going to have a girl. Sickness means girls. Boys, you go dizzy and faint.”
Strange, but this was true for me too! And you?
“The important thing, once you had been hurt, is not to remember the happy times. You can remember the sad times. That doesn’t matter. But something that reminds you of a happy day or happy thing, that’s the thing that almost breaks you in two.”
“I know well enough that I was a dog character; dogs will not go for a walk unless someone takes them. Perhaps I was always going to be like that.”
No, she was not a mere follower; off to Iraq she went, and she went alone.
“You relapse into individuality as you age…..I have learned (to accept) that I am me.”
“The only person who can really hurt you in life is a husband. Nobody else is close enough.”
“The saddest thing in life and the hardest to live through is the knowledge that there is someone you love very much, whom you cannot save from suffering.”
Matthew, Agatha’s optimistic grandson said, “There is always hope.” And Agatha’s response? “One should adopt something like that as one’s motto in life.”
“To people like me, asking why is what makes life interesting.”
Agatha’s mysteries do little for me; I am not a reader of either thrillers or detective novels. In my view, the writing here in this autobiography is much, much better. It absolutely sparkles. Even when Agatha discusses how her books came to be, books I have not even read, I was captivated. She supplies small, interesting, amusing details that often make you smile. You need not be a fan of Agatha’s mysteries to enjoy this book.
Agatha has traveled all over the world. She speaks of the special things that stand out for her at each place. Where has she traveled? Glance at the GR shelves on which I have placed this book.
The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Judith Boyd. She speaks different accents marvelously—English, American, and French. She intones equally well men, women and children, the young and the old, those of a high class and those of the working class. Her narration is fantastic, and I have given it a whopping five stars.
I like this woman. I like her attitude toward life. Agatha Christie's personality comes through loud and clear.
***************
*An Autobiography 5 stars
*Come, Tell Me How You Live 4 stars
*Murder at the Vicarage 1 star
*The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1 star
December 4, 2019
"I think, myself, that one’s memories represent those moments which, insignificant as they may seem, nevertheless represent the inner self and oneself as most really oneself."
I don’t often read biographies or autobiographies, fearing they will be rather dry, spitting out one fact after another. Not the case here. Agatha Christie writes in a very conversational tone. Indeed, on a day like today in New York, with the icy rain ringing against the siding and the roads as slick as a skating rink, I could hug this book and imagine the Queen of Crime sitting opposite me with a pot of steaming tea between us. She began writing her autobiography in 1950 and completed it fifteen years later at the age of seventy-five. Besides writing numerous detective and other novels, what a life this woman led! I had no idea.
The book flows nicely beginning with her childhood with little diversions along the way as she recounts her two marriages, one to Archie Christie and the other to Max Mallowan. She endured two world wars, learning some nursing and dispensing skills along the way. She took voice lessons. She loved bathing and swimming and even took up the hobby of surfing. Not having ever picked up a surf board myself, the idea of Dame Agatha doing so just tickles me to no end! She had such zest for life.
"As I have said, I welcomed new ideas; in fact my motto might have been established by then as ‘Try anything once’."
Probably what I relished most about her reminiscences were her picturesque descriptions of her travels around the world. She traveled rather extensively, in particular to the Middle East. Her second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist and having met him on a dig she later continued to accompany him quite often to other excavation sites in the region. She occasionally recounted humorous anecdotes of the people she met on these trips, especially those from her own homeland. I can’t help but become a bit envious, a tad regretful even, that I have not experienced these same adventures tucked up here in my little corner of the world. She preferred railway travel to most any other mode of transportation. I’ve never considered this, but I can certainly see her point.
"Trains are wonderful; I still adore them. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers – in fact, to see life."
Of course, this wouldn’t be Agatha Christie’s story if she didn’t share her writing life with us as well. I found it very interesting that she didn’t really consider writing to be her career so much as a bit of a hobby that happened to pay the bills. She was not an instant overnight success. The publishing world was one she eventually learned to conquer after having floundered on several occasions. I liked what she said about her two most iconic literary characters:
"People never stop writing to me nowadays to suggest that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot should meet – but why should they? I am sure they would not enjoy it at all. Hercule Poirot, the complete egoist, would not like being taught his business by an elderly spinster lady."
I highly recommend this to fans of Agatha Christie. Actually, you don’t even need to be a fan of her mysteries to enjoy this book. If reading about a woman with a passion for life from its simplest to its greatest treasures at all fascinates you, then don’t hesitate to grab this one. You’re in for a treat!
"I like sunshine, apples, almost any kind of music, railway trains, numerical puzzles and anything to do with numbers, going to the sea, bathing and swimming, silence, sleeping, dreaming, eating, the smell of coffee, lilies of the valley, most dogs, and going to the theatre."
"… it is a good thing to have had a dream and to have enjoyed it, so long as you do not clutch too hard."
I don’t often read biographies or autobiographies, fearing they will be rather dry, spitting out one fact after another. Not the case here. Agatha Christie writes in a very conversational tone. Indeed, on a day like today in New York, with the icy rain ringing against the siding and the roads as slick as a skating rink, I could hug this book and imagine the Queen of Crime sitting opposite me with a pot of steaming tea between us. She began writing her autobiography in 1950 and completed it fifteen years later at the age of seventy-five. Besides writing numerous detective and other novels, what a life this woman led! I had no idea.
The book flows nicely beginning with her childhood with little diversions along the way as she recounts her two marriages, one to Archie Christie and the other to Max Mallowan. She endured two world wars, learning some nursing and dispensing skills along the way. She took voice lessons. She loved bathing and swimming and even took up the hobby of surfing. Not having ever picked up a surf board myself, the idea of Dame Agatha doing so just tickles me to no end! She had such zest for life.
"As I have said, I welcomed new ideas; in fact my motto might have been established by then as ‘Try anything once’."
Probably what I relished most about her reminiscences were her picturesque descriptions of her travels around the world. She traveled rather extensively, in particular to the Middle East. Her second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist and having met him on a dig she later continued to accompany him quite often to other excavation sites in the region. She occasionally recounted humorous anecdotes of the people she met on these trips, especially those from her own homeland. I can’t help but become a bit envious, a tad regretful even, that I have not experienced these same adventures tucked up here in my little corner of the world. She preferred railway travel to most any other mode of transportation. I’ve never considered this, but I can certainly see her point.
"Trains are wonderful; I still adore them. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers – in fact, to see life."
Of course, this wouldn’t be Agatha Christie’s story if she didn’t share her writing life with us as well. I found it very interesting that she didn’t really consider writing to be her career so much as a bit of a hobby that happened to pay the bills. She was not an instant overnight success. The publishing world was one she eventually learned to conquer after having floundered on several occasions. I liked what she said about her two most iconic literary characters:
"People never stop writing to me nowadays to suggest that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot should meet – but why should they? I am sure they would not enjoy it at all. Hercule Poirot, the complete egoist, would not like being taught his business by an elderly spinster lady."
I highly recommend this to fans of Agatha Christie. Actually, you don’t even need to be a fan of her mysteries to enjoy this book. If reading about a woman with a passion for life from its simplest to its greatest treasures at all fascinates you, then don’t hesitate to grab this one. You’re in for a treat!
"I like sunshine, apples, almost any kind of music, railway trains, numerical puzzles and anything to do with numbers, going to the sea, bathing and swimming, silence, sleeping, dreaming, eating, the smell of coffee, lilies of the valley, most dogs, and going to the theatre."
"… it is a good thing to have had a dream and to have enjoyed it, so long as you do not clutch too hard."
October 25, 2010
If you sat down with Agatha Christie and asked her about her life, this book would be the story she would tell. It is very conversational in tone. I found some parts to be extremely fascinating, and other parts only mildly interesting - especially in the beginning. I was very interested in the parts where she talked about her writing, how she got the ideas for many of her books, and how she felt about them. She had written many, many books before she ever thought of herself as a real author. I've loved all of her books that I've read over the years, and now I feel like I know the author herself as a real person. What a nice, smart, and humble lady she was! I definitely recommend this for any Agatha Christie fan.
Some favorite quotes:
"I was, I suppose, always overburdened with imagination. That has served me well in my profession--it must, indeed, be the basis of the novelist's craft--but it can give you some very bad sessions in other respects."
"An experience that you really enjoyed should never be repeated."
(She seemed to really believe this. She mentioned it several times - or how she didn't want to go back to a place she had really loved in case it had changed and would ruin her nice memories of it.)
"If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognize it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one's regrets and hopes."
"One of the nicest parts of traveling is coming home again."
Some favorite quotes:
"I was, I suppose, always overburdened with imagination. That has served me well in my profession--it must, indeed, be the basis of the novelist's craft--but it can give you some very bad sessions in other respects."
"An experience that you really enjoyed should never be repeated."
(She seemed to really believe this. She mentioned it several times - or how she didn't want to go back to a place she had really loved in case it had changed and would ruin her nice memories of it.)
"If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognize it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one's regrets and hopes."
"One of the nicest parts of traveling is coming home again."
December 2, 2020
Agatha Christie wrote this over a period of fifteen years,from 1950 to 1965. When she was seventy five years old,she finished the book because "it seemed the right time to stop." She would live on for another eleven years.
In the preface she acknowledges that the details of her life could be boring for other people.She is right,it is a rambling book. I did find parts of it rather boring and had to do a fair bit of skimming.
But it has its share of interesting moments as well.She lost her father when she was eleven years old and even before his death the family had run into financial difficulties.After a lengthy account of her childhood,she also goes into a lot of detail about courting various young men and refusing offers of marriage.
She eventually married Archie Christie and kept his name even after their divorce. She became a nurse during World War I,caring for the war wounded.Later,she went to work in a dispensary.It was there to kill time that she wrote her first book,The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
It was after two years and various rejections that a publisher agreed to publish it.She didn't get much money for it and was committed to a five book contract on unfavourable terms.
Later,as she and her first husband ran into financial difficulties,she was compelled to write in order to make some money.
Although she talks in detail about facing financial hardships,she doesn't talk about her financial success and how much money she made when her career took off.
She continued to write during World War II.During the war,her son in law was killed and her house was taken over by the military.
Before that,she had married an archeologist Max Mallowan.They spent a lot of time in the Middle East.
A famous episode in her life,when she disappeared,is not touched upon in the book.
Although Christie describes her travels in a fair bit of detail,I didn't find this part of the book all that interesting.She wouldn't have made a great travel writer.
She does write about some of her famous books,particularly being proud of Ten Little Niggers and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. She wasn't too fond of The Mystery of the Blue Train even though it sold well.
For a long time,she didn't consider that writing could be a full fledged profession for her.She writes that the best things that happened to her were owning her own car (a Morris) and having dinner with the Queen !
In the preface she acknowledges that the details of her life could be boring for other people.She is right,it is a rambling book. I did find parts of it rather boring and had to do a fair bit of skimming.
But it has its share of interesting moments as well.She lost her father when she was eleven years old and even before his death the family had run into financial difficulties.After a lengthy account of her childhood,she also goes into a lot of detail about courting various young men and refusing offers of marriage.
She eventually married Archie Christie and kept his name even after their divorce. She became a nurse during World War I,caring for the war wounded.Later,she went to work in a dispensary.It was there to kill time that she wrote her first book,The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
It was after two years and various rejections that a publisher agreed to publish it.She didn't get much money for it and was committed to a five book contract on unfavourable terms.
Later,as she and her first husband ran into financial difficulties,she was compelled to write in order to make some money.
Although she talks in detail about facing financial hardships,she doesn't talk about her financial success and how much money she made when her career took off.
She continued to write during World War II.During the war,her son in law was killed and her house was taken over by the military.
Before that,she had married an archeologist Max Mallowan.They spent a lot of time in the Middle East.
A famous episode in her life,when she disappeared,is not touched upon in the book.
Although Christie describes her travels in a fair bit of detail,I didn't find this part of the book all that interesting.She wouldn't have made a great travel writer.
She does write about some of her famous books,particularly being proud of Ten Little Niggers and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. She wasn't too fond of The Mystery of the Blue Train even though it sold well.
For a long time,she didn't consider that writing could be a full fledged profession for her.She writes that the best things that happened to her were owning her own car (a Morris) and having dinner with the Queen !
October 19, 2020
I didn't realize when I plucked this book off my shelf that October is the 100th anniversary of her first book, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", and the introduction of Hercule Poirot. So good timing on my part, I guess. She wrote this book over several years, and her memories are wonderful, but a little haphazard. Which gives it a wonderful chatty style that's a real pleasure to read, like a friend just telling you stories. Over tea, of course. We get not only life events, but she also tells us about her writing habits, how some books came to be, how she decided on Poirot's name, and her travels. She had the most idyllic childhood imaginable. She also skips over things she doesn't want to remember or talk about, like her 10 day disappearance and amnesia after her first husband left her for another woman. But it's her story, so that's her right.
I really enjoyed this. I had read it many years ago and kept in on my shelf to re-read at some point. One of the things that always amuses me in reading some English novels and non-fiction, is the fact that no matter how poor and struggling anyone is, there must always be "help". A household maid at the very least, a nanny if there are children, a cook if possible, even if you are pinching pennies on food and clothing. Her comment about the difficulties of WWII included the fact that getting help was impossible, so one had to do for oneself. All this from a woman not afraid of hard work. Her second husband was an archeologist, and she helped him on his digs.
Her life story is full of fascinating details about the history of the times and how and why she came to write mysteries. A worthwhile read whether you're a fan of her books or not.
I really enjoyed this. I had read it many years ago and kept in on my shelf to re-read at some point. One of the things that always amuses me in reading some English novels and non-fiction, is the fact that no matter how poor and struggling anyone is, there must always be "help". A household maid at the very least, a nanny if there are children, a cook if possible, even if you are pinching pennies on food and clothing. Her comment about the difficulties of WWII included the fact that getting help was impossible, so one had to do for oneself. All this from a woman not afraid of hard work. Her second husband was an archeologist, and she helped him on his digs.
Her life story is full of fascinating details about the history of the times and how and why she came to write mysteries. A worthwhile read whether you're a fan of her books or not.
October 6, 2015
"Towards the beginning of the war, Graham Greene had written to me and asked if I would like to do propaganda work. I did not think I was the kind of writer who would be any good at propaganda, because I lacked the single-mindedness to see only one side of the case. Nothing could be more ineffectual than a lukewarm propagandist. You want to be able to say ‘X is black as night’ and feel it. I didn’t think I could ever be like that."
Dame Agatha - one of the most puzzling authors I have ever read. Puzzling because I can never guess from her stories whether she is poking fun at people by drawing up outrageous characters, whether she is echoing the mores of her time, whether she expresses her own attitudes in her books, whether it's all or none of these.
Dame Agatha is a mystery to me.
Earlier this year I got a little unnerved with re-reading some of her books because of some of the attitudes exhibited by her characters. I know that I am looking at this from the point of someone who is of a different generation and cultural background, but still, some of the xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and snobbery is just very hard to take.
So, anyway I wanted to find out where the attitudes come from? Do they represent the author?
Having read Christie's Autobiography, I'm still puzzled: for sure, Christie had some biases with respect to class and "stout" people and - for some reason - gardeners, but there was little in her autobiography to explain or confirm the sexism and xenophobia that seems to have thrown me in her books.
On the contrary, in a way Christie was not at all the Victorian prim that her creation Marple is. There are numerous references to occasions where she is positively rebelling against her times - from refusing to wear Edwardian fashion to declaring that one of the best days of her life was when she bought a rather speedy motor car.
And of course, I was also thrown by the enthusiasm with which she described her surfing adventures, and according to some (unconfirmed) articles she even was one of the first people to surf standing up (though I would think that some local surfers in Hawaii or elsewhere would dispute that):
"I can’t say that we enjoyed our first four or five days of surfing–it was far too painful–but there were, every now and then, moments of utter joy. We soon learned, too, to do it the easy way.
[...]
The second time I took the water, a catastrophe occurred. My handsome silk bathing dress, covering me from shoulder to ankle was more or less torn from me by the force of the waves. Almost nude, I made for my beach wrap. I had immediately to visit the hotel shop and provide myself with a wonderful, skimpy, emerald green wool bathing dress, which was the joy of my life, and in which I thought I looked remarkably well. Archie thought I did too.
[...]
I was suffering from neuritis, though I did not yet call it by that name. If I’d had any sense at all I should have stopped using that arm and given up surfing, but I never thought of such a thing. There were only three days to go and I could not bear to waste a moment. I surfed, stood up on my board, displayed my prowess to the end."
It was not, however, only her love of sport that convinced me that reading her books requires a separation between the characters and the authors. As mentioned, where Marple is a strict Victorian old busy-body, I don't believe Agatha was. In fact, if I would compare her to any of her characters it would have to be one of the bright young things - who acted more on instinct than by what was expected of them.
There are quite a few revelations about her early life with Archie Christie where the couple struggled with funds and, of course, how she struggled with money again after their divorce. Though she didn't become a writer to earn a living, she certainly turned to it as her sole source of income once she had to fend for herself. It was at that time that she perfected the formulaic mystery that made her famous. It was also at that time - when she wrote to pay the rent - that she admits to writing some of her worst books - like Mystery on the Blue Train. It is her openness about financial struggles, being over-whelmed by public interest, and coming to change her mind about her own perceptions and aspirations that differentiate Dame Agatha from her characters - most of whom are pretty set in their ways.
"And I think I was right to be continually asking myself ‘Why?’ all the time, because to people like me, asking why is what makes life interesting."
"I fell in love with Ur, with its beauty in the evenings, the ziggurrat standing up, faintly shadowed, and that wide sea of sand with its lovely pale colours of apricot, rose, blue and mauve changing every minute. I enjoyed the workmen, the foremen, the little basket-boys, the pick-men – the whole technique and life. The lure of the past came up to grab me. To see a dagger slowly appearing, with its gold glint, through the sand was romantic. The carefulness of lifting pots and objects from the soil filled me with a longing to be an archaeologist myself. How unfortunate it was, I thought, that I had always led such a frivolous life. And it was then that I remembered with deep shame how in Cairo as a girl my mother had tried to persuade me to go to Luxor and Aswan to see the past glories of Egypt, and how I had wanted only to meet young men and dance till the small hours of the morning. Well, I suppose there is a time for everything."
As mentioned, I tried to read this book with the purpose of learning more about Dame Agatha and solve the conundrum that she poses to me in her books - how much of her writing is the author and how much is a reflection of the characters and mores of her times - and, even, how much of it is satire?
I still don't know. Maybe it is a mystery where applying a formula - even in reverse - will not work. Maybe, it's one mystery that just isn't to be unraveled. If so, all I want to say is "Well played, Dame Agatha. Well played." After all, what is life without a bit of mystery to to keep us interested?
"There is at least the dawn, I believe, of a kind of good will. We mind when we hear of earthquakes, of spectacular disasters to the human race. We want to help. That is a real achievement; which I think must lead somewhere. Not quickly–nothing happens quickly–but at any rate we can hope. I think sometimes we do not appreciate that second virtue which we mention so seldom in the trilogy–faith, hope and charity. Faith we have had, shall we say, almost too much of–faith can make you bitter, hard, unforgiving; you can abuse faith. Love we cannot but help knowing in our own hearts is the essential. But how often do we forget that there is hope as well, and that we seldom think about hope? We are ready to despair too soon, we are ready to say, ‘What’s the good of doing anything?’ Hope is the virtue we should cultivate most in this present day and age. We have made ourselves a Welfare State, which has given us freedom from fear, security, our daily bread and a little more than our daily bread; and yet it seems to me that now, in this Welfare State, every year it becomes more difficult for anybody to look forward to the future. Nothing is worth-while. Why? Is it because we no longer have to fight for existence? Is living not even interesting any more? We cannot appreciate the fact of being alive. Perhaps we need the difficulties of space, of new worlds opening up, of a different kind of hardship and agony, of illness and pain, and a wild yearning for survival? Oh well, I am a hopeful person myself. The one virtue that would never, I think, be quenched for me, would be hope."
Dame Agatha - one of the most puzzling authors I have ever read. Puzzling because I can never guess from her stories whether she is poking fun at people by drawing up outrageous characters, whether she is echoing the mores of her time, whether she expresses her own attitudes in her books, whether it's all or none of these.
Dame Agatha is a mystery to me.
Earlier this year I got a little unnerved with re-reading some of her books because of some of the attitudes exhibited by her characters. I know that I am looking at this from the point of someone who is of a different generation and cultural background, but still, some of the xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and snobbery is just very hard to take.
So, anyway I wanted to find out where the attitudes come from? Do they represent the author?
Having read Christie's Autobiography, I'm still puzzled: for sure, Christie had some biases with respect to class and "stout" people and - for some reason - gardeners, but there was little in her autobiography to explain or confirm the sexism and xenophobia that seems to have thrown me in her books.
On the contrary, in a way Christie was not at all the Victorian prim that her creation Marple is. There are numerous references to occasions where she is positively rebelling against her times - from refusing to wear Edwardian fashion to declaring that one of the best days of her life was when she bought a rather speedy motor car.
And of course, I was also thrown by the enthusiasm with which she described her surfing adventures, and according to some (unconfirmed) articles she even was one of the first people to surf standing up (though I would think that some local surfers in Hawaii or elsewhere would dispute that):
"I can’t say that we enjoyed our first four or five days of surfing–it was far too painful–but there were, every now and then, moments of utter joy. We soon learned, too, to do it the easy way.
[...]
The second time I took the water, a catastrophe occurred. My handsome silk bathing dress, covering me from shoulder to ankle was more or less torn from me by the force of the waves. Almost nude, I made for my beach wrap. I had immediately to visit the hotel shop and provide myself with a wonderful, skimpy, emerald green wool bathing dress, which was the joy of my life, and in which I thought I looked remarkably well. Archie thought I did too.
[...]
I was suffering from neuritis, though I did not yet call it by that name. If I’d had any sense at all I should have stopped using that arm and given up surfing, but I never thought of such a thing. There were only three days to go and I could not bear to waste a moment. I surfed, stood up on my board, displayed my prowess to the end."
It was not, however, only her love of sport that convinced me that reading her books requires a separation between the characters and the authors. As mentioned, where Marple is a strict Victorian old busy-body, I don't believe Agatha was. In fact, if I would compare her to any of her characters it would have to be one of the bright young things - who acted more on instinct than by what was expected of them.
There are quite a few revelations about her early life with Archie Christie where the couple struggled with funds and, of course, how she struggled with money again after their divorce. Though she didn't become a writer to earn a living, she certainly turned to it as her sole source of income once she had to fend for herself. It was at that time that she perfected the formulaic mystery that made her famous. It was also at that time - when she wrote to pay the rent - that she admits to writing some of her worst books - like Mystery on the Blue Train. It is her openness about financial struggles, being over-whelmed by public interest, and coming to change her mind about her own perceptions and aspirations that differentiate Dame Agatha from her characters - most of whom are pretty set in their ways.
"And I think I was right to be continually asking myself ‘Why?’ all the time, because to people like me, asking why is what makes life interesting."
"I fell in love with Ur, with its beauty in the evenings, the ziggurrat standing up, faintly shadowed, and that wide sea of sand with its lovely pale colours of apricot, rose, blue and mauve changing every minute. I enjoyed the workmen, the foremen, the little basket-boys, the pick-men – the whole technique and life. The lure of the past came up to grab me. To see a dagger slowly appearing, with its gold glint, through the sand was romantic. The carefulness of lifting pots and objects from the soil filled me with a longing to be an archaeologist myself. How unfortunate it was, I thought, that I had always led such a frivolous life. And it was then that I remembered with deep shame how in Cairo as a girl my mother had tried to persuade me to go to Luxor and Aswan to see the past glories of Egypt, and how I had wanted only to meet young men and dance till the small hours of the morning. Well, I suppose there is a time for everything."
As mentioned, I tried to read this book with the purpose of learning more about Dame Agatha and solve the conundrum that she poses to me in her books - how much of her writing is the author and how much is a reflection of the characters and mores of her times - and, even, how much of it is satire?
I still don't know. Maybe it is a mystery where applying a formula - even in reverse - will not work. Maybe, it's one mystery that just isn't to be unraveled. If so, all I want to say is "Well played, Dame Agatha. Well played." After all, what is life without a bit of mystery to to keep us interested?
"There is at least the dawn, I believe, of a kind of good will. We mind when we hear of earthquakes, of spectacular disasters to the human race. We want to help. That is a real achievement; which I think must lead somewhere. Not quickly–nothing happens quickly–but at any rate we can hope. I think sometimes we do not appreciate that second virtue which we mention so seldom in the trilogy–faith, hope and charity. Faith we have had, shall we say, almost too much of–faith can make you bitter, hard, unforgiving; you can abuse faith. Love we cannot but help knowing in our own hearts is the essential. But how often do we forget that there is hope as well, and that we seldom think about hope? We are ready to despair too soon, we are ready to say, ‘What’s the good of doing anything?’ Hope is the virtue we should cultivate most in this present day and age. We have made ourselves a Welfare State, which has given us freedom from fear, security, our daily bread and a little more than our daily bread; and yet it seems to me that now, in this Welfare State, every year it becomes more difficult for anybody to look forward to the future. Nothing is worth-while. Why? Is it because we no longer have to fight for existence? Is living not even interesting any more? We cannot appreciate the fact of being alive. Perhaps we need the difficulties of space, of new worlds opening up, of a different kind of hardship and agony, of illness and pain, and a wild yearning for survival? Oh well, I am a hopeful person myself. The one virtue that would never, I think, be quenched for me, would be hope."
January 3, 2020
I rarely read autobiographies, as they can be quite dry, as they spit out one fact after another. This was not the case here. Agatha Christie has written this in a conversational tone. It is a very long conversation, but she did write it when she was 75.
This was a mixed book, many parts were really engrossing and revealing as to how she came up with her ideas and ended up being the number one best-selling author of all time (more than a billion copies of her books sold worldwide, and still counting!). I particularly liked reading about her experiences within the society she lived in and how she felt. (Very English) But other parts and sometimes entire sections are can be rather dull and, not very interesting. It will probably depend on your own interests as too which parts you like or dislike.
It starts describing her childhood in Victorian England full of servants, nannies and hat boxes(!) although she often talks as if she is not that well off! This is interesting but at times un relatable to modern times. When you consider the times she is writing about, she a was exceptionally well-travelled, visiting France, the Middle East, the Canary Islands, Australia, South Africa, the USA, including Hawaii and Canada. She preferred to travel by train which was partially to do with the standard of other options for travelling in that period.
There some wonderful insights into WWI and WWII, from someone who lived and worked through both and has the ability to express them in writing.
The whole book is as you would expect beautifully written,
This was a mixed book, many parts were really engrossing and revealing as to how she came up with her ideas and ended up being the number one best-selling author of all time (more than a billion copies of her books sold worldwide, and still counting!). I particularly liked reading about her experiences within the society she lived in and how she felt. (Very English) But other parts and sometimes entire sections are can be rather dull and, not very interesting. It will probably depend on your own interests as too which parts you like or dislike.
It starts describing her childhood in Victorian England full of servants, nannies and hat boxes(!) although she often talks as if she is not that well off! This is interesting but at times un relatable to modern times. When you consider the times she is writing about, she a was exceptionally well-travelled, visiting France, the Middle East, the Canary Islands, Australia, South Africa, the USA, including Hawaii and Canada. She preferred to travel by train which was partially to do with the standard of other options for travelling in that period.
There some wonderful insights into WWI and WWII, from someone who lived and worked through both and has the ability to express them in writing.
The whole book is as you would expect beautifully written,
February 7, 2021
Since I am gradually reading my way through Agatha Christie's novels, I felt it would be interesting to also read her account of her life history and it was an interesting experience indeed. She chose a very casual and confiding style which is very easy to get into.
However, it became obvious that just as we curate our social media accounts to show our best selves to the world, Christie also picked and chose what she was willing to reveal. The portion dealing with her divorce, for instance, downplays her emotional turmoil. The early sections of the book make clear that her childhood was rather Victorian, making divorce a very real personal failure. She never mentions her disappearance after a quarrel with her husband, lasting over a week and engendering a hunt by police.
Despite her careful selection of stories, much of the woman's character shines through. She was very creative, even as a child imagining friends for herself and adventures to share with them. She didn't give herself much credit for observing other people, though how she could write characters like Miss Marple without having a sharp understanding of human frailty? And human strengths too, for that matter.
I had to admire her determination to put her life back together again after the trauma of divorce and her enthusiasm for her trip on her own to Baghdad. Her obvious love of the Middle East is endearing and must have been one of the factors that attracted her second husband. Sharing his archaeological fieldwork seems to have suited her completely.
I was struck with her description of her writing process late in the book. She describes it as waiting, knowing that things were happening, then, just like surfing earlier in her life, timing it right to jump up and ride the wave to a successful finish. Traveling, surfing, house hunting, or writing, Dame Agatha seems to have treated life as an amusing adventure.
I'm glad to have read her version, but have Laura Thompson's biography queued up, ready to give me a different angle on this fascinating woman.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
However, it became obvious that just as we curate our social media accounts to show our best selves to the world, Christie also picked and chose what she was willing to reveal. The portion dealing with her divorce, for instance, downplays her emotional turmoil. The early sections of the book make clear that her childhood was rather Victorian, making divorce a very real personal failure. She never mentions her disappearance after a quarrel with her husband, lasting over a week and engendering a hunt by police.
Despite her careful selection of stories, much of the woman's character shines through. She was very creative, even as a child imagining friends for herself and adventures to share with them. She didn't give herself much credit for observing other people, though how she could write characters like Miss Marple without having a sharp understanding of human frailty? And human strengths too, for that matter.
I had to admire her determination to put her life back together again after the trauma of divorce and her enthusiasm for her trip on her own to Baghdad. Her obvious love of the Middle East is endearing and must have been one of the factors that attracted her second husband. Sharing his archaeological fieldwork seems to have suited her completely.
I was struck with her description of her writing process late in the book. She describes it as waiting, knowing that things were happening, then, just like surfing earlier in her life, timing it right to jump up and ride the wave to a successful finish. Traveling, surfing, house hunting, or writing, Dame Agatha seems to have treated life as an amusing adventure.
I'm glad to have read her version, but have Laura Thompson's biography queued up, ready to give me a different angle on this fascinating woman.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
August 23, 2021
A vontade de escrever a minha autobiografia surgiu-me de súbito na minha casa em Nimrud, Beit Agatha.
Olhei para o que escrevi e estou satisfeita. Fiz o que queria fazer. Tenho estado numa viagem. Não tanto uma viagem para trás pelo passado, mas uma viagem para a frente - recomeçando de novo no princípio - depois recuar até ao Eu que viria a embarcar nessa viagem em frente através do tempo. Não me deixei limitar por espaço ou tempo. Consegui demorar-me onde quis, saltar para trás e para a frente como me apeteceu.
Recordei, suponho, aquilo que quis recordar; muitas coisas ridículas, por nenhuma razão lógica. É assim que somos feitos, nós, as criaturas humanas.
E agora que cheguei aos setenta e cinco anos de idade parece a altura certa para parar. Porque, no que diz respeito à vida, é tudo o que há a dizer.
Como não adorar esta senhora? Além de ser a autora de policiais brilhantes e criadora do meu adorado Poirot, ainda escreveu a sua autobiografia como quis. Fiquei fascinada com a vida que levou, sempre de forma descontraída. Cada vez a admiro mais, não só enquanto escritora, uma pessoa tímida e sem manias, mas também como pessoa. Se mais estrelas houvesse, mais estrelas lhe daria. Uma constelação para a rainha, Agatha Christie!
Olhei para o que escrevi e estou satisfeita. Fiz o que queria fazer. Tenho estado numa viagem. Não tanto uma viagem para trás pelo passado, mas uma viagem para a frente - recomeçando de novo no princípio - depois recuar até ao Eu que viria a embarcar nessa viagem em frente através do tempo. Não me deixei limitar por espaço ou tempo. Consegui demorar-me onde quis, saltar para trás e para a frente como me apeteceu.
Recordei, suponho, aquilo que quis recordar; muitas coisas ridículas, por nenhuma razão lógica. É assim que somos feitos, nós, as criaturas humanas.
E agora que cheguei aos setenta e cinco anos de idade parece a altura certa para parar. Porque, no que diz respeito à vida, é tudo o que há a dizer.
Como não adorar esta senhora? Além de ser a autora de policiais brilhantes e criadora do meu adorado Poirot, ainda escreveu a sua autobiografia como quis. Fiquei fascinada com a vida que levou, sempre de forma descontraída. Cada vez a admiro mais, não só enquanto escritora, uma pessoa tímida e sem manias, mas também como pessoa. Se mais estrelas houvesse, mais estrelas lhe daria. Uma constelação para a rainha, Agatha Christie!
February 4, 2022
Една от най- впечатляващите и вдъхновяващи автобиографии/биографии, които съм чела. Агата Кристи се отличава с необикновен ум. Не харесва да излага личния си живот на показ. Иска тя сама да разкаже историята си и затова започва да я пише, когато е на 50 години и я допълва в продължение на 15 години.
Тя е наситена с нейните духовити, проницателни и вълнуващи размишления, заредена е чувство за хумор и с позитивност.
Животът й цветен и изпълнен с преживявания. А най- хубавото е, че тя се е чувствала удовлетворена от това, което е преживяла и постигнала.
=====
" Никога не мислите, че вие знаете какво е най- добро за хората около вас. Не се опитвайте и да налагате мнението си. Ако го правите помнете, че отнемате свободата на друг човек."
"Винаги, когато се събуждах от сън, се радвах, че съм жива, нещо, което помоему би трябвало всеки да изпитва. Не казвам, че го чувствам непрекъснато, това не е възможно, ала отваряш очи и си жив, пред теб е още един ден; правиш друга крачка в пътуването към неизвестността. А какво друго може да е това пътуване, ако не твоят живот. Не е задължително животът да бъде вълнуващ, вълнуващ ще стане, когато го почувстваш свой. Ето голямата тайна на съществуването – да се наслаждаваш на живота, който ти е подарен."
" Смелостта е една от най-важните добродетели, които човек е длъжен да възпита в себе си. Ако си готов да го живееш този живот, трябва да го изживееш смело. Безусловно. "
Тя е наситена с нейните духовити, проницателни и вълнуващи размишления, заредена е чувство за хумор и с позитивност.
Животът й цветен и изпълнен с преживявания. А най- хубавото е, че тя се е чувствала удовлетворена от това, което е преживяла и постигнала.
=====
" Никога не мислите, че вие знаете какво е най- добро за хората около вас. Не се опитвайте и да налагате мнението си. Ако го правите помнете, че отнемате свободата на друг човек."
"Винаги, когато се събуждах от сън, се радвах, че съм жива, нещо, което помоему би трябвало всеки да изпитва. Не казвам, че го чувствам непрекъснато, това не е възможно, ала отваряш очи и си жив, пред теб е още един ден; правиш друга крачка в пътуването към неизвестността. А какво друго може да е това пътуване, ако не твоят живот. Не е задължително животът да бъде вълнуващ, вълнуващ ще стане, когато го почувстваш свой. Ето голямата тайна на съществуването – да се наслаждаваш на живота, който ти е подарен."
" Смелостта е една от най-важните добродетели, които човек е длъжен да възпита в себе си. Ако си готов да го живееш този живот, трябва да го изживееш смело. Безусловно. "
May 24, 2022
What a long, long book… which, when you think about it, only stands to reason as it is, after all, the autobiography of Dame Agatha Christie who lived to be 85. The reason why it took me so long to read it is because while many passages are really engrossing and revealing as to how she came up with her ideas and ended up being the number one best-selling author of all time (more than a billion copies of her books sold worldwide, and still counting!), other parts and sometimes entire sections are rather dull and, well, not very interesting. Sad but true. Let me break it down for you.
The first half of the book is by far my favorite, especially when she relates her "very happy childhood in Torquay." Being born in 1890, she depicts a life in a bygone Victorian England full of servants, nannies and hat boxes(!) that seems indeed so remote and lost in time that at times it almost feels like reading Fantasy! The part about WWI and her first husband Archie is also really interesting, as you get to see how being a nurse turned out to be the foundation of her career as a mystery writer. I also liked reading about her travels to France, the Canary Islands, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, the US and Canada, because, again, traveling then was not what it is now and more often than not proved to be an adventure of epic proportions.
The second half of the book, spanning from her divorce and second marriage to her multiple trips to the Middle East and WWII is rather sludgy and dull, but I slogged through it like a brave little soldier because, out of respect for Dame Agatha, I simply couldn’t stop reading. The last part, though––and especially the epilogue––is beautifully written and downright touching, and is, in my humble opinion, the perfect ending for this kind of book.
OLIVIER DELAYE
Author of the SEBASTEN OF ATLANTIS series
The first half of the book is by far my favorite, especially when she relates her "very happy childhood in Torquay." Being born in 1890, she depicts a life in a bygone Victorian England full of servants, nannies and hat boxes(!) that seems indeed so remote and lost in time that at times it almost feels like reading Fantasy! The part about WWI and her first husband Archie is also really interesting, as you get to see how being a nurse turned out to be the foundation of her career as a mystery writer. I also liked reading about her travels to France, the Canary Islands, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, the US and Canada, because, again, traveling then was not what it is now and more often than not proved to be an adventure of epic proportions.
The second half of the book, spanning from her divorce and second marriage to her multiple trips to the Middle East and WWII is rather sludgy and dull, but I slogged through it like a brave little soldier because, out of respect for Dame Agatha, I simply couldn’t stop reading. The last part, though––and especially the epilogue––is beautifully written and downright touching, and is, in my humble opinion, the perfect ending for this kind of book.
OLIVIER DELAYE
Author of the SEBASTEN OF ATLANTIS series
July 4, 2022
I don’t often read biographies - pretty rarely in fact - but Agatha Christie being one of my all time favourite authors, it seemed rude not to.
First impression - this is one big book! Fear not however, it reads very easily and fast. Christie’s voice comes through her sentences, and it is one full of character and humour. From witnessing her Victorian childhood to married life, passing through not one but two world wars, I was enthralled! I was also many times surprised. Agatha for instance, albeit having a very strong personality, was a shy person.
Travel featured prominently throughout her life, first with her parents, then her husbands, going around the world (learning to surf in Australia!) to working on archeological digs. She also went on her own, to Baghdad for instance, taking the Orient Express :O)
“As for trains - what can beat a train? (...) A great puffing monster carrying you through gorges and valleys, by waterfalls, past snow mountains, alongside country roads with strange peasants in carts. Trains are wonderful; I still adore them. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers - in fact, to see life.”
I for one am sure that this wealth of knowledge, from seeing other cultures and experiencing them, enriched her writing. "You step from one life into another. You are yourself, but a different self.”
Then there is of course her career. The book offers us glimpses: how she wrote, got published, and created her famous characters.
"Why not make my detective a Belgian? There were all types of refugees. How about a refugee police officer? A retired police officer. [..] He should have been an inspector, so that he would have a certain knowledge of crime. He would be meticulous, very tidy, I thought to myself, as I cleared away a good many untidy odds and ends in my own bedroom. A tidy little man. I could see him a tidy little man, always arranging things, liking things in pairs, liking things square instead of round. And he should be very brainy - he should have little grey cells of the mind - that was a good phrase: I must remember that - yes, he would have little grey cells. He would have rather a grand name - one of those names that Sherlock Holmes and his family had.”
"I think it is possible that Miss Marple arose from the pleasure I had taken in portraying Dr Sheppard’s sister in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. She had been my favourite character in the book - an acidulated spinster, full of curiosity, knowing everything, hearing everything: the complete detective service in the home.”
Would you believe that for the longest time she didn’t see herself as an author? Truly! "I still had an idea that writing books was only the natural successor to embroidering sofa-cushions.”
Upon finishing this long autobiography in a couple of days, I was amazed. Agatha didn’t always get what she wanted but she didn’t let this pull her down. "If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognise it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one’s regrets and hopes.” She wasn’t afraid to try anything, even if risky, her vitality infectious. I’m ever so pleased I read this autobiography of an astonishing life and am even more determined to keep on reading everything she has ever published.
P.S: For those who are interested in Christie’s famous disappearance, you won’t find anything here. This is her autobiography and she obviously decided not to shed any light on this incident.
P.P.S: Ariadne is modelled on her - such as her love of apples *lol*
First impression - this is one big book! Fear not however, it reads very easily and fast. Christie’s voice comes through her sentences, and it is one full of character and humour. From witnessing her Victorian childhood to married life, passing through not one but two world wars, I was enthralled! I was also many times surprised. Agatha for instance, albeit having a very strong personality, was a shy person.
Travel featured prominently throughout her life, first with her parents, then her husbands, going around the world (learning to surf in Australia!) to working on archeological digs. She also went on her own, to Baghdad for instance, taking the Orient Express :O)
“As for trains - what can beat a train? (...) A great puffing monster carrying you through gorges and valleys, by waterfalls, past snow mountains, alongside country roads with strange peasants in carts. Trains are wonderful; I still adore them. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers - in fact, to see life.”
I for one am sure that this wealth of knowledge, from seeing other cultures and experiencing them, enriched her writing. "You step from one life into another. You are yourself, but a different self.”
Then there is of course her career. The book offers us glimpses: how she wrote, got published, and created her famous characters.
"Why not make my detective a Belgian? There were all types of refugees. How about a refugee police officer? A retired police officer. [..] He should have been an inspector, so that he would have a certain knowledge of crime. He would be meticulous, very tidy, I thought to myself, as I cleared away a good many untidy odds and ends in my own bedroom. A tidy little man. I could see him a tidy little man, always arranging things, liking things in pairs, liking things square instead of round. And he should be very brainy - he should have little grey cells of the mind - that was a good phrase: I must remember that - yes, he would have little grey cells. He would have rather a grand name - one of those names that Sherlock Holmes and his family had.”
"I think it is possible that Miss Marple arose from the pleasure I had taken in portraying Dr Sheppard’s sister in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. She had been my favourite character in the book - an acidulated spinster, full of curiosity, knowing everything, hearing everything: the complete detective service in the home.”
Would you believe that for the longest time she didn’t see herself as an author? Truly! "I still had an idea that writing books was only the natural successor to embroidering sofa-cushions.”
Upon finishing this long autobiography in a couple of days, I was amazed. Agatha didn’t always get what she wanted but she didn’t let this pull her down. "If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognise it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one’s regrets and hopes.” She wasn’t afraid to try anything, even if risky, her vitality infectious. I’m ever so pleased I read this autobiography of an astonishing life and am even more determined to keep on reading everything she has ever published.
P.S: For those who are interested in Christie’s famous disappearance, you won’t find anything here. This is her autobiography and she obviously decided not to shed any light on this incident.
P.P.S: Ariadne is modelled on her - such as her love of apples *lol*
April 26, 2017
I finally FINISHED!!
*angels start singing*
This book has been sitting on my currently reading list for 5 months and one day, filling me with guilt and trepidation. But I did it! I finished it!
And to be honest, it was a good book. Agatha Christie is warm, funny, and interesting. I enjoyed reading more about her life. It helped that I already had a fairly good idea of her life going in. She is rather selective in her subjects, which is fine! This is her autobiography.
The problem with this book is that it is so rambling. She is all over the place. She says on page 427, "I have decided not to tidy up this book too much! For one thing I am elderly. Nothing is more wearying than going over things you have written and trying to arrange them in proper sequence or turn them the other way around. " It shows.
However, it is still Agatha Christie and reading her is always a treat. Go in with an open mind, braced for rabbit trails and archaeological digs. You'll find some wonderful passages, and some tedious ones.
Probably worth it? I'll need to come back to this one someday.
*angels start singing*
This book has been sitting on my currently reading list for 5 months and one day, filling me with guilt and trepidation. But I did it! I finished it!
And to be honest, it was a good book. Agatha Christie is warm, funny, and interesting. I enjoyed reading more about her life. It helped that I already had a fairly good idea of her life going in. She is rather selective in her subjects, which is fine! This is her autobiography.
The problem with this book is that it is so rambling. She is all over the place. She says on page 427, "I have decided not to tidy up this book too much! For one thing I am elderly. Nothing is more wearying than going over things you have written and trying to arrange them in proper sequence or turn them the other way around. " It shows.
However, it is still Agatha Christie and reading her is always a treat. Go in with an open mind, braced for rabbit trails and archaeological digs. You'll find some wonderful passages, and some tedious ones.
Probably worth it? I'll need to come back to this one someday.
June 21, 2011
I felt as if I'd dropped in for afternoon tea with Dame Agatha! I simply couldn't put this book down. To my mind this is Agatha Christie's most absorbing work ... the story of her own fascinating and unconventional life which gently unfolds to the reader complemented by her subtle, dry wit. She covers so much in this work: an idyllic Victorian childhood, youthful romances, dashed aspirations to be an opera singer or a classical pianist, two marriages the first of which ended in divorce, her daughter and motherhood, her reluctant entry into the world of writing. She agonized over a second marriage which turned out be a very happy one. Much of the rest of her life was devoted to travel with her archaeologist husband to far off, exotic places. A combination of all these experiences provided the material for her numerous successful mystery novels that made her a household name. Enjoyed every word!
June 1, 2020
Se pudesse daria 10 estrelas.
Uma grande senhora, uma grande vida, um grande livro. Uma mulher à frente do seu tempo, terra-a-terra, humilde, inteligente, sem peneiras mas com tanto para dar.
Adorei!
Opinião em vídeo https://youtu.be/k8n2MM6CFNA
Uma grande senhora, uma grande vida, um grande livro. Uma mulher à frente do seu tempo, terra-a-terra, humilde, inteligente, sem peneiras mas com tanto para dar.
Adorei!
Opinião em vídeo https://youtu.be/k8n2MM6CFNA
February 20, 2021
Who would have thought she could write so detailed and specifically about herself without at any time sounding self-centered, arrogant or in any way much out of the ordinary. But was she!
I have to think about this one for some days. It's the best girlhood and young womanhood cultural and mores eyes of context for the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in her location that I have ever read. A run on sentence that is incredibly true. And I have read many, most written during or far after hers was.
If you have not read this book, I strongly recommend it. Particularly difficult in the amount of people, places, houses (those especially)- it is not an easy read. Yet sublime. I believe there was a way of speaking and nuance between the two world wars that will never be surpassed. Those in their prime time then, like Agatha- and especially those who wrote during that era! They hold grace and respect quite beyond any intellectual or economic differences, but could determine their absolute beliefs and realities exactly at the same time. Differing without rebuke and distortions too.
That they could travel for a year or 10 months or 2 years at various intervals to "save money"? And the mindset they (and she specifically) held on work, serendipity of experiences, female obligations or onus in anyway for "freedoms" of choices etc. etc. Agatha, you are the goat- as they say now.
I totally agree with both your short and long views on the female, on work, on play, and also on motherhood, Agatha. Immense territories of experience and degree have been lost for the average girl / woman.
Read her take on her own education. And how despite sea sickness and other negatives, there is always more to see over the hill or across the water if you have the gumption. Or another house to rent or buy or trade or change. (Even if it means a fight with the government councils to take out the 14 bathrooms that they made of your larder during the war.)
She didn't have any wealth until past 40. But she sure did have imagination in the millions of pounds range. She was shy of groups always. But thank God, that wasn't allowed.
I have to think about this one for some days. It's the best girlhood and young womanhood cultural and mores eyes of context for the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in her location that I have ever read. A run on sentence that is incredibly true. And I have read many, most written during or far after hers was.
If you have not read this book, I strongly recommend it. Particularly difficult in the amount of people, places, houses (those especially)- it is not an easy read. Yet sublime. I believe there was a way of speaking and nuance between the two world wars that will never be surpassed. Those in their prime time then, like Agatha- and especially those who wrote during that era! They hold grace and respect quite beyond any intellectual or economic differences, but could determine their absolute beliefs and realities exactly at the same time. Differing without rebuke and distortions too.
That they could travel for a year or 10 months or 2 years at various intervals to "save money"? And the mindset they (and she specifically) held on work, serendipity of experiences, female obligations or onus in anyway for "freedoms" of choices etc. etc. Agatha, you are the goat- as they say now.
I totally agree with both your short and long views on the female, on work, on play, and also on motherhood, Agatha. Immense territories of experience and degree have been lost for the average girl / woman.
Read her take on her own education. And how despite sea sickness and other negatives, there is always more to see over the hill or across the water if you have the gumption. Or another house to rent or buy or trade or change. (Even if it means a fight with the government councils to take out the 14 bathrooms that they made of your larder during the war.)
She didn't have any wealth until past 40. But she sure did have imagination in the millions of pounds range. She was shy of groups always. But thank God, that wasn't allowed.
January 20, 2020
I enjoyed listening to Agatha Christie's life. She is a lovely and interesting person. To learn her life from her point of view was full of joy. Learning her books from her was great and made me want to read more and I hope I will. Maybe after I read more from her books, I will turn to read this again. I listened audiobook narrated by Judith Boyd and she did so good job that for me her voice is now Agatha Christie's voice. I felt like I listened Agatha Christie's story from her :))
March 29, 2015
I read biographies so slowly. This one took awhile to get through. Interesting, personalized insight into Agatha's life, she had the ability to remember some very minor details most of us would have forgotten. I like how she began her biography discussing the love of her family home, Ashfield, and then closed it with Ashfield being gone and missing it. She definitely enjoyed houses and travel! Really that's what most of the book was about. She barely talks about writing and books, not really. It's pretty obvious she saw it as pure work and not a passion. Travels and places were her clear enthusiasm - some of it was interesting but at times grew a bit dull to me. I have probably 10 status updates on this book with different viewpoints combined.
April 19, 2022
Vienmēr esmu domājusi, ka cilvēki, kuri apzinātu vecumu sasniedza ap 19./ 20. gs. miju un kam palaimējās nodzīvot garu mūžu, ir piedzīvojuši tik kapitālus laikmetu griežus, ka uz to fona mūsu piedzīvotā digitālā revolūcija un sociālās un politiskās pārmaiņas ir pilnīgs štrunts.
Tā arī detektīvu karaliene Agata Kristi vēl piedzīvojusi, ko nozīmē iet peldēties dāmu pludmalē, kur dāmas, tērpušās garos vilnas! peldtērpos, padzīvojuši pludmales darbinieki iestumj jūrā dīvainajās koka būdelēs uz riteņiem. Savukārt šo autobiogrāfiju rakstniece nesteidzīgi tapina mūža nogalē un pabeidz 1965. gadā. Nu, jūs jau paši stādāties priekšā: "Bītli", minisvārki utt. utjp. Un tas viss viena mūža garumā... Nomira Kristi vēl desmit gadus vēlāk - 1976. gadā.
Pirmā trešdaļa ir vienkārši fantastiska. Kristi asprātīgi un azraujoši atminas savu bērnību un jaunību, pirmskara flirtu Kairā 1909. gadā, kad britu upper middle class tikpat kā bez ienākumiem palikušai atraitnei sarīkot jaunākajai meitai "iziešanu sabiedrībā" bija lētāk, izīrējot īpašumu un pārziemojot Ēģiptē, nekā uzturoties Londonā un ievērojot visas pienākošās procedūras. Tāpat spilgtas atmiņas veltītas Pirmajam pasaules karam, steidzīgajai karalaika laulībai, darbam slimnīcā un pēc tam aptiekā, kur iegūtas vēlāk lieti noderējušās zināšanas par indēm, un, protams, par it kā nejauši un rotaļīgi, daļēji spītējot māsai, iesākto literāro karjeru un Puaro dzimšanu.
Brīžiem autore nekautrējoties moralizē par vecajiem, labajiem laikiem no savas sirmās kundzītes skatupunkta, kas jūtīgāku lasītāju var arī tracināt, bet, ja pieņemam, ka autors ar savu lasītāju diskutē, tad interesants, gudrs un asprātīgs oponents ir tā vērts. Un, starp citu, lūk, viens piemērs tiem lasītājiem, kam varētu likties, ka "agrāk zāle bija zaļāka" arguments nav patiess nekad: Kristi atklāti raksta, ka, viņasprāt, vecmodīgā grūtnieču aprūpe bez obligātajām ikmēneša pārbaudēm un dzemdības mājās, kādas viņu sagaidīja tūlīt pēc kara, ir pārākas par moderno aprūpi. Un min arī faktu, ka 60. gados tādai grūtniecei kā viņa, ko visus 9 mēnešus mocīja smaga toksikoze, visticamāk, būtu izrakstītas zāles, kas sacēla pamatīgu skandālu Anglijā un ASV, jo izraisīja smagas augļa patoloģijas. Nepiekrītot autorei simtprocentīgi, jāatceras, ka notiek arī tā un ka sirmam vecumam ir savas priekšrocības, izvērtējot faktus. :)
Tā grāmatas daļa, kas seko pirmās laulības sabrukuma aprakstam, vairs nav tik groda. Atmiņas ir fragmentāras un aprautas. Lasīt tāpat ir interesanti, bet gribētos uzzināt vairāk. Tiesa gan, ja visa grāmata turpinātos tik detalizēti kā pirmā trešdaļa, tās kopējais garums būtu nevis 500, bet kādas 1500 lappuses.
Lai nu kā, domāju, ka interesanti būs, pirmkārt, jau ikvienam Kristi darbu cienītājam, bet arī citiem lasītājiem, kurus detektīvi neuzrunā nemaz, toties pa prātam aizraujošas biogrāfijas. Iesaku.
Tā arī detektīvu karaliene Agata Kristi vēl piedzīvojusi, ko nozīmē iet peldēties dāmu pludmalē, kur dāmas, tērpušās garos vilnas! peldtērpos, padzīvojuši pludmales darbinieki iestumj jūrā dīvainajās koka būdelēs uz riteņiem. Savukārt šo autobiogrāfiju rakstniece nesteidzīgi tapina mūža nogalē un pabeidz 1965. gadā. Nu, jūs jau paši stādāties priekšā: "Bītli", minisvārki utt. utjp. Un tas viss viena mūža garumā... Nomira Kristi vēl desmit gadus vēlāk - 1976. gadā.
Pirmā trešdaļa ir vienkārši fantastiska. Kristi asprātīgi un azraujoši atminas savu bērnību un jaunību, pirmskara flirtu Kairā 1909. gadā, kad britu upper middle class tikpat kā bez ienākumiem palikušai atraitnei sarīkot jaunākajai meitai "iziešanu sabiedrībā" bija lētāk, izīrējot īpašumu un pārziemojot Ēģiptē, nekā uzturoties Londonā un ievērojot visas pienākošās procedūras. Tāpat spilgtas atmiņas veltītas Pirmajam pasaules karam, steidzīgajai karalaika laulībai, darbam slimnīcā un pēc tam aptiekā, kur iegūtas vēlāk lieti noderējušās zināšanas par indēm, un, protams, par it kā nejauši un rotaļīgi, daļēji spītējot māsai, iesākto literāro karjeru un Puaro dzimšanu.
Brīžiem autore nekautrējoties moralizē par vecajiem, labajiem laikiem no savas sirmās kundzītes skatupunkta, kas jūtīgāku lasītāju var arī tracināt, bet, ja pieņemam, ka autors ar savu lasītāju diskutē, tad interesants, gudrs un asprātīgs oponents ir tā vērts. Un, starp citu, lūk, viens piemērs tiem lasītājiem, kam varētu likties, ka "agrāk zāle bija zaļāka" arguments nav patiess nekad: Kristi atklāti raksta, ka, viņasprāt, vecmodīgā grūtnieču aprūpe bez obligātajām ikmēneša pārbaudēm un dzemdības mājās, kādas viņu sagaidīja tūlīt pēc kara, ir pārākas par moderno aprūpi. Un min arī faktu, ka 60. gados tādai grūtniecei kā viņa, ko visus 9 mēnešus mocīja smaga toksikoze, visticamāk, būtu izrakstītas zāles, kas sacēla pamatīgu skandālu Anglijā un ASV, jo izraisīja smagas augļa patoloģijas. Nepiekrītot autorei simtprocentīgi, jāatceras, ka notiek arī tā un ka sirmam vecumam ir savas priekšrocības, izvērtējot faktus. :)
Tā grāmatas daļa, kas seko pirmās laulības sabrukuma aprakstam, vairs nav tik groda. Atmiņas ir fragmentāras un aprautas. Lasīt tāpat ir interesanti, bet gribētos uzzināt vairāk. Tiesa gan, ja visa grāmata turpinātos tik detalizēti kā pirmā trešdaļa, tās kopējais garums būtu nevis 500, bet kādas 1500 lappuses.
Lai nu kā, domāju, ka interesanti būs, pirmkārt, jau ikvienam Kristi darbu cienītājam, bet arī citiem lasītājiem, kurus detektīvi neuzrunā nemaz, toties pa prātam aizraujošas biogrāfijas. Iesaku.
April 10, 2020
There are not enough stars available for this outstanding autobiography. The blurb on the cover says “The best thing she has ever written”. I second that wholeheartedly and I have read them all.
It was a journey through both her life and her world adventures. No rigid order, just a look back with nostalgia, insight and lots of love. So glad I read this after reading all her books, it is jewel in her crown.
I can see her life reflected in her stories. She had so many references to why she wrote what, that I now want to go back and re read some again. This is a book I will keep!
A remarkable woman tells a remarkable tale. ❤️
It was a journey through both her life and her world adventures. No rigid order, just a look back with nostalgia, insight and lots of love. So glad I read this after reading all her books, it is jewel in her crown.
I can see her life reflected in her stories. She had so many references to why she wrote what, that I now want to go back and re read some again. This is a book I will keep!
A remarkable woman tells a remarkable tale. ❤️
June 1, 2019
The full length book, which I have read twice, is really superb. The audio version in which she speaks about herself as a writer, is quite absorbing, and reflects her sense of humor and insight. The recording is a bit poor due to the time in which it was done. She is 75 and it sounds like papers are being constantly shuffled, but I think it is the static of the microphone, etc. Her full autobiography is a book I have recommended to many and given as a gift a few times.
March 17, 2022
en esta autobiografía me entere de cosas sorprendentes de Agatha Christie, feliz de que haya escrito su vida
January 7, 2015
Wer kennt den Namen Agatha Christie nicht? Sie war die Meisterin des englischen Krimis, ihre Bücher haben sich überall in der Welt verkauft und haben sie zu einer der meistgelesenen Schriftstellern gemacht. Mit Miss Marple und Hercule Poirot hat sie Detektive geschaffen, die schon lange Kultstatus erreicht haben. Ihr Bühnenstück ‚Die Mausefalle‘, wird jeden Tag im Londoner West End seit 1952 aufgeführt. Ob ‚Tod auf dem Nil‘, ‚Mord im Orient-Express‘ oder ‚Zeugin der Anklage‘, viele ihre Werke wurden für Kino oder TV verfilmt, zum Teil hochkarätig mit Schauspielern wie Sir Peter Ustinov oder Marlene Dietrich und werden immer noch gerne ausgestrahlt und gesehen. Doch wer war die Frau mit der mordlüsternen Fantasie?
Die Autobiographie einer Lady beginnt in ihrer Kindheit und endet 1965, sie führt den Leser ins ländliche England, London, in den Orient und durch zwei Weltkriege. Wer Angst hat eine staubtrockene Bio vorzufinden, in der es nur um die Werke und ein wenig um Selbstbeweihräucherung geht, den kann ich hier beruhigen, das Buch liest sich wie ein Roman und ist gespickt mit vielen Anekdoten. Sie ist für mich eine sehr mutige Frau gewesen, die sich immer wieder in die Fluten stürzte, um zu surfen oder zu schwimmen, obwohl sie einmal fast ertrank. Wagemutig konnte sie es kaum erwarten, in ein Flugzeug zu klettern, in einer Zeit als Abstürze die Regel waren. Sie reiste allein in den Orient, als das Reisen noch eine Herausforderung war und deren Leidenschaft es war Häuser zu sammeln. Natürlich kommt die Schriftstellerei nicht zu kurz und sie schildert spannend, wie die Charaktere und Handlungen in ihrem Kopf Gestalt annehmen und welche Fehler sie beim Abschließen ihres ersten Buchvertrages gemacht hat. Sie ist keine Zimperliese und lässt sich weder von Sandstürmen noch von Krankheiten von ihrem Weg abbringen, immer begierig Neues zu lernen und zu erfahren. Sie berichtet von schweren und vergnüglichen Zeiten, lässt den Leser auch an ihren schwachen Momenten teilhaben, so dass man am Ende des Buches das Gefühl hat, eine gute Freundin verlassen zu müssen. Trotzdem wird sie nie zu privat und schweigt sich über die Perode aus, in der sie für eine Zeit verschwunden war und für gehörigen Pressewirbel sorgte. Sie steht zu ihren Überzeugungen, bequem oder nicht. Für mich war dieses Buch aber auch ein sehr schönes Porträt einer Zeit, die mit dem Ausklingen des viktorianischen Zeitalters beginnt und bis in die 60er Jahre reicht.
Warum man vielleicht zu diesem Buch greifen sollte:
1. Weil man gerne Biografien über starke Frauen mag
2. Man eine Schwäche für Agatha Christie und ihre Werke hat
3. Man gerne mehr über die ‚gute‘ alte Zeit erfahren möchte.
Fazit: Eine sehr schöne Autobiographie, die mir die Person Agatha Christie sehr viel näher gebracht hat und die ich mit großem Vergnügen gelesen habe.
Die Autobiographie einer Lady beginnt in ihrer Kindheit und endet 1965, sie führt den Leser ins ländliche England, London, in den Orient und durch zwei Weltkriege. Wer Angst hat eine staubtrockene Bio vorzufinden, in der es nur um die Werke und ein wenig um Selbstbeweihräucherung geht, den kann ich hier beruhigen, das Buch liest sich wie ein Roman und ist gespickt mit vielen Anekdoten. Sie ist für mich eine sehr mutige Frau gewesen, die sich immer wieder in die Fluten stürzte, um zu surfen oder zu schwimmen, obwohl sie einmal fast ertrank. Wagemutig konnte sie es kaum erwarten, in ein Flugzeug zu klettern, in einer Zeit als Abstürze die Regel waren. Sie reiste allein in den Orient, als das Reisen noch eine Herausforderung war und deren Leidenschaft es war Häuser zu sammeln. Natürlich kommt die Schriftstellerei nicht zu kurz und sie schildert spannend, wie die Charaktere und Handlungen in ihrem Kopf Gestalt annehmen und welche Fehler sie beim Abschließen ihres ersten Buchvertrages gemacht hat. Sie ist keine Zimperliese und lässt sich weder von Sandstürmen noch von Krankheiten von ihrem Weg abbringen, immer begierig Neues zu lernen und zu erfahren. Sie berichtet von schweren und vergnüglichen Zeiten, lässt den Leser auch an ihren schwachen Momenten teilhaben, so dass man am Ende des Buches das Gefühl hat, eine gute Freundin verlassen zu müssen. Trotzdem wird sie nie zu privat und schweigt sich über die Perode aus, in der sie für eine Zeit verschwunden war und für gehörigen Pressewirbel sorgte. Sie steht zu ihren Überzeugungen, bequem oder nicht. Für mich war dieses Buch aber auch ein sehr schönes Porträt einer Zeit, die mit dem Ausklingen des viktorianischen Zeitalters beginnt und bis in die 60er Jahre reicht.
Warum man vielleicht zu diesem Buch greifen sollte:
1. Weil man gerne Biografien über starke Frauen mag
2. Man eine Schwäche für Agatha Christie und ihre Werke hat
3. Man gerne mehr über die ‚gute‘ alte Zeit erfahren möchte.
Fazit: Eine sehr schöne Autobiographie, die mir die Person Agatha Christie sehr viel näher gebracht hat und die ich mit großem Vergnügen gelesen habe.
January 26, 2012
Antes de mais, acho que me posso considerar fã de Agatha Christie, apesar de ainda me faltarem muitos livros para poder dizer que li a maioria da sua obra. Agatha é a escritora mais vendida e traduzida de sempre e acho fantástico termos oportunidade de conhecer a vida dela através das suas próprias palavras. Isto tem prós e contras: se, por um lado, só ela poderia explicar ao leitor a importância que determinados acontecimentos tiveram na sua vida e nos dá uma visão muito particular sobre os mesmos, por outro a autora deixa de lado alguns acontecimentos mais polémicos – como o seu célebre desaparecimento de 11 dias, após se divorciar do primeiro marido. Estamos, portanto, perante a interpretação da autora sobre a sua própria vida, que, sendo inevitavelmente subjetiva, não deixa por isso de ser extremamente interessante e nunca auto-congratulatória.
Na verdade, e focando-me apenas na questão profissional, a sensação que tenho depois de ler este livro é que a própria Agatha tinha uma noção exata das suas capacidades e podia mesmo subvalorizar-se em vários momentos. Foi uma pessoa que tentou vários caminhos, desde a dança ao canto, passando pelo piano e pela enfermagem e que chegou à escrita de uma forma quase acidental, fazendo dela carreira porque achou que era uma profissão da qual podia tirar dividendos e que se adequava à sua imaginação fértil. A ideia que passa, também, é que se tratava de uma pessoa muito exigente consigo própria, uma vez que se contam pelos dedos de uma mão os livros que refere terem resultado exatamente como desejava e que pensa serem boas obras.
No entanto, esta autobiografia tem muito mais sobre a sua vida pessoal do que sobre a profissional. Seguimos a vida da escritora desde tenra idade e é notável o nível de detalhe apresentado, ainda que por vezes a narrativa se arraste um pouco – sem nunca se tornar aborrecida, contudo. Foi interessante conhecer o seu gosto pelas viagens e todos os sítios que visitou, e é também uma viagem a uma época não muito distante se considerarmos a existência do Homem, mas que tem tantas diferenças em termos de tradições e costumes que não deixa de parecer um relato histórico.
Uma nota final para esta edição: excelente tradução e revisão, num livro de capa dura com mais de 700 páginas, por 17,10€. Excelente relação custo-benefício.
Foi uma leitura prolongada e que fui completando aos poucos, mas que valeu muito a pena. É uma biografia escrita de forma clara, detalhada e com pormenores muito interessantes sobre a vida de uma das escritoras mais famosas de sempre.
Na verdade, e focando-me apenas na questão profissional, a sensação que tenho depois de ler este livro é que a própria Agatha tinha uma noção exata das suas capacidades e podia mesmo subvalorizar-se em vários momentos. Foi uma pessoa que tentou vários caminhos, desde a dança ao canto, passando pelo piano e pela enfermagem e que chegou à escrita de uma forma quase acidental, fazendo dela carreira porque achou que era uma profissão da qual podia tirar dividendos e que se adequava à sua imaginação fértil. A ideia que passa, também, é que se tratava de uma pessoa muito exigente consigo própria, uma vez que se contam pelos dedos de uma mão os livros que refere terem resultado exatamente como desejava e que pensa serem boas obras.
No entanto, esta autobiografia tem muito mais sobre a sua vida pessoal do que sobre a profissional. Seguimos a vida da escritora desde tenra idade e é notável o nível de detalhe apresentado, ainda que por vezes a narrativa se arraste um pouco – sem nunca se tornar aborrecida, contudo. Foi interessante conhecer o seu gosto pelas viagens e todos os sítios que visitou, e é também uma viagem a uma época não muito distante se considerarmos a existência do Homem, mas que tem tantas diferenças em termos de tradições e costumes que não deixa de parecer um relato histórico.
Uma nota final para esta edição: excelente tradução e revisão, num livro de capa dura com mais de 700 páginas, por 17,10€. Excelente relação custo-benefício.
Foi uma leitura prolongada e que fui completando aos poucos, mas que valeu muito a pena. É uma biografia escrita de forma clara, detalhada e com pormenores muito interessantes sobre a vida de uma das escritoras mais famosas de sempre.
August 28, 2019
i tako je gđa. christie, kraljica krimića, u svojoj 75. godini sjela i zapisala svoj životopis.
opširan je to bio posao... proteglo se na skoro 600 stranica.
krenuvši s djetinjstvom (rođena je krajem viktorijanskog doba i duboko je odgojem usađena u specifičan životni stil: najčešće fraze u knjizi su "trebalo bi", "prikladno je", "priliči se"/"ne priliči se" itd.), preko mladenaštva, udaje, kroz I. svjetski rat pa do kraja II. svjetskog rata (tu je stala s kronologijom svog života, preskočila 20-tak godina i knjigu zaključila 1965. - proživjet će još 11 godina), prvenstveno je dala interesantan i, nadam se, autentičan prikaz života dobrostojeće engleske viktorijanske obitelji (sluge, služavke, kuharice i dadilje included).
makar je ova autobiografija prikazana romantičnijom nego što je stvarnost bila -a to i piše na koricama knjige- i drži se podalje onoga što bi bilo skandalozno ili "neprimjereno", za ljubitelja agathinih krimića ovo je obvezatna literatura. tu ćeš saznati koje igre je igrala kao mala viktorijanka, kako je i kada rodila herculea poirota, koja je bila njena uloga u I. svjetskom ratu, zašto je počela pisati, kako su je se dojmili split i dubrovnik kroz koje je prolazila na medenom mjesecu, mnoštvo pojedinosti o njenim roditeljima, sestri i bratu (o njemu vrlo malo s obzirom da je očito bio crna ovca obitelji, a o tome se, khm khm, ne piše), o navikama i običajima tog doba itd. također je i preskočila onaj najmisteriozniji dio svog života - njen nestanak na 11 dana 1926. godine (nikad nije otkriveno gdje je bila i što se, ustvari, dogodilo) kao ni boravak u bolnici jer o tome, khm khm, nije prikladno govoriti.
pojedine opaske o "crncima" ili o ulozi žene u braku i društvu sasvim su neprihvatljive u današnje vrijeme, ali u njeno doba bilo je tako i nikako drugačije. vjerujem da je svom shvaćanju braka i "gdje je ženi mjesto u braku" ostala vjerna do samog svog kraja jer je cijela knjiga duboko prožeta tom ulogom koja joj je bila usađena od najranije dobi. a agatha christie nije bila revolucionarka ni buntovnica, ona je bila dama bien élevé i zna što se priliči, a što ne.
ali ovoj gospođi treba se priznati pripovjedačka tečnost, zanimljiva je, duhovita i, s obzirom na dob, sasvim lucidna pa je knjiga čitljiva i zabavna i puna zgodnih informacija... a to što vješto preskače neke teme koje joj očito teško padaju i za koje smatra da javnost u njih ne treba gurati nos - eh, pa na to, kao autorica, ima potpuno pravo.
opširan je to bio posao... proteglo se na skoro 600 stranica.
krenuvši s djetinjstvom (rođena je krajem viktorijanskog doba i duboko je odgojem usađena u specifičan životni stil: najčešće fraze u knjizi su "trebalo bi", "prikladno je", "priliči se"/"ne priliči se" itd.), preko mladenaštva, udaje, kroz I. svjetski rat pa do kraja II. svjetskog rata (tu je stala s kronologijom svog života, preskočila 20-tak godina i knjigu zaključila 1965. - proživjet će još 11 godina), prvenstveno je dala interesantan i, nadam se, autentičan prikaz života dobrostojeće engleske viktorijanske obitelji (sluge, služavke, kuharice i dadilje included).
makar je ova autobiografija prikazana romantičnijom nego što je stvarnost bila -a to i piše na koricama knjige- i drži se podalje onoga što bi bilo skandalozno ili "neprimjereno", za ljubitelja agathinih krimića ovo je obvezatna literatura. tu ćeš saznati koje igre je igrala kao mala viktorijanka, kako je i kada rodila herculea poirota, koja je bila njena uloga u I. svjetskom ratu, zašto je počela pisati, kako su je se dojmili split i dubrovnik kroz koje je prolazila na medenom mjesecu, mnoštvo pojedinosti o njenim roditeljima, sestri i bratu (o njemu vrlo malo s obzirom da je očito bio crna ovca obitelji, a o tome se, khm khm, ne piše), o navikama i običajima tog doba itd. također je i preskočila onaj najmisteriozniji dio svog života - njen nestanak na 11 dana 1926. godine (nikad nije otkriveno gdje je bila i što se, ustvari, dogodilo) kao ni boravak u bolnici jer o tome, khm khm, nije prikladno govoriti.
pojedine opaske o "crncima" ili o ulozi žene u braku i društvu sasvim su neprihvatljive u današnje vrijeme, ali u njeno doba bilo je tako i nikako drugačije. vjerujem da je svom shvaćanju braka i "gdje je ženi mjesto u braku" ostala vjerna do samog svog kraja jer je cijela knjiga duboko prožeta tom ulogom koja joj je bila usađena od najranije dobi. a agatha christie nije bila revolucionarka ni buntovnica, ona je bila dama bien élevé i zna što se priliči, a što ne.
ali ovoj gospođi treba se priznati pripovjedačka tečnost, zanimljiva je, duhovita i, s obzirom na dob, sasvim lucidna pa je knjiga čitljiva i zabavna i puna zgodnih informacija... a to što vješto preskače neke teme koje joj očito teško padaju i za koje smatra da javnost u njih ne treba gurati nos - eh, pa na to, kao autorica, ima potpuno pravo.
October 29, 2020
La un moment dat, prin 1926, Agatha Christie a dispărut timp de 11 zile. Dispariţia ei a provocat o mobilizare masivă: peste 1000 de poliţişti şi sute de civili. Pentru prima dată în istorie, au fost implicate şi avioane în cadrul cercetărilor, iar Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creatorul lui Sherlock Holmes, a ajutat autoritățile în căutări.
Agatha a fost găsită la un hotel, cazată sub numele amantei soţului ei – abia aflase că era înșelată. În cartea ei de memorii, autoarea povestește cam totul despre viața ei, numai episodul ăsta nu. Normal că tocmai asta îl face unul dintre marile mistere nerezolvate, tipul de episod lăsat în aer, fără niciun final. Mulți spun că a fost vorba despre o depresie severă ori o pedeapsă dură pe care a vrut să i-o dea soțului sau doar o mișcare de PR. În orice caz, am citit cele 760 de pagini așteptând niște detalii despre faimoasa dispariție, însă Agatha Christie a lăsat totul într-o ceață pe care o înțeleg întru totul.
Deși nu sunt cititoarea cărților ei, am vrut să văd ce este în spatele unei femei atât de inteligente, care a creat o adevărată isterie în jurul cărților și poveștilor ei. Mi-a plăcut autobiografia ei? Aș minți să spun că m-a dat pe spate. Nu este neapărat genul meu de biografie, nu m-a captivat – de multe ori m-a pierdut și ușor plictisit, însă a meritat pentru pasajele în care povestește cum își structura romanele.
A meritat s-o citesc pentru complexitatea și creativitatea minții ei. Pentru cele două căsnicii disecate, pentru toate hotelurile, spațiile și camerele în care intri odată cu scrisul ei și vezi la ce cărți lucrează. Pentru că înțelegi ce legătură avea cu Hercule Poirot și Miss Marple, cele mai faimoase personaje create de ea – asemenea relației dintre Arthur Conan Doyle și personajul său Sherlock Holmes, Christie a devenit din ce în ce mai plictisită de personajul Poirot. A mai meritat pentru toate pierderile demn pierdute, pentru toate suferințele demn suferite, pentru toate granițele dintre eșec și succes.
Agatha a fost găsită la un hotel, cazată sub numele amantei soţului ei – abia aflase că era înșelată. În cartea ei de memorii, autoarea povestește cam totul despre viața ei, numai episodul ăsta nu. Normal că tocmai asta îl face unul dintre marile mistere nerezolvate, tipul de episod lăsat în aer, fără niciun final. Mulți spun că a fost vorba despre o depresie severă ori o pedeapsă dură pe care a vrut să i-o dea soțului sau doar o mișcare de PR. În orice caz, am citit cele 760 de pagini așteptând niște detalii despre faimoasa dispariție, însă Agatha Christie a lăsat totul într-o ceață pe care o înțeleg întru totul.
Deși nu sunt cititoarea cărților ei, am vrut să văd ce este în spatele unei femei atât de inteligente, care a creat o adevărată isterie în jurul cărților și poveștilor ei. Mi-a plăcut autobiografia ei? Aș minți să spun că m-a dat pe spate. Nu este neapărat genul meu de biografie, nu m-a captivat – de multe ori m-a pierdut și ușor plictisit, însă a meritat pentru pasajele în care povestește cum își structura romanele.
A meritat s-o citesc pentru complexitatea și creativitatea minții ei. Pentru cele două căsnicii disecate, pentru toate hotelurile, spațiile și camerele în care intri odată cu scrisul ei și vezi la ce cărți lucrează. Pentru că înțelegi ce legătură avea cu Hercule Poirot și Miss Marple, cele mai faimoase personaje create de ea – asemenea relației dintre Arthur Conan Doyle și personajul său Sherlock Holmes, Christie a devenit din ce în ce mai plictisită de personajul Poirot. A mai meritat pentru toate pierderile demn pierdute, pentru toate suferințele demn suferite, pentru toate granițele dintre eșec și succes.
August 2, 2021
Sublime!
March 28, 2025
AUTOBIOGRAFIJA-AGATA KRISTI
✒️"Danas sam ja ista ličnost kao ona ozbiljna devojčica s gustim uvojcima boje lana. Ja sam kuća u kojoj duh boravi, raste, razvija nagone, ukuse, osećanja i umne sposobnosti, ali ja sama, istinska Agata, potpuno sam ista. Ja ne poznajem čitavu Agatu."
✒️"I evo nas, svih nas, mala Agata Miler i velika Agata Miler, Agata Kristi i Agata Malovan, nastavljamo svojim putem - kuda? Niko to ne zna - zbog čega, naravno, život i jeste uzbudljiv. Oduvek sam mislila da je život uzbudljiv, a mislim to i danas. Pošto tako malo znamo o životu - samo sopstvenu sićušnu ulogu - mi smo kao glumac koji ima da kaže nekoliko rečenica u prvom činu."
📓Možete li da razdvojite delo od pisca, ako taj pisac napiše autobiografiju i ne dobijete baš osobu kakvu zamišljate? 🤔😃
📓Obimnu autobiografiju Agata je napisala sa 75 godina, s obrazloženjem da svakako više nema šta da doživi. Poživela je još deset godina, a da li je i šta doživela-ne znamo. Kao što su i neki događaji pre pisanja autobiografije ostali misterija. 😁
📓Kako kod biografija očekujem tačne i dokumentovane podatke, kod autobiografija očekujem samo da ne bude previše očigledno da se istina ulepšava. Ovde sam imala suprotan problem, čini mi se da je previše očigledno kakvi su Agatini stavovi o raznim temama-vrlo diskutabilni. Ipak, treba imati u vidu da je Agata Kristi tipična Engleskinja odrasla u viktorijansko doba. I zbog njenih dela, koja i dalje veoma volim-oprostiti autorki što je nesavršeno ljudsko biće. Koje uz to čak i ovde ostaje vedrog duha i beskrajno zabavna u 90% knjige. Onih 10% je iritantna džangrizava moralistkinja😂
📓Najzanimljiviji delovi su na početku-detinjstvo, mladost, početak 20.veka.
📓Veze i brakovi i stavovi Agate prema braku su mi u sivoj zoni. Mislim da je bila prilično uzdržana i tipično engleski "dama".
📓Putovanja po svetu prilično su zanimljivo opisana. Tu uključiti i put kroz bivšu Juguslaviju između dva rata i veoma povoljne utiske o Balkanu i ljudima koji tu žive ❤️
📓Za sladokusce: bez obzira jeste li pročitali sva Agatina dela ili ne-uživaće te u priči o tome kako su nastajala, objašnjenju ko joj je od detektiva najdraži, i zašto.
#7sensesofabook
✒️"Danas sam ja ista ličnost kao ona ozbiljna devojčica s gustim uvojcima boje lana. Ja sam kuća u kojoj duh boravi, raste, razvija nagone, ukuse, osećanja i umne sposobnosti, ali ja sama, istinska Agata, potpuno sam ista. Ja ne poznajem čitavu Agatu."
✒️"I evo nas, svih nas, mala Agata Miler i velika Agata Miler, Agata Kristi i Agata Malovan, nastavljamo svojim putem - kuda? Niko to ne zna - zbog čega, naravno, život i jeste uzbudljiv. Oduvek sam mislila da je život uzbudljiv, a mislim to i danas. Pošto tako malo znamo o životu - samo sopstvenu sićušnu ulogu - mi smo kao glumac koji ima da kaže nekoliko rečenica u prvom činu."
📓Možete li da razdvojite delo od pisca, ako taj pisac napiše autobiografiju i ne dobijete baš osobu kakvu zamišljate? 🤔😃
📓Obimnu autobiografiju Agata je napisala sa 75 godina, s obrazloženjem da svakako više nema šta da doživi. Poživela je još deset godina, a da li je i šta doživela-ne znamo. Kao što su i neki događaji pre pisanja autobiografije ostali misterija. 😁
📓Kako kod biografija očekujem tačne i dokumentovane podatke, kod autobiografija očekujem samo da ne bude previše očigledno da se istina ulepšava. Ovde sam imala suprotan problem, čini mi se da je previše očigledno kakvi su Agatini stavovi o raznim temama-vrlo diskutabilni. Ipak, treba imati u vidu da je Agata Kristi tipična Engleskinja odrasla u viktorijansko doba. I zbog njenih dela, koja i dalje veoma volim-oprostiti autorki što je nesavršeno ljudsko biće. Koje uz to čak i ovde ostaje vedrog duha i beskrajno zabavna u 90% knjige. Onih 10% je iritantna džangrizava moralistkinja😂
📓Najzanimljiviji delovi su na početku-detinjstvo, mladost, početak 20.veka.
📓Veze i brakovi i stavovi Agate prema braku su mi u sivoj zoni. Mislim da je bila prilično uzdržana i tipično engleski "dama".
📓Putovanja po svetu prilično su zanimljivo opisana. Tu uključiti i put kroz bivšu Juguslaviju između dva rata i veoma povoljne utiske o Balkanu i ljudima koji tu žive ❤️
📓Za sladokusce: bez obzira jeste li pročitali sva Agatina dela ili ne-uživaće te u priči o tome kako su nastajala, objašnjenju ko joj je od detektiva najdraži, i zašto.
#7sensesofabook
August 30, 2022
Обичате ли да четете вдъхновяващи книги? Произведения, в които има щастливо детство, полет със самолет в зората на авиацията, подготовка за музикална кариера, любов с пилот и археолог, пътешествия в цял свят, щипка мистерия, две войни...
Всички тези факти са част от живота на лейди Малоуън, жена, заинтригувала умовете на милиони хора по света с 68 книги, над 100 разказа и 17 пиеси, преведени на 103 езика.
Наричат "Автобиография" на Агата Кристи "химн на радостта да живееш" или "най-интересната книга на великата писателка". Тези около 600 страници се прелистват неусетно докато следите нейния вълнуващ разказ.
Оставям ви с нейните мисли.
"Кои неща носят най-голяма наслада в живота? Допускам, че зависи от човека. За мен това са кротките мигове от всекидневието. Лично аз без съмнение съм била щастлива именно в тези моменти.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Нищо на този свят не е така саморазрушително, както дебелоглавото упорство да се стремиш да пробиеш там, където най-доброто, на което можеш да се надяваш, е да бъдеш посредствен. За удоволствие можех да пея колкото си искам, но нямаше смисъл да продължавам да уча пеене. Никога не съм вярвала истински, че тази мечта може да се сбъдне. Но е хубаво да си имал мечта, която ти е носела радост - стига да не си се вкопчил отчаяно в нея.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Човек никога не е прекалено стар, за да научи нещо ново. Винаги може да срещнеш някой, който да те накара да погледнеш на нещата от друг ъгъл.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Трудно е да се определи как точно възниква приятелството между мъж и жена – по природа мъжете не са склонни да другаруват с противоположния пол. Голяма роля играе случайността. Полека-лека между тях се оформя трайно приятелство и те започват да се интересуват от личността на другия. В тази работа има, естествено, и тънка нотка на сексуално привличане, като щипката сол към всяко ястие.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Животът на път е като сън. Той е сякаш извън нормалното, но ти си в него. От време навреме те завладява носталгия или самота. Същевременно се чувстваш като викингите или като великите мореплаватели, поели в света на приключенията. Беше вълнуващо да тръгна на път. Беше прекрасно да се прибера у дома.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
- Започнахте ли вече онази своя книга?Включихте ли ме в нея?
- Да, вие сте жертвата.
- Какво? Искате да кажете, че аз съм човекът, който ще бъде убит
- Да.
- Не искам да бъда жертва. Няма начин да съм жертвата, настоявам да бъда убиецът.
- Защо искате да сте убиецът?
- Защото убиецът винаги е най-интересният герой в една книга. Трябва да ме направите убиец, Агата, разбирате ли?
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
От двете неща, които са ме развълнували най-много в живота ми, първото бе моята кола – моят сив „чипонос” „Морис Каули”, а второто беше вечерята със самата кралица в Бъкингамския дворец близо 40 години по-късно. Виждате ли, и в двете събития има нещо приказно. Това са неща, които не съм мислела, че някога ще ми се случат.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Безсмислено е да започваш да твориш с мисълта, че си гений, надарен с божествен талант - да, някои хора са такива, но те са малцина. А ти си занаятчия - занаятчия с добър,честен занаят. Трябва да овладееш техническите умения и след това, в рамките на тази професия, можеш да предложиш свои творчески идеи...
Дори и днес все още не се чувствам напълно като истински писател. Все още изпитвам онова съмнение, че май по-скоро се правя на писател. Работата на писателя е просто да пише. Писателите са неуверени същества - те се нуждаят от насърчение.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
След като си бил наранен, най-важно е да не си спомняш щастливите времена. Можеш да се припомняш тъжните моменти - те не са толкова важни, -но нещо, които ти напомня за щастлив ден или щастливо събитие...това ще те разкъса на парчета.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Изведнъж откриваш -да кажем на около 50 години, - че пред теб се простира цял нов живот, изпълнен с неща, които можеш да обмисляш и изучаваш. Сякаш в теб се надига нов прилив на жизнена енергия, на свежи идеи и мисли. През тези години повече от всякога човек оценява живота и е благодарен за неговия дар. Това време притежава нещо от същината и наситеността на мечтите...А аз все още изключително
много обичам да мечтая. "
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Кое от произведенията на "Херцогинята на смъртта" ви е държало в напрежение?
Всички тези факти са част от живота на лейди Малоуън, жена, заинтригувала умовете на милиони хора по света с 68 книги, над 100 разказа и 17 пиеси, преведени на 103 езика.
Наричат "Автобиография" на Агата Кристи "химн на радостта да живееш" или "най-интересната книга на великата писателка". Тези около 600 страници се прелистват неусетно докато следите нейния вълнуващ разказ.
Оставям ви с нейните мисли.
"Кои неща носят най-голяма наслада в живота? Допускам, че зависи от човека. За мен това са кротките мигове от всекидневието. Лично аз без съмнение съм била щастлива именно в тези моменти.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Нищо на този свят не е така саморазрушително, както дебелоглавото упорство да се стремиш да пробиеш там, където най-доброто, на което можеш да се надяваш, е да бъдеш посредствен. За удоволствие можех да пея колкото си искам, но нямаше смисъл да продължавам да уча пеене. Никога не съм вярвала истински, че тази мечта може да се сбъдне. Но е хубаво да си имал мечта, която ти е носела радост - стига да не си се вкопчил отчаяно в нея.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Човек никога не е прекалено стар, за да научи нещо ново. Винаги може да срещнеш някой, който да те накара да погледнеш на нещата от друг ъгъл.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Трудно е да се определи как точно възниква приятелството между мъж и жена – по природа мъжете не са склонни да другаруват с противоположния пол. Голяма роля играе случайността. Полека-лека между тях се оформя трайно приятелство и те започват да се интересуват от личността на другия. В тази работа има, естествено, и тънка нотка на сексуално привличане, като щипката сол към всяко ястие.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Животът на път е като сън. Той е сякаш извън нормалното, но ти си в него. От време навреме те завладява носталгия или самота. Същевременно се чувстваш като викингите или като великите мореплаватели, поели в света на приключенията. Беше вълнуващо да тръгна на път. Беше прекрасно да се прибера у дома.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
- Започнахте ли вече онази своя книга?Включихте ли ме в нея?
- Да, вие сте жертвата.
- Какво? Искате да кажете, че аз съм човекът, който ще бъде убит
- Да.
- Не искам да бъда жертва. Няма начин да съм жертвата, настоявам да бъда убиецът.
- Защо искате да сте убиецът?
- Защото убиецът винаги е най-интересният герой в една книга. Трябва да ме направите убиец, Агата, разбирате ли?
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
От двете неща, които са ме развълнували най-много в живота ми, първото бе моята кола – моят сив „чипонос” „Морис Каули”, а второто беше вечерята със самата кралица в Бъкингамския дворец близо 40 години по-късно. Виждате ли, и в двете събития има нещо приказно. Това са неща, които не съм мислела, че някога ще ми се случат.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Безсмислено е да започваш да твориш с мисълта, че си гений, надарен с божествен талант - да, някои хора са такива, но те са малцина. А ти си занаятчия - занаятчия с добър,честен занаят. Трябва да овладееш техническите умения и след това, в рамките на тази професия, можеш да предложиш свои творчески идеи...
Дори и днес все още не се чувствам напълно като истински писател. Все още изпитвам онова съмнение, че май по-скоро се правя на писател. Работата на писателя е просто да пише. Писателите са неуверени същества - те се нуждаят от насърчение.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
След като си бил наранен, най-важно е да не си спомняш щастливите времена. Можеш да се припомняш тъжните моменти - те не са толкова важни, -но нещо, които ти напомня за щастлив ден или щастливо събитие...това ще те разкъса на парчета.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Изведнъж откриваш -да кажем на около 50 години, - че пред теб се простира цял нов живот, изпълнен с неща, които можеш да обмисляш и изучаваш. Сякаш в теб се надига нов прилив на жизнена енергия, на свежи идеи и мисли. През тези години повече от всякога човек оценява живота и е благодарен за неговия дар. Това време притежава нещо от същината и наситеността на мечтите...А аз все още изключително
много обичам да мечтая. "
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Кое от произведенията на "Херцогинята на смъртта" ви е държало в напрежение?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,009 reviews