Advice needed for Agatha Christie Challenge

[Brittany]

Hi everyone,

I am contemplating doing a Agatha Christie challenge where I read all the books again but I was wondering in what order should I do it in? Is there a particular order I should follow, like chronologically?


Thanks everyone :)

[Arthur]

If you've read them before in random order, reading them again in chronological order makes sense. I am in the midst of doing this myself, and I find it very interesting to note her development. Right now I'm in the of the period where 10 Christie books in a row feature Poirot, and it's fascinating to recognize her deliberate attempts to avoid a formula; rather, the stories are quite varied, some in the first person, related by Hastings, some in the third person. Just now I read MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA, which is told in the first person by a non-recurring character (a nurse), whose descriptions of Poirot and his methods are highly entertaining. Had I not been reading the books in chronological order, I would certainly have enjoyed this none-the-less, but I would not have had the satisfaction of gaining an additional insight into Miss Christie's methods.

[Mitali]

Chronological order, as suggested above, is certainly a valid way to reread, but if you're determined to read all the books, this might prove to be a bit daunting once you reach the books published towards the end of Christie's life, which are definitely not among her best. In order to provide a bit more variety for yourself, you might try one or more of the following:

* Most obviously, you could try reading books featuring the main recurring characters/detectives in a row - Poirot, Marple, Tommy & Tuppence, etc.

* A little less obviously, you could try books featuring some of the minor recurring characters, such as Superintendent Battle, Ariadne Oliver, Mr Satterthwaite, Colonel Race, etc.

* You could organize books by location - for example, books set primarily outside England, books set in London, books set in a small village, books set in an English country manor, etc.

* You could alternate between a novel and a short story/stories.

I'm sure you can think of other possibilities as well. Or if not, there's always chronological order. Anyway, good luck and happy reading!

[Brittany]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all your advice :)

[Renee]

If you've read them all before, I say just grab one off the shelf that you're in the mood for until you've re-read them all. Might feel like Poirot one day, or Miss Marple the next :)

[Sue]

I'm doing the same thing and have started chronologically. I'm reading each book, but then also trying to find other media such as a film version, TV, audiobook and so on. I'm finding that this really expands my enjoyment of the book, as different people have interpreted the book in varied ways.

I do like the idea of following one detective/major character all the way through though, and I may switch to do it that way instead of chronologically.