Bright Young Things discussion
Group Reads Archive
>
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Chapters 1 - 4
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Ally
(new)
Jan 30, 2011 12:23PM
Mod
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
reply
|
flag
Chapters 1-4 are the setup. The nature of the detective story requires five elements: a crime, a criminal, a detective, threatened bystanders, and a chronicler. By the end of the setup we have all five. There are some particular requirements of the English Classic, of which this is the original. The criminal must be an individual, which is guaranteed here by the closed cast of characters. The detective is called in to repair the threatened social fabric and must be within the society but outside the group. The chronicler is needed to preserve the fairness of the puzzle -- nothing is to be hidden from the reader. If we hear the story through a filter (the chronicler) who is himself ignorant, then both fairness and suspense are preserved. Christie has delivered a tight, efficient package, don't you think?
Two more things. Notice that Poirot has a limp. This little humanizing touch disappears pronto. And English Classic characters are famously wooden. I hadn't read this first one in years, maybe since high school, and was surprised to find them much less so. Wet cardboard, at least. :-)
Mod
Does the old fashioned whodunit still hold sway and fascination in the world of modern crime techniques and almost 'foensi fiction - thats what I'm on a personal mission to discover here!
I'm certainly drawn in and I've only read the first couple of chapters - it's quite exciting and I'm sure its not just me but after a lifetime of watching Poirot and Marple TV adaptations I'm glad that the distinctive 'voice' of the shows has been lifted straight from the books!
Ally
Ally - the Poirot adaptations stay the closest to the books. The recent Marple adaptations bear little resemblance to the actual story as written by Christie.
I believe the family had insisted on it at the beginning with Poirot and they stuck to it, even up to this season. The Marples, after the first series, has not maintained the truth of the novels. They are still excellent shows - but bear less and less resemblance to the original story.
Jan C wrote: "Ally - the Poirot adaptations stay the closest to the books. The recent Marple adaptations bear little resemblance to the actual story as written by Christie.
I believe the family had insis..."
You are quite right, but did you see the recent Suchet Orient Express? A travesty. Poirot has a pusillanimous spiritual crisis, scenes are added to explain this intrusion, and the story is upended to make room for it. Compare this to Finney's portrayal in 1965.
I don't know that you are correct on this.I thought the part at the beginning was added. This part was not added. This part is in the book.
What part did you think was added or changed?
Jan C wrote: "I don't know that you are correct on this.I thought the part at the beginning was added. This part was not added. This part is in the book.
What part did you think was added or changed?"
Hmm. I have neither the text nor the film to consult. The scenes at the beginning were the ones added. Strictly speaking the ones in the middle and at the end which I am thinking of, where Poirot agonizes over what to do, are in the text, but not as portrayed. In the book Poirot has his usual self-confidence and merely ponders what is the right thing to do. In the movie he agonizes and looks for help from a higher power. This is not Poirot the rationalist with the little gray cells.
I am not certain whether he looks for help (like in the film) but he is shaken by having to expose the lieutenant who then commits suicide. And he is somewhat abraided by his escort. That scene is in the book.I do have the book and the film to refer to.
If we are comparing the Suchet and Finney Poirots (or for that matter, the Ustinov or Molinaro? )) versions, the one that is closest to the book is the Suchet version.
The only scene that I actually compared was the first scene because I hadn't remembered it at all and it had never been in any of the earlier film versions.
Plus, they may have added some of the agonizing as dramatic license. It may not be strictly as in the book, I'm not sure. But, then, one is a book and the other a movie.
Charles wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Ally - the Poirot adaptations stay the closest to the books. The recent Marple adaptations bear little resemblance to the actual story as written by Christie.
I believe the family..."
Finney's film - Sidney Lumet's film - was released in 1974. I did enjoy the remake with Suchet, but prefer the 1974. Did anyone see the recent adaptation of "Hallowe'en Party" (the same season as "Orient Express")? Loved it.
Jan C wrote: "I am not certain whether he looks for help (like in the film) but he is shaken by having to expose the lieutenant who then commits suicide. And he is somewhat abraided by his escort. That scene is..."The great Alfred Molina.
Ivan wrote: "Jan C wrote: "I am not certain whether he looks for help (like in the film) but he is shaken by having to expose the lieutenant who then commits suicide. And he is somewhat abraided by his escort...."Thanks, Ivan. I had a brain freeze.
I may have to re-read the first chapter just to get a better handle on who all the characters are; though I am enjoying it.
Last week, there was a show on PBS called "Agatha Christie's Secret Code" (or something very akin to that. I think it was probably some kind of British production - Joanna Lumley was the narrator.One of the things they pointed out is that the human brain can only hand a certain number of characters - something like 8-9 - and so she always uses more than that. So that we just cannot keep them all straight.
I have switched to the kindle version from my paperback. I never seemed to get anywhere in the paperback - I think I am bothered by the tight binding in my particular volume.
Another point was in the writing. I never noticed this but they said that, through an examination by the computer, she has a tendency to repeat words close together. On a given page a word (or something very similar to the word, same meaning and similar sounding) might appear 8-9 times.
I'm well into chapter five - all the characters make perfect sense now. Actually, they kind of gelled when I was in bed last night and pondering the story.I made an attempt to read "And Then There Were None" but did not enjoy it; this is much more to my taste.
Ivan wrote: "I made an attempt to read "And Then T..."Ivan, I want to ask you about this, but I thought the "whole book" thread would be a better place.
I'm doing it on audio - so I'm not really sure what chapter I'm on. It was probably given, but I didn't notice it. There's no problem for me - I'm following the story quite well without knowing all this about how the 'structure' is supposed to be.
There's the narrator - visits this lady's home. She has recently married a much younger man. Many in her household are sure he's planning to knock her off for the money.
She does die - or is murdered, they don't know. The narrator brings in Poirot who is a great whodunit detective.
The author amuses the reader with Poirot's personality as he figures his clues one by one.
That's enough for me - maybe when I've finished all the disks - I think about 6 ... maybe the how/why of it all will interest me. But for now? I'm enjoying it - listening to the story while I'm picking around at my online jigsaw puzzle keeps me amused. Just like an old movie.
(I know I'm here late - don't expect you folks to chime in with me now that the discussion's been over for days. I'm just clocking myself in so to speak)
