Reading Update

[jaggedwolf]

Some of the Poirot novels are from last year but I'm lumping them in with this post.

Poirot Novels - Agatha Christie

I started reading these in publication order during my winter vacation, and mean to continue this year. I'm enjoying them so far, they're fun little mysteries even if I haven't yet had a novel where I've landed on the full solution before Poirot's final explication.

Overall comments

• The only Poirot adaptation I’ve seen is Branagh’s (bad) Murder On The Orient Express film, and 8 books in I can say one of the reasons it is bad is because it underplayed how much of a odd little dude this guy is. Physically (the moustache, the egg-shaped head, being notably short) and in personality (the little gray cells obsession, asking people to confess to “Papa Poirot” lmao). He is not a guy who seamlessly blends in.
• Hastings is the silliest Watson-type character I’ve come across. Dude constantly thinks Poirot is on the wrong track despite all the cases he’s previously solved, and all he needs to be distracted is a pretty woman talking to him.
• Obviously there is the occasional blinkered racial comment but also these novels are making me learn about intra-European prejudices lol. I do enjoy Poirot playing up his own foreigness to get suspects to underestimate him.
• There has not been a single book where Poirot hasn’t put a romantic couple together, either through matchmaking or making them realize that they do still love each other. Unexpected throughline.

The Mysterious Affair At Styles

Didn’t know Poirot started off as a WWI refugee or that he’s ostensibly retired. I did not figure out this mystery at all.

The Murder On The Links

Hastings’ dumbest showing - he literally let a girl he didn’t know on to the crime scene because he liked her, I’m half-convinced Poirot arranges his marriage at the end of this book to stop such occurrences in the future. (It won’t help.)

Figured out the sketches of the twist here but not the murderer.

Poirot Investigates

The first of the short story collections. Favorite was The Hunting Lodge and the trick at play there, though I also appreciated the Missing Will for being the rare non-murder case.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

I was unfortunately spoiled for this novel, but it was actually pretty cool to read it with that knowledge and figure out what was going on underneath the plain text. Even knowing where it was going I had a creeping sense of dread as Poirot announced his final revelation, gah. The Poirot novel that’s reminded me most strongly of Cain’s Jawbone thus far, for obvious reasons if you’re familiar with both.

The Big Four
A big pile of meh. Poirot versus global conspiracy isn’t as nearly as fun as this book wants it to be, nor is his attempt at disguise.

The Mystery Of The Blue Train
I adored the very sensible Katherine Grey, who recently received a large inheritance and ends up as a replacement-Hastings for this case. One of my favorite narrators so far, even if she falls for a bit of a useless dude who’s in debt. Poirot’s interest in that made it very clear who the real villain of the piece would be, though I did not suspect the co-conspirator.

Black Coffee
I made a weak attempt to find the original play to read but soon settled for its adaptation. The novel’s origin of the stage are evident and I have to think it was a fun one to watch. There’s a sequence where several people in a row handle the eponymous coffee that begs the audience to wildly speculate.

The Peril At End House
The tension of trying to protect a target was a great twist and I did not suspect the ultimate murderer at all. Also have questions about the newspaper snippet on Poirot and Hastings staying at the hotel - was that the equivalent of modern-day tabloids/paparazzi, where a reporter notes that they saw these famous dudes at this hotel and that's automatically newsworthy?

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

Maybe living in the French countryside at that time makes you that unhinged. Though what it reminded me most of was Don Quixote and that fantasy of being the protagonist of a different genre than your life is, ultimately to your doom (and with other people happy to take advantage of your delusions). Favorite scene was when an old lady winning a prize in the town fair was intercut with the beginning of Emma and Rodolphe’s affair.

The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

I read the first volume several years ago but had never read the second before, enjoyed it very much.

I hadn’t anticipated how depressing the Austria stay would be for her. The contrasting of levity with dark moments and the simple black-and-white art style continued to work for me, and the depiction of her interactions with her family were my favorite part.

Sorcerer To The Crown - Zen Cho

Area nerd would like to study magic in peace but instead has to deal with politics, bigots and also this very vexing sorceress?? The worst.

A delightful read, would recommend.

I’m so fond of Zacharias, what a tired dude, and I also liked his very complicated feelings about Stephen (god, the revelation of the deal he made with Leofric horrified me but also made total sense bc. He is that guy.) Prunella was also very fun charging forward to get her own way and I was rooting for the romance from very early on. I’ll have to check out more of Zen Cho’s stuff.