Tattoos of memories

No spoilers in this post

I think I can safely say Sparkling Cyanide (1944) was the third Agatha Christie I ever read, because I remember being very attracted by the cover. It’s the one you can see in this post, and I found it both pretty and intriguing. Of all the Christie books my parents had, this was very likely the one I chose, just because of that.

The book begins with a number of characters remembering the beautiful and wealthy Rosemary Barton. At this point she has been dead for almost a year from what appears to have been a suicide, though no one can find a very convincing reason, or explain why she choose to do it by cyanide at a restaurant. Among them are her younger sister Iris, who reflects she never really knew her sister, and her husband, George Barton. There are also Anthony Browne and Stephen Farraday, both in love with Rosemary, Stephen's wife Sandra, and Ruth Lessing, George’s secretary. All of them people who may have had a reason to kill Rosemary. Then George arranges a new dinner party, with the same people, and the same restaurant as when Rosemary died. And someone else dies, and this time it’s clear it’s murder…

This novel has neither Poirot nor Miss Marple as detectives, but the semi-recurring Colonel Race, who in this book is an old friend of Geroge Barton. I’m always surprised Poirot isn’t in it, which is probably because he is the detective in the short story “Yellow Iris”, which has pretty much the same plot and characters, but another murderer. And Sparkling Cyanide feels like a Poirot novel than anything else, and there is not a very good reason for not having him, apart from Christie just not wanting to.

Generally Sparkling Cyanide seems to be considered a mid-rung Christie. It’s written during her Golden Age, and I think it would have been ranked higher if Poirot had been in it. Race just isn’t a very exciting detective. Personally, though, it has always been one of my favourites. I always enjoyed the first chapters where the various characters remember Rosemary, and the murder plot, even if it’s very complicated, is entertaining. And I’m still coveting a dressing gown in spotted silk, like the one Rosemary has. Also, Aunt Lucilla is quite funny.

There are several adaptations, but the only one I have seen is from 1983 with Anthony Andrews as Anthony Browne. The only thing I remember about that one was that I was disappointed it wasn’t set in the 1940s. There is, however, an excellent adaptation of “Yellow Iris” with David Suchet from 1993.

Spoilers for the book under the cut!

Murder of the Orient Express (1934) was the second Christie I read, and the book that got me hooked. But the reason I read it was because I saw the 1974 movie. You know, some movies you remember more than just the movie, you remember what happened around it. I was twelve, it was Sunday evening, and it was bedtime, and the movie had just started. Something about it made me curious, so I sat down beside my mother on the sofa instead of going to bed. I was told to go to bed, and I said yes, and didn’t budge. I remember sitting extremely still and quiet so my parents would forget about me. They must have decided it was ok for me to see it, because I wasn’t told again, and when they made their evening coffee I got a cup of cocoa. At that point I realized I was going to be allowed to stay up, despite school the next day. And I loved the movie so much. The cast, the costumes, and the mystery. The very next day I realized we had the book, and this was the beginning of me falling in love with Agatha Christie. The movie also made me fall for 1930’s fashion, which has been an enduring love since then. Another thing it instilled with me was a burning desire to travel on the Orient Express myself, something I eventually did, and I can tell you it was an amazing experience!

The plot almost completely takes place at the Orient Express. A man is murdered, a man who has previously approached Hercule Poirot saying he fears for his life. Everything points to the murderer having left the train, but as the train unexpectedly has been stopped by a snowfall, Poirot quickly realizes the murderer must still be on the train. Then that the victim had a very shady past, and then, little by little, more and more of the passengers are revealed to have a connection to this past.

I think this book may seem tedious to some, as it’s pretty static. People are interviewed and reinterviewed, and a lot of information is repeated. And it’s also almost entirely taking place on the train, which gives you very limited scenery. Personally I like how Poirot slowly picks apart the various statements, but I can see it may be boring for others.

I mentioned the 1974 movie, with Albert Finney playing Poirot. It has an all-star cast, and to me particularly Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman shines. I still think most of the actors are very well-cast, but nowadays Finney’s Poirot grates on my nerves. He is shrill, aggressive, and shouts a lot. David Suchet in the 2006 adaption is great, but I find the rest of the cast very nondescript. I wish I could have the 1974 version with Suchet instead of Finney! There are a number of other adaptations, but I haven’t seen those, so I can’t comment on them.



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