Scientists solve another Agatha Christie mystery

from the CBC news website today...

Scientists in Britain say they've cracked the mystery surrounding the popularity of Agatha Christie's murder novels.

Neurolinguistic researchers at three universities studied more than 80 of her novels and have concluded her phrases activate a pleasure response. Neurolinguists explore the relationship between language and brain function.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2 ... study.html

Sounds like these researchers may have been experimenting with another kind of crack.

Makes sense to me.

Like the lyrics to a Kiss song.

I've read a number of her books--maybe thirty or so. I was more into the genre in my teens and early twenties, but some of the lustre is off. The books ARE very well-written and clever and I can certainly see the connection of literary "smoothies" and a pleasure response, but it surely most also be "preferential"; different tastes for different levels of response?

After you've read a few, and get to know the primary movers and shakers of her characters, Curtain is far and away the best novel she ever wrote, but it would make little sense to read it first since a lot of it hinges upon knowing the characters involved.
Anyone interested in a recommended list? Hollah.

My personal favorite was a standalone, "And Then There Were None", though my oldest copy is titled, "Ten Little Indians". Tricky story, but fun.

I thought I started a thread about one of my favourite books of all time, And Then There Were None but I can't find it. Instead of starting a new thread, I'll bump this one.



The book's official title in the United States has always been And Then There Were None, but occasionally it has been published with the alternate title Ten Little Indians. I would not be surprised if many of the latter (although not all) have been tied to the many movie adaptations, most of which (with the notable exception of the first film in 1945) were entitled Ten Little Indians. The play has the same title.

Regarding Dame Agatha's books being "literary crack", at least one American author seems to have duplicated her success:

I've never read an Agatha Christie novel - just seen the BBC versions of Poirot and Miss Marple.

Only George R.R. Martin I've read was a short story from the 70's, a science fiction one. It was pretty good.

I thought everyone had to read Ten Little Indians in high school.

Same here. Never read any of her books but I've seen movies based on them.

Of course, it's no longer "Ten Little Indians" but "Ten Little Soldiers." I'm not making this up---if you buy a copy of And Then There Were None at Barnes and Noble, you'll find that the book has been changed. Not only has the word "Indian" been replaced, so have the instances where characters refer to "a n_____ in the woodpile." Of course, this isn't the first time the book as been changed. The original title of the book in Britain was not And Then There Were None but Ten Little N______. For obvious reasons---even in 1940---the book has never been published under that title in the United States. The British version of the book remained unchanged until the 1980's.



By the way, anybody here born in the Western Hemisphere aware of the "Ten Little IMWANkers" nursery rhyme except from Agatha Christie's mystery book?

At the risk of worsening other IMWANkers' addiction, has anybody seen this on Lifetime or pay per view?



It's the new And Then There Were None miniseries that aired in Britain (BBC One) last December.

Thank Teddy. I didn't know this existed.

I missed this when it first came on (I don't regularly watch Lifetime), but I was able to rent (for free*) this two-parter. (It was three parts in the UK, but two parts here.) Also, I have not been able to bring myself to watch the finalé of Part 2 (I've only seen six murders so far), so I can't judge the whole thing. But here are a few comments.

Whether on stage or in film, the most thankless roles in this production are usually the servants, Thomas and Ethel Rogers, ESPECIALLY Ethel. Although Mrs. Rogers is the second victim, she only really gets two important scenes. In one, she basically tells Vera Claythorne that she doesn't know that much about her employer Mr. Owen, and in the second she babbles in fright to her husband, which takes place just after she faints upon hearing the grammophone recording accusing her of her crimes. (She's then given a sedative and is never heard from again.) She's given more to do in this production. Agatha Christie has Vera describe Mrs. Rogers as a woman who is "frightened of her own shadow", and in the postscript the killer confesses that she was one of the earliest victims because they were convinced she was acting under duress. In this movie, she's a battered wife. In early scenes, she wears dark glasses and avoids the light, which makes Emily Brent mistakenly think that she has a "childhood affliction." Nope---Thomas has been using her as a punching bag. The scene with Vera which I mention before in the book takes place in Vera's room. The telewriter Sarah Phelps has a new take on this scene. Since Vera Claythorne has come to Soldier Island thinking she's been hired as part of the staff, why not have her mistakenly go downstairs to the servants' quarters? Ethel confronts her and tells her---politely but firmly---that she doesn't belong. At the end, we see Thomas has been evesdropping to make sure his wife doesn't say anything that she shouldn't.

As her husband, Noah Taylor is pretty good as Thomas. As a servant, he presents an impeccable air, but he's not afraid to show a little bit of snark if one of the other guests get out of line. Unlike other productions, we see a few scenes between him and his wife when the others are not present. If there's one thing about this portrayal which I disagree with, it's that he really doesn't mind when his wife gets killed. In the book and Desyat Negrityat, Rogers frantically shakes Dr. Armstrong awake when his wife doesn't get up. Here he politely knocks on the door. You don't get the sense of him quietly going to pieces but trying to hold it all together. That being said, I still like his performance much better than Toby Stephens' Dr. Armstrong. More on him later....

I just saw the ad for it and wondered if it were the AG book. Now must see.