J. C. Bernthal

“The Ageless Agatha Christie” is a collection of essays focusing on not only Christie's novels and short stories but the movie “Agatha” (which was loosely based on her eleven day disappearance in 1926), the TV series “Agatha Christie's Poirot” (which was based on her works), and how other writers not only influenced her works but how her works influenced other authors. The end of the book features a chapter dedicated to Christie readers.

Devoted Agatha Christie fans will enjoy “The Ageless Agatha Christie”. I love the fact that the essays are not only about her best-known works but cover some of her lesser known works featuring characters such as Harley Quin, Parker Pyne, and Tommy and Tuppence as well as even lesser-known characters such as Miss Lemon, Mr. Satterwaithe and Vera Rossakoff. The essays cover such a wide variety of subjects that there is something for everyone in this book. I particularly enjoyed the essays “England's Pockets: Objects of Anxiety in Christie's Postwar Novels”, “With Practiced Eyes: Feminine Identity in The Mysterious Mr. Quin”, and “The Sumptuous and the Alluring: Poirot’s Women, Dragged Up and Dressed Down”. Other essays like “The Encyclopedic Palace of the World” (about Miss lemon's filing system in the books compared to the TV series) and “Then There were Many: Agatha Christie in Hungarian Translation”, while quite interesting were not as enjoyable to me having never seen the TV series or read any Christie books translated in Hungarian. One thing to be aware of when reading this book is that these essays contain spoilers - often identifying both the victim(s) and killer(s) – so you many not want to read this book unless you have read most of Christie's works otherwise may find the ending of certain books and short stories spoiled.

“The Ageless Agatha Christie” contains many essays that will be interesting to a wide variety of readers.… (mehr)

This is a must read for all Agatha Christie fans. It's so rare to find any critical analysis of Agatha Christie, my all-time favorite author, so this book was such a treat. As an English major (many years ago), this felt like a warm blanket, and still so accessible.

Different aspects of Christie's works are covered, from the role of women, to her influence on later mystery writers, to aspects of information gathering and recall. There is also a very interesting essay on the movie Agatha, and the controversy and difficulties surrounding it.

I made this my before-bed book, because it required my absolute focus (so I couldn't let my brain drift to any worries or stress), and because, to me, it was a soothing and fascinating read. You can read just one essay at a time, but I would bet you'll get sucked in and find yourself unable to put this book down.… (mehr)

It’s hard to see exactly for whom this curious collection of essays was compiled. In tone and content it presents itself as an academic exploration, yet the emphasis on the television dramatizations of Christie’s work, and in particular the final chapter, which is just a collection of fans’ testimonials, work at cross purposes. Some of the articles even have very little to do with Christie at all. Like many anthologies, some essays are more appealing than others, and it is possible to dip into the book and find something of interest - the article comparing Christie to Virginia Woolf, for instance, and the editor’s contribution, which was particularly enjoyable to read. But in too many of the essays, the subject matter just does not bear the weight of the author’s analysis.… (mehr)