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Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks
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Review
'Many of Curran's discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future… This book is fascinating.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
‘Agatha Christie’s notebooks have had to wait for the meticulous attention, dedication and prodigious knowledge of John Curran to achieve publication.’ THE TIMES
‘This book is the story of a love affair between Curran and the notebooks, revealing above all how hard Christie worked.’ INDEPENDENT
'A meticulously detailed study that is packed with shrewd perceptions about Christie's fiction… Curran has produced an enthralling miscellany of a book, in which her fans will rummage to their heart's content.' SUNDAY TIMES
'Curran has organized his material as efficiently as an Agatha Christie mystery… His enthusiasm for his subject carries us along.' IRISH TIMES
‘Something unimaginably unique: an unknown Poirot story, one that had lain silently between its covers for over 60 years.’ THE SCOTSMAN
Review
'Many of Curran's discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future! This book is fascinating.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Agatha Christie's notebooks have had to wait for the meticulous attention, dedication and prodigious knowledge of John Curran to achieve publication.' THE TIMES 'This book is the story of a love affair between Curran and the notebooks, revealing above all how hard Christie worked.' INDEPENDENT 'A meticulously detailed study that is packed with shrewd perceptions about Christie's fiction! Curran has produced an enthralling miscellany of a book, in which her fans will rummage to their heart's content.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Curran has organized his material as efficiently as an Agatha Christie mystery! His enthusiasm for his subject carries us along.' IRISH TIMES 'Something unimaginably unique: an unknown Poirot story, one that had lain silently between its covers for over 60 years.' THE SCOTSMAN
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I heard about Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks on one of the many book podcasts that I download each week. These notebooks were a recent discovery when Christie's family allowed Greenway, Christie's holiday home, to be taken over by the National Trust. They had never been on display, they were a mix up of several plots, daily to do's, shopping lists, character ideas, lists of books (made me love Agatha even more) she wanted and other thoughts with no chronological order. That is where John Curran, an Agatha expert and friend of Christie's grandson, came in and this book is the results of four years work trying to decipher some of Christie's handwriting "often like short hand" and working out what notes related to what books and when.
The discoveries are really very interesting. It seems that Curran's (and probably most readers of her work) image of Agatha sat endlessly typing murder after murder, book after book with the killer planned at the start isn't quite so. In fact as you get to read her notes, which John has painstakingly transcribed, you find she would often chop and change the killer as she went. The idea for a book might ruminate for years and start from a simple observation as `a stamp' the notes then look at how such an everyday item could cause someone to commit murder. Who knew that a certain famous Poirot scene was originally meant for Miss Marple? Which books didn't have the endings you and I might have read? Which short stories then with new characters and a subtle plot twist or motive change became a play or a novel? You can find all these things out and much, much more. I loved this book and found it very, very difficult to put down.
The discoveries are really very interesting. It seems that Curran's (and probably most readers of her work) image of Agatha sat endlessly typing murder after murder, book after book with the killer planned at the start isn't quite so. In fact as you get to read her notes, which John has painstakingly transcribed, you find she would often chop and change the killer as she went. The idea for a book might ruminate for years and start from a simple observation as `a stamp' the notes then look at how such an everyday item could cause someone to commit murder. Who knew that a certain famous Poirot scene was originally meant for Miss Marple? Which books didn't have the endings you and I might have read? Which short stories then with new characters and a subtle plot twist or motive change became a play or a novel? You can find all these things out and much, much more. I loved this book and found it very, very difficult to put down.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For Agatha Christie fans (like me) the book is a must read. In many respects it is a fascinating dissection of her notebooks, containing jottings of her methods, characters and plots, interspersed with day to day items about shopping and friends. It does provide us with a new angle on how she developed her plots but I found it quite hard to understand clearly as the notes are jumbled and not easy to follow. In places I got completely confused and had to re-read pages again to pick up the thread (a bit like her books I suppose!). The notes don't make a lot of sense without the author's commentary and I think, at times, he was sidetracked by his own enthusiasm into making the text more difficult to understand than it needed to have been. I did enjoy reading it and found it absorbing, but it isn't as straightforward a read as you might expect and is therefore a bit disappointing.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Agatha Christie is herself a mystery. Her legend has grown since her death in 1976. But she was in life, a very private person.
These notebooks therefore are a real find and make fascinating reading for those of us who have wondered about the background influences to her novels.
It appears that Christie was a disorganised and chaotic person in private and left ideas here,there and everywhere. This book helps us to understand her structure and her plotting. She certainly did not 'story board' her books and often left it to late in her draft before she herself chose the killer.
Her output over 55 years was amazing and she never seemed short of ideas.
This very interesting book by John Curran has helped me to appreciate her work more and to understand the techniques that she used that has often kept me guessing to the end.
These notebooks therefore are a real find and make fascinating reading for those of us who have wondered about the background influences to her novels.
It appears that Christie was a disorganised and chaotic person in private and left ideas here,there and everywhere. This book helps us to understand her structure and her plotting. She certainly did not 'story board' her books and often left it to late in her draft before she herself chose the killer.
Her output over 55 years was amazing and she never seemed short of ideas.
This very interesting book by John Curran has helped me to appreciate her work more and to understand the techniques that she used that has often kept me guessing to the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disapointing
As an avid Christie fan, I was extremely excited about this book.However, what became apparant was that this book doesn't really contain anything new. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jason Buck
Slightly too much geekery for my liking
I think the author betrays his complete Christie geekery with this book. While the premise of exploring Christie's notebooks is an extremely interesting one (avid fans will gain a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. R. T. Bowes
Secrets, Notes and ?
I have purchased this item as a gift for my partner this Christmas so as much as I would like to write a review, I can't but, I will ask my partner to after he has opened the book.
Published 18 months ago by P. Nicholls
re-hash
Brought for Wife. She is an avid fan of christie. I asked her what the unpublished stories were like. Read more
Published 21 months ago by P. Bailey
Secret Notebooks
A great book for real Agatha Christie fans, lots of insight and background info. Beware spoilers though, if you haven't already read all the great lady's works! Read more
Published 21 months ago by Sarah
Excellent for aspiring writers
With over two billion copies of her books in print, writers would do well to study what made Agatha Christie one of the most successful writers in human history. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Michael W. Perry
Excellent for aspiring writers
With over two billion copies of her books in print, writers would do well to study what made Agatha Christie one of the most successful writers in human history. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Michael W. Perry
I found it enthralling
If you are fascinated by Agatha Christie, or simply intrigued by the craft of constructing a whodunit, this is the book for you. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr Creepy
makes you want to read some of her books over again.
I feel mostly envy for the author, who was a guest of her grandson and was able to pore over her notebooks freely. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by J. Storset
Really interesting
I bought this book as a Christmas present for my daughter,she is an Agatha Christie fan.
The book is very interesting and has some new material which she hasn't seen in some... Read more
The book is very interesting and has some new material which she hasn't seen in some... Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2010 by Mrs. J. Elliott
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