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Since my last blog, people have asked me to explain a little more about Agatha Christie’s Notebooks, which I have been deciphering for my new book, published in September. The most common question has been, How many Notebooks are there?
There are over 70 Notebooks of all sizes, descriptions, colours and number of pages. For what they contain they are remarkably unimpressive…until you open and begin to read. Considering their uniqueness, I was reluctant to work straight from them and decided that photocopying the pages was the better option. This had to be undertaken carefully due to the age and fragility of some of the earlier Notebooks. In fact, 2 of the earliest, containing notes for, among others, Peril at End House and the stage version of Chimneys, could not be copied, as they were considered too delicate. Four trips across the Irish Sea and four visits to the photocopying shop were necessary, copying about 15/20 Notebooks on each visit. And I ended up with over 4,000 photocopied pages. Then the real work began.
The first job was to convert them into a readable format. This has taken almost 6 months, as Dame Agatha’s handwriting was, especially during her hugely prolific years, very difficult to read. But I discovered that if I left a page and returned to it a few days later, I could often make sense of a sentence that had earlier baffled me. But even at this late stage there are some passages that still defy me and I will probably be reduced to an educated guess. A detailed knowledge of all of Dame Agatha’s output is not just an enormous help but also a vital necessity. It helps to know, for instance, that a reference to ‘apomorphine’ is not a misprint or a mis-spelling but a vital part of the plot of Sad Cypress. But it does not help in the case of notes for an unpublished title or for ideas for a published work that she later discarded. As the weeks progressed I was surprised how used to her handwriting I became and I found converting the last batch considerably quicker than the first.
After creating readable files for each Notebook it was then necessary to extract the information about individual titles from these records in order to assemble a file on each title. This took longer than anticipated as most titles are scattered through many Notebooks; very few titles are plotted completely within the covers of just one. As many as a dozen Notebooks, for instance, are involved in the cases of e.g. Sparkling Cyanide and Sleeping Murder. By the end, I had files on all but half-a-dozen books, over 60 short stories, all of the plays and most of the Westmacotts and the Autobiography. The files vary in length from a few pages to over 100. But they are all fascinating.
- Posted 27 July 2009 at 9:47a.m. GMT
- 10 comments
Comments
Will we finally find out the original ending of Death Comes As The End?
Great question, Ms. Kylie Menage! Mr. Curran, do you mind me asking which six books weren't mentioned in the files? You also mention some unpublished titles... could you please give us a glimpse of some plots that never made it into print? Thank you!
Thank you both for your questions.
To answer first your question about Death Comes as the End:
I discuss the various endings (yes, she had a few) that Dame Agatha had in mind when she planned the novel and let readers decide for themselves. I know which one I think she intended! And I also discuss another surprising possibility that she toyed with for this fascinating novel.
And GKCFan -
I devote a section of my book to some of the plot devices that Dame Agatha jotted down but didn't explore. And most of the published titles include many ideas that she didn't pursue and I discuss them, often in detail. As for the 'missing' titles, I'm afraid you will have to wait until September but let me just say that two of them are, unfortunately, among Poirot's most celebrated cases. The other aspect of the book that fans will find fascinating is the way Dame Agatha toyed with changes of detective. For instance, which famous Poirot case was originally intended for Miss Marple; which famous Marple case was to have been either a Poirot or a Tommy and Tuppence case before Miss M was allocated; which novels did she intend dramatising? All will be revealed next month....
The two new Poirot short stories "The Mystery of the Dogs Ball" and "The Capture of Cerberus", in your opinion, Mr. Curran, do you think that they should or will be added to the list of Poirot adaptations to be filmed?
And thank you for your dedication to Agatha Christie's work. All of us AC fans are looking forward to reading 'Christie's Secret Notebooks'!
I don't think they will be dramatised for TV although I know that my thinking processes vary greatly from those of a TV producers and adaptors! The Dog's Ball is, apart from the different solution, similar to Dumb Witness and 'The Capture of Cerberus' could only be screened in conjunction with all the other Labours. And that seems unlikely as one-hour crime dramas are now the exception rather than the rule. But Christie fans can live in hope. Perhaps as a pre-Curtain swan song?
I hope fans everywhere will enjoy the book and let me know via this website. I am in Torquay during Christie Week and am giving an illustrated talk on the Notebooks at the Museum on Wed. 16th. If you can attend, please make yourself known - I am always happy to talk to Agatha Christie fans.
Thank you very much for answering my question. I cannot make the long journey across the Atlantic to attend Christie Week, but I am looking forward to buying and reading your book!
I'm so glad to hear the release date is near. When will it be released in the USA? I can't wait to read it. Some years ago, as I read Dame Agatha's autobiography and her mention of her notebooks, I was thrilled to be in such austere company, as I, too, have kept idea notebooks for ages and ages. Just wish I'd have published half the amount of books as our famous Queen of Mystery. Alas, the majority of my ideas remain inside my notebooks, unseen by the masses.
Congratulations on your own accomplishment. Weeding through all those notes was probably overwhelming, albeit, wonderfully exciting! Thanks for sharing.
john i have 2 things to say
firstly i wish to thankyou for writing this book, ive been a big agatha fan since i saw the mousetrap during a trip to the uk in 2000 and it was love at first sight so to speak and while i dont have all her books im getting there! i must say the second i found out about this book of yours i danced around the room with my kitten for 10 minutes than i smiled all day which is a rare occurance for me!
2ndly i must ask something that was bought up when i discussed this book with my best friend.
you found the notebooks but i mean as you say they are secret notebooks so how does the family feel about the secrets of agatha being put out there? like in your opinion do you think agatha would've wanted all these put out for the world to read?
Mr. Curran this is exciting news about the secret notebooks. I shall read the Daily Mail's serials. I have downloaded to my Kindle the very first Dame Agatha story. I will read more on the Kindle. I look forward to purchasing you book in September. Thanks.
Dear Tigs,
Many thanks for your question. I would not have undertaken the book without the express approval and active encouragement of Dame Agatha's family. As you will see, Mathew Prichard has written a Foreword to the book and I think that is all the approval we need! It is doubtful that the great lady herself would have encouraged this type of book but then neither would she have looked kindly on biographies, TV adaptations, graphic novels or computer games! But my purpose in writing the book is to show the world just how ingenious, industrious and talented she was and how under-rated she is by those who dismiss her as a predictable and cosy writer. I hope I have succeeded.
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