Book Club

Poirot Stories

Poirot is Agatha Christie's most famous and popular detective.  No doubt he would agree that he deserves that accolade!

Here is the place to discuss all of his stories in detail with other fans.  The most insightful comments will be added to the Stories pages.  But remember to beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Poirot story here, don't worry - we'll be adding them all soon.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

The Hollow

Jemma 25 Sep 09 at 11:39 a.m. GMT

It seems rather silly and tasteless to Poirot that a murder mystery would be arranged for his benefit by his neighbours in the country. But this is no game; Dr John Christow is dead and his wife Gerda is holding the smoking gun. Of course no-one really believes that slow-thinking Gerda would kill the husband she adored, but do still waters run deep in her case? The appearance of Veronica Cray, actress and one time scorned love of John. throws something else into the mix for Poirot. This may be one of Christie's lighter plot lines but do the sharp and rather fuller than usual characterisations make up for this? Poirot certainly doesn't have as much to do as usual - could he have been dropped from the book as he was for the play? Should he have intervened more towards the end? What do you think?

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32 replies

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ErkutSoyer 15 Jul 11 at 9:30 p.m. GMT

Will I be sorry after buy The Hollow?

Quin90 15 Jul 11 at 6:45 a.m. GMT

I liked the fact that Edward did get married to Midge.There's sth good abt a woman getting the man that she'd been longing for.I wish Edward got to realize it earlier though but his love for a younger Henrietta of back then blinded him to what was infront of him.As for Lady Angkatell...she remains a mystery that one!Intriguing really!?Veronica Cray got what was coming to her,if only Poirot had rubbed it in her face!?

Dr.John Christow..hmm...I wonder who he going to choose btn Henrietta and Gerda?and if Henrietta knew that John trully loved Gerda if he wasn't to have died,would she end the affair and let them remain happily married?

NightRayDuck 20 Apr 11 at 5:51 a.m. GMT

Suspects were distant relatives? Not relatives of either John Christow or Gerda? None that I could remember from the book, anyway..

GKCfan 02 Jan 11 at 12:34 a.m. GMT

Yes, it's not clear what will happen to the kids in the future, except that Poirot will tell the truth regarding what happened to the son when he grows up and wants to know, but since there's no mention of Poirot telling the son to look him up in the future, I like to think that Poirot keeps an eye on the Christow kids, although it's not explicitly mentioned.  We do know that Gerda had multiple siblings, and the suspects in the book are also more distant relatives, so we can assume that someone in the big family took them in, or paid for sending them to boarding school.  Still, it's a really rough deal for the pair of them, poor kids.

Mr_west 01 Jan 11 at 5:22 p.m. GMT

there is one thing that I can't stop think about.

SPOILERS

what happen to the kids? their father is dead, and their mother committed suicide in the end of the book. and then what? who will take care of them?

Cicely 31 Oct 10 at 9:09 p.m. GMT

I have just finished reading The Hollow again for Fall, 2010.  I read it every Fall!  Something that struck me this time, toward the end of the book, was Henrietta's explanation of John's real, true love for Gerda.  I think Henrietta was correct, John did love Gerda because "she belonged to him."  That is not really a bad thing, except for the fact that John WAS egotistical. I really like the era when husbands loved, protected and cared for their wives.  John was of this era.  Another thing I clued in on more closely this time was that John discovered he did NOT love, need, or want Veronica anymore.  He was really over her!  If he had not been killed, perhaps he would have matured more and come around to realize he loved Gerda, and therefore, treat her better.  Another thing I noticed was that Inspector Grange really had a larger role than Poirot, though Poirot was more perceptive.  I really love the crazy, mixed-up thought processes of Lady Angatell!  I also loved Gudgeon's verbal exchange with the maid who called the police after seeing him carrying a revolver down the hall!  Lady Angatell and Gudgeon add alot of humor to this story!

Someone, please read The Hollow and comment (while this is fresh on my mind!)

It's my favorite Christie Poirot!

Mr_Graves 04 Oct 10 at 1:39 a.m. GMT

The "R"s have it!

Nausicaa (the face of whom Henrietta was struggling to capture at her introduction of the book) is, I believe, a character in Homer's "Odyssey". The daughter of King Somebody... Alcinous. So there's definitely a Greek connection there. 

Yes, Mrs. Otterbourne is certainly a dramatic type. Actresses are fairly common in Agatha Christie. Very useful for impersonations, I find. 

Cicely 03 Oct 10 at 10:14 p.m. GMT

Yes, Tommy A. Jones, I agree with your view that since Veronica Cray was an actress, she was being very theatrical in her character to make that stand out.  That is a good way to think about her portrayal.  I will have to consider your point about other AC actresses being overly theatrical to see if I agree.  The first person I can think of who fits that would be the dramatic woman writer in Death on the Nile, I can't think of her name right now, oh---it's Mrs. Otterbourne, I think?  Is that right?  And yes, Megan Dodd's was fantastic in the part of Henrietta!  She is American, but her British accent was great.  (I think it's funny to hear British people portraying an American and hear their version of an American accent!  I notice them occasionally in Poirot movies and always pick them out!  It's usually something about their "R's".)

xrysoula 21 Sep 10 at 4:39 p.m. GMT

Yes, I meant before that. Making that kind of sculpture was a bit surprising, since there was no suggestion of her being familiar to Greek mythology - at least that 's what I thought when I first read it. 

xrysoula 21 Sep 10 at 4:35 p.m. GMT

Yes, I meant before that. Making that kind of sculpture was a bit surprising, since there was no suggestion of her being familiar to Greek mythology - at least that 's what I thought when I first read it. 

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Sep 10 at 3:29 p.m. GMT

Isn't Henrietta doing a sculpture Based on Greek Mythology in the Book? I might be wrong.

xrysoula 21 Sep 10 at 7:28 a.m. GMT

Was there a suggestion of Henrietta 's love for Greek mythology in the book? I cannot recall.

I haven 't watched the movie, so I can 't imagine a creepy Lady Angkatell, but then she wasn 't a favorite character of mine, anyway.I didn 't find her likable at all, actually. Co-existing with someone like her would drive me mad, so, once again, I totally sympathise with Gerda for not being able to stand her hospitality.

I certainly agree with you, Mr Graves, The Hollow 's character setup is perhaps the most vivid in AC 's world.

Mr_Graves 20 Sep 10 at 9:01 p.m. GMT

I have heard many times that this book did not suit the inclusion of Monsieur Poirot, and yet, not having read it; I saw the adaptation first (such a bother when that happens, nes pas? But I thought Anthony Horowitz did a fantastic job, his AC adaptations for Poirot are really faithful) And now that I have, I completely understand. It is so very fascinating, psychologically, and the relationships and people in it are so plausible- so REAL. Midge and Edward were such a perfect couple- they made sense. Even without going into too much depth, Dame Christie has made us understand these characters so well. It is hard for me to say, but certainly out of all of her books I have read, this one was the most vivid in its character setup.

The ending was a bit of an anti-climax, I feel. It was as if we were told who did it, and then we are spun right around and have to endure a denoument. But anyway, I thought this book was brilliant, and well worth reading! Also, was anybody else a little creeped out by how Lady Angkatell turned evil in the adaptation? I thought she was far more likable in the novel. And I also disagreed with the changing of the significance on the horse sculpture- but then during the movie version we had no suggestion of her love for Greek Mythology. Well done AC also, for your brilliant Henrietta- being something of an artist myself, I thought it was so credible, the way she described her passion.

Tommy_A_Jones 14 Sep 10 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

I like this book aswell Cicily, I thought Megan Dodds's English Accent was very good, I agree the people in charge didn't explain the way the Murderer was discovered, The only bit that annoyed me slightly is the fact that one of the men was absent but that is only minor and as I can't remember who he was or if he was important perhaps I am being unfair.

Veronica Cray was an Actress and prone to theatrics as all Christie's Actors and Actresses are and as she was having an affair with a Married Man we weren't supposed to like her I don't think Lysette Anthony over-acted at all, If she did it was because Veronica Cray was a Drama Queen.

Cicely 14 Sep 10 at 12:52 a.m. GMT

I haven't been on this site in a long time, but I always start the Fall reading Poirot stories and watching the movies on DVD.  I always begin with The Hollow, my favorite, because it is set in the Fall.  The scenery in the movie is beautiful.

Contrary to previous commenters, I think Sarah Miles was fantastic as Lady Angkatell.  She had the perfect spirit of the character, in my opinion.  She was sharp, but didn't come across that way. Dangerous!  I agree with the person who wished the movie had covered Midge and Edward's romance more in line with the book.  I enjoyed that story line in the book, alot.  I don't think the movie directors or whoever did a good job with explaining the way the murderer was discovered.  It was hard to connect the finding of the "object" with the murder weapon.  Confusing.  Does anyone else agree?   Henrietta is my all time favorite Poirot character.  She is very strong and loyal and can separate her feelings about people from circumstances.  She must have suffered alot on the inside.  Veronica Cray is my least favorite character.  The actress who played her in the movie overacted, in my opinion.  She came across as cartoonish to me and not in line with the portrayals of the other characters.  Does anyone agree? 

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Sep 10 at 4:15 p.m. GMT

I think it is confusing because you can click on the Contains spoilers button which shouldn't be there in my view as when you go to the post it hasn't been covered Assuming is a bad thing to do as we learn by Reading AC books, If the site is re-vamped again I hope the spoiler button is removed in the Book Club and a warning is given on the home page, that would make more sense IMHO but I take your point GKCfan.

GKCfan 12 Sep 10 at 9:55 p.m. GMT

Spoilers are allowed in the Book Club section, since it's assumed that only people who've actually read the book will come to these pages to discuss it.  The one qualification to this is that people who post here should be careful not to include too much information in the first sentence (or at least they could click the "Contains spoilers" button), because the information could be read by anyone reading the "Recent Posts" thread.

xrysoula 12 Sep 10 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

Personally I don 't know much about websites (this is the first and only forum I participate in), but, from what I can tell, it 's a very active and interesting one. Of course, some members stand out, for being much more regular and well-informed than most of us, but I think the level is pretty high in general.

I honestly hope we didn 't spoil the book for you with our posts, kagee, since we revealed almost everything here! It would be a shame, it 's one of her very good ones. Enjoy it whenever you get the chance!

kagee 12 Sep 10 at 12:55 a.m. GMT

I notice these posts are all 2009-ish and here we are very much 2010! I hope You're still posting here because U would HATE to finally get onto this website only to find everyone else has left the party!  And with such a feast for the mind it's too good a party to leave..

This is one Christie novel I have managed to miss though it sounds worthwhile: I particularly revel in characterizations and locale (prefer countryside) though I duly admire plot.

Hope to hear from you.

kagee

xrysoula 11 Sep 10 at 5:57 p.m. GMT

To tell you the truth, John Christow 's infidelity is the last thing about him that bothered me. All the rest is much worse to live with on a daily basis, quite enough to turn his  wife 's living to torture. As for Gerda, I don 't like her character or approve of her attitude towards life- seemingly passive and resigned, yet fraud and devious.I only, somehow, sympathise with her, being who she was, for finding no other way out of her misery than murder.