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Christie's 120th Anniversary

2010 marks the 120th anniversary of Christie's birth year, 1890. To mark this special occasion Christie fans around the world will be taking part in a series of anniversary celebrations and events culminating in Christie Week 2010, in mid September. We have a host of events planned, but as ever we would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions on fun things to do to mark this special year. Please post all your suggestions here!

The Annotated Agatha Christie

GKCfan 06 Mar 10 at 7:51 p.m. GMT

I think that to celebrate Christie's 120th anniversary, there should be new editions of her books: special annotated editions.  If you look at these boards, there are often questions about terms, references, and other parts of the book.  Non-British readers often have questions about British terminology, political references, geography, money equivalence, and other points of fact.  Also, many contemporary readers are baffled by cultural and social differences from as much as ninety years ago.  I've seen a lot of questions arising from all of the post-WWI references in Mysterious Affair at Styles, and many other references to both world wars are perplexing to readers who don't have much knowledge about these time periods.  Additionally, many books have oblique references to real-life crimes and previous Christie works.  Frequent footnotes could help readers who otherwise would be confused by certain references, scenes and other issues.

I think that a new series of annotated Agatha Christie books could really attract new readers and give old readers a better appreciation of her life and times.  Introductory and concluding essays to the books could help put the works in context, as well.  Notes on the wartime worlds of Mysterious Affair at Styles and N or M? and Taken at the Flood, among others, could help contemporary readers understand the social conditions of that time better.  Notes on the inheritance laws and how they affect Sad Cypress could be fascinating.  Hercule Poirot's Christmas could benefit from some notes on the Spanish Civil War.  Death on the Nile, Appointment with Death, and Murder in Mesopotamia could get commentary on Egyptology and archaeology.  Who knows– perhaps all these annotations could get Christie's books another publishing world record somehow.

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7 replies

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s111mna 19 Jul 11 at 4:22 p.m. GMT

Annotations would certainly be useful to help modern readers understand old-fashioned terms. I agree with Pomodoro's suggestion that the annotations might be annoying and should be separate, perhaps in an appendix, but why not on a website?  I've been scouring the internet in vain to try and find out what Poirot means when he says "As our old friend Euclid says," in Murder on the Orient Express.

Lone_Wolf 25 May 11 at 5:28 p.m. GMT

That's actually an interesting way to spam. GaryAspire, are you a human spammer, or a bot?

Pomodoro 20 May 11 at 1:22 a.m. GMT

Okay.  I can see that.

GKCfan 20 May 11 at 12:07 a.m. GMT

That's a fair point.  I think that people reading the books for the first time could read the original editions.  The annotated editions would be for Christie fans who either wanted to learn more about her world, or for people who'd had trouble reading her books in the past because they couldn't understand some terminology and references.

Pomodoro 19 May 11 at 10 p.m. GMT

As helpful as that would be, I can see many people who are reading the books for the first time becoming annoyed with the numerous annotations as they are trying to figure out the murderer and reach the conclusion as soon as possible.  From personal experience, books such as The Annotated Pride and Prejudice was twice as long (page of annotations every other page) and took a longer time to read.  I agree that the information would be helpful, but it might be better placed in a fore- or afterword.  However, I can also see returning readers appreciating the annotations.

AndThenThereWereToon 07 Mar 10 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

It's a thought.  There's plenty of potential - I found out all sorts of things about UK trading laws while trying to figure out why the hairdresser in Death in the Clouds was open on a Sunday.

MissQuin 06 Mar 10 at 8:28 p.m. GMT

I love the fact that Agatha Christie herself was in many ways ha puzzle herself. I find it interesting finding out facts about her.

I like your idea about a bit of background infomation. A 1920's dictionary of terms might be handy for some readers. "Queer Street" certainly had a different meaning then to one a modern reading may guess at... it has been used in a couple Death in The Clouds was one. It guessed it  to mean on the verge of bankcrupcy.