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H.Poirot the next S.Holmes?

yamifannetje 17 Dec 09 at 6:58 p.m. GMT

So alike and though, so different !!! A.Christie based her Hercule Poirot on the famous Sherlock Holmes. And surely, they have many things in common. (from their intelligence till their black hair) They are both great!!!  But more interesting are the differences: 

I like this one:In Bakerstreet 221b, it's always a terrible mess (Sherlock would be lost if it would be cleaned up) while Hercule Poirot is obsessed by tideness, order and symetrie.

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8 replies

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Tommy_A_Jones 20 Dec 09 at 12:53 p.m. GMT

You are right yamifannette, I am rewally enjoying the stories, I love the way trhere isn't always a Crime and The Man With The Twisted Lip reminded me of one of the stories, If you are a Fan you know which one.

yamifannetje 19 Dec 09 at 6:20 p.m. GMT

then you missed something! if you ever read them, i hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! It's not the same as Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot of course but it will surely please you

much fun!

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Dec 09 at 1:10 p.m. GMT

Thankyou all for enlightening me, I have only read 5 short stories so although I have heard of most of the on's mentioned have not read them.

GKCfan 19 Dec 09 at 2:25 a.m. GMT

I think "Lion's Mane" and "Blanched Soldier" are narrated by Holmes.  "Musgrave Ritual" is like Poirot's "Chocolate Box," and "Lost Mine," Watson opens the story's narration, and then Holmes takes over and narrates the rest of the story.  About half of A Study in Scarlet and half of The Sign of Four is in the third person.  "Mazarin Stone" is third person, as is "His Last Bow."

go_leafs_nation 18 Dec 09 at 9:22 p.m. GMT

If my stats are accurate (and don't trust me 100% on this), four stories were not narrated by Watson; two were in the third person, two were narrated by Holmes. Watson accompanies Holmes in 56 of the stories (novels included). So there are only a few Watson-less stories, but they happen.

yamifannetje 18 Dec 09 at 8:06 p.m. GMT

I guess that Mr oliver is feeling the same way towards her character as Christie towards Hercule Poirot. :b  I can't understand that you can hate a person  you have created yourself!

But to stay to the subject, I mean, indeed, to remember at least one story in which Watson doesn't turn up.

go_leafs_nation 18 Dec 09 at 5:37 p.m. GMT

*buzzer sounds*

As a matter of fact, Holmes does appear without Watson more than once. Certain stories are narrated in the third person, and Holmes himself narrates one or two!

But this was common enough in the Golden Age when thinking up detectives. Give them unique characteristics and habits, preferably a sidekick and a character from the police known to them (in the tradition of the great detective), and ta-da; you've created a detective! AC parodies this through Mrs. Oliver. Sven Hjerson is Finnish, although Mrs. Oliver knows nothing whatsoever about Finland and constantly gets complaints that such-and-such was not accurate. He is also vegetarian and carries around a little machine for cutting up carrots. People seem to love these traits, but Mrs. Oliver states that if she ever met that vegetable-eating Finn in real life, she'd murder him.

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Dec 09 at 5:25 p.m. GMT

Poirot appears in Stories without Hastings and although I am new to Sherlock Holmes I don't think Holmes appears without Watson