The famous writer Agatha Christie became the founder of a new literary phenomenon - a female detective. Her life continues to excite readers and biographers who are trying to find out about her path to the smallest detail. The books of Agatha Christie, whose list includes several dozen items, have been among the most read in the world for more than a hundred years. Her works have been repeatedly staged and filmed, she has a darkness of imitators and followers. But Agatha Christie remains the only one - the Queen of the detective.
Writer Biography
Agatha Christie, whose books are read all over the world today, was born on September 15, 1890 in a wealthy family who came from the United States. She said that she had a very happy childhood, her parents loved her friend very much, the three children were looked after by a caring nanny, they lived in a beautiful house with a wonderful garden. All this became a special spiritual reserve for Agatha, she always remembered that happiness exists. As a child, she was a little strange girl, very shy and detached. When she was a teenager, her father died, and adult life began for Agatha. For any girl at that time, the main goal was marriage. Agatha marries Lieutenant A. Christie in 1914. The couple had a daughter, Rosalind, who later gives birth to the writer of her beloved grandson. During the First World War, the future queen of the detective worked as a nurse, and then in a pharmacy. This became for her a source of information that the writer used in her detectives. In 1926, a crisis occurs in Christie's marriage, her husband announces a desire to divorce. Then the famous disappearance of the writer takes place, about which researchers have been arguing for almost 100 years. In 1928, the divorce took place, and Agatha went on a big trip to Baghdad. At this time, she meets her second husband - M. Mallowan. She lived with him until the end of her days. Many facts of the biography of the writer became part of her works.
The first literary experiments
Agatha Christie creates her first work back in 1916 - this is the novel "The Mysterious Event in Stiles." For the first time Christie's famous characters appear here: detective E. Poirot, captain Hastings, and the reckless inspector Jepp, who will become the protagonists of the writer’s detectives for many years. The book was written easily, but its path to the reader was not easy. Christie had no connections, no one knew her, and the publishers did not want to take the risk of publishing an unknown author. Only in the 7th publishing house did she find understanding, her novel was published in a circulation of 2 thousand pieces and paid her 25 pounds. The work was a success, and the writer began to give more time to creativity. The books of Agatha Christie, the list of which began to grow rapidly, grew out of her life impressions and fantasies. She said that the texts formed in her head when she knitted in the evenings, listening to the conversations of relatives and guests. Then she just recorded the finished work.
Early work
For the first 10 years of his writing career, Agatha Christie, whose books are gradually gaining popularity, writes 6 novels and a collection of 11 stories. The characters who will become the main characters of the series find their life in them: E. Poirot, a couple of Tommy and Tuppence Beresfordy, Colonel Reis, Inspector Battle. In 1924, Christie became already a real celebrity, her novels were waiting, publishers were hunting for them, fees grew. Until 1926, the life of the writer went well, but during this period troubles fell on her: her mother dies, her brother becomes an addict, her husband has an affair and demands a divorce ... Agatha leaves the house and disappears for almost two weeks. Upon her return, she said that she did not remember anything about the events of those days.
Creative heyday
After the crisis, Christie begins to work a lot and fruitfully. She publishes from 1 to 3 books a year; a slight decline in creative activity falls on the period of World War II. For 10 years, from 1926 to 1936, she wrote 21 books. In 1930, the novel “Murder in the Vicar’s House” was first published with the main character Miss Marple. The writer complicates the system of her characters, adds new faces, such as, for example, Miss Lemon. In some of her novels, characters from different series meet and act together. In 1939, the novel Ten Little Indians was published, which the queen of the detective considered herself her best creation. In the 40s and 50s, Christie’s productivity decreased slightly, she experimented with different genres, wrote historical and spy novels. Agatha Christie, whose list of books is difficult to distribute through her series, turns to drama, she writes part of the works without the participation of her usual characters. In total, it is customary in her work to single out such series as works about:
- Hercule Poirot;
- Miss Marple;
- Mr. Parker Payne;
- a couple of detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford;
- Inspector Buttle.
Novels about Ecrule Poirot
The detective of Belgian origin Hercule Poirot Agatha Christie, whose list of books includes 33 novels and 51 short stories, is the most famous character of the writer. This strange narcissist with a special style and unique intelligence speaks good English, but with a strong accent. He notices things that others fail to pay even the slightest attention to. Christie called him sometimes vile, then unbearable, but the audience loved him very much. And the writer decided to “end” with Poirot only a year before her own death (in 1975): in the novel “Curtain” he dies. The New York Times responded to his death with an obituary; this was the only case in history when the death of a fictional person was announced. Such an honor was awarded only to the author of detectives Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot (books, the list of which is replenished today by new translations into different languages ​​of the world, is presented in the article) is the main character of the following works:
- "The Secret of the Blue Express."
- "The Death of Lord Ergved."
- "Death in the air."
- "Cards on the table."
- "One, two, three - button shoe", etc.
Miss Marple Series
Works about the old detective are the second most popular books by Agatha Christie. The list of texts about Miss Marple includes 12 novels and 20 short stories, including:
- "The body in the library."
- Finger of Fate.
- "Murder declared."
- "Broken mirror, ringing."
The prototype of the image of Jane Marple was the writer's grandmother, she was a kind person, but always, according to Agatha, she suspected everyone in the world at the worst. For the first time the old woman appears in the story "Thirteen Mysterious Cases" in 1927. Back in 1940, Christy wrote the novel The Sleeping Murder, in which Miss Marple passed away, but this work was published only in 1976, after the death of Agatha herself. The most recent works about this character were published in the stories "Miss Marple's Recent Deeds" in 1979. Although some of the short stories were published earlier in magazines.
The detective has many oddities, she always tells some stories from the life of her village neighbors, she is very curious and active. The old woman embodies the traditions of old England, unlike Poirot, and promotes the classic values ​​of the British: home, garden, privacy. Jane Marple is very sociable, she constantly visits friends and relatives and usually finds herself in the vicinity of some crime, the investigation of which is included. Her harmless appearance of a classic old maid allows her to easily enter into trust in people, she is invited to tea, where she finds out everything she needs to solve crimes. Miss Marple is very observant, she always has a complex chain of associations with events in her village of St. Mary Mead.
Series about Mr. Parker Pine
Another character in the works of Agatha Christie appeared for the first time in short stories in 1934. In total, 14 stories were published about the life of Mr. Pyne, and most of them are combined in the collection “Investigating Parker Pyne”. A former civil servant, the owner of a detective agency, is ready to help those who have an unhealed mental wound. The works of this series are not classic detectives, the source of the investigation is usually not a crime, but the personal history of the agency’s clients. Pine is very popular in the English-speaking world, in Russia, Poirot and Miss Marple are better known, and the texts about Pine are less readable.
Tommy and Tuppence Beresford
The collection of Agatha Christie, whose list of books includes more than a hundred works, would be incomplete without texts about a family of detectives. Tommy and Tuppence first appeared in the second novel of the writer "Mysterious Opponent" of 1922. Then they were not married and began life themselves with a crime - blackmail as a way to earn money. But they quickly realized that investigations are just as exciting and more profitable, and they become detectives. Christy rarely remembered this couple, in total they appear in 4 novels and 15 stories, including: “Click a finger only once” and “X or the game”. The novel “The Gates of Fate" tells the story of 70-year-old heroes investigating the murder. This novel was the last text written by Agatha Christie, after which her health no longer allowed her to write. But he did not become the last published work of the writer.
Inspector Battle
Agatha Christie, a writer whose book list is incredibly long, loved to return to her characters, their life and images became an auxiliary storyline for detectives. Inspector Battle first appeared in The Secret of Chimniz Castle in 1925. Superintendent Battle specializes in the investigation of sensitive affairs related to state secrets. He is charged with crimes whose publicity is undesirable. In total, the inspector will appear in Christie’s 5 novels (Toward Zero, Killing is Easy, The Secret of the Seven Dials, and others). She writes little about his life and does not even dignify her character with a name. All that the reader knows about him is that he works in Scotland Yard, that he is married and has 5 children. This very restrained, intelligent and cultured person embodied Christie's best ideas about a real professional detective.
Other works
Agatha Christie also writes about other characters. For example, Colonel Reis, a British intelligence officer, appears in 4 novels. The texts about him are a tribute to the writer of the genre of espionage novel. Also in the legacy of Christie there are works in which characters appear, which are then not used anywhere else. This is Harley Keen in the storybook Mysterious Mr. Keen (1930), Inspector Narracott in The Riddle of Sittaford (1931), Frankie and Bobby in Why Not Evans? (1935), Inspector Maine and Thomas Legg in the novel Ten Little Indians (1939), Charles Hayward in the book The Crooked House.
Dramaturgy
In 1928, a new playwright appeared in Great Britain - Agatha Christie. The list of books in the order of their writing differs from the list by the time of publication: this is connected with the plans of the author himself and with the ideas of publishers. In 1928, a dramatic version of Christie’s sixth novel about Roger Ackroyd, the play Alibi, appeared. In total, 24 plays were released from the pen of the writer, some of them reproduce the plots of novels and short stories. But Christie's most famous play, of course, is her Mousetrap.
List of the best
In the great legacy of the writer, each reader finds his favorite work. Researchers believe that the best books by Agatha Christie, the list of which is difficult to limit by a figure, are:
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).
- “Murder in the Vicar's House” (1930).
- The Mystery of the Endhouse Estate (1932).
- “Murder on the Orient Express” ”(1934).
- "Death on the Nile" (1937).
- The Ten Little Indians (1939).
- “Evil under the Sun” (1941).
- “Death Comes to an End” (1944).
- The Twisted House (1949).
- "At 4.50 from Paddington" (1957).
Adaptations
Christie's detectives are the most sought-after works by filmmakers. Films based on the books of Agatha Christie, whose list is constantly growing, were considered honored to shoot even famous directors. Altogether, various film studios of the world have shot at least 100 tapes based on its texts. The most noticeable were the pictures:
- “Murder on the Orient Express.”
- "Ten Little Indians."
- "Woe to the innocent."
- The Mystery of the Dead.
Television men also could not ignore her work, there are many isolated productions and two extremely successful series about Poirot and Miss Marple.
Awards and Records
Despite the enormous literary heritage, Agatha Christie received quite a few awards in her life. Her novels and plays were awarded several literary prizes, including the prestigious Prize to them. E. Poe. In 1956, the writer was awarded a prestigious award - the Order of the British Empire. But her legacy breaks many records. One of the most published in the world is the book of Agatha Christie: the list of languages ​​into which they are translated has exceeded one hundred. She is the third largest publisher in the world after the Bible and Shakespeare's texts. The total circulation of editions of her works is already almost 5 billion copies. She owns the largest number of dramatizations of literary works.