agatha christie and the strange language

maryamalbulushi

I noticed whenever I read an engish Ac book there's some sentences written in strang language - not in english - and they are different than the tet format ,so my question is are they importent??  and what do they mean?? because i can not understand these sentences and I skip them!! so can anyone help

maryamalbulushi

text format **

mike1410

In Christie's books Poirot (and sometimes other characters) often uses phrases in French, or quotes from other works of literature, or nursery rhymes or old sayings. When this happens the phrases are usually shown in italics in the book, and very rarely translated on the page if they are not in English. It can occasionally help the reader in the understanding of the story (or in working out who the murderer is) if they know what the phrase means. I sometimes use Google to translate them accurately, sometimes have a stab at the general meaning with my schoolboy French and sometimes just skip over them.

maryamalbulushi

Ok thank you so much for your help

christine.hennrich

I have thought about taking an intro to French class, to learn what some of these little French phrases mean!

shana

French class is a little too much I think, Christine. You have on-line dictionaries in which  you can look the words up. There are just a couple of phrases or words Poirot often uses. But it is a little off putting to have to look it up while reading, generally they don't hold any clues as to who dunnit. So I also just skip over them and look them up after wards. After a while you won't have to anymore. look them up, I mean.

maryamalbulushi

Yeah I agree with you about the French classes being too much.. I just wanted to know if these phrases are important..so thanks everyone

Tommy_A_Jones

I think French Classes are a Brilliant Idea, It will help you in later life perhaps also, I saw a Contestant on a Quiz who liked Red Dwarf so much he learned Esperanto.

maryamalbulushi

They will help her in the future.. But if the classes are only to understand the French phrases in AC's books that'll be little too much

kaberi.chakrabarty

As much as I adore Christie, I have often thought that the phrases she has Poirot speak are not reflective of how language learners actually speak. For example, he frequently calls people Monsieur This or Madame That, when in real life, words like Mister or Miss are usually the first words that someone learns, not the last ones.

Still love Poirot, though.

roamingrover86

Poirot is Belgian for Christ's sake! What  do you expect?? He /Christie does a fantastic job in keeping most of his emotions in ENGLISH it only feels natural that sudden expressions or major emotions would be spurted out in his native tongue. It gives a feel for the situation portraying how exactly his face may have lit up i.e "Mon Amie" gives a much better feel than "My friend" . A foreigner would look foolish/uninteresting if he keeps on saying "My Friend" in every instance however when he does the exact same thing in his native tongue it seems so NORMAL!!!! 

 Just my opinion & I'm entitled to it. Thanks!

Tommy_A_Jones

Yes but when a person has the knowledge they can then choose how to use it, If you don't learn French you can't choose how to use it.

maryamalbulushi

@roamingrover86‌ I know that.. It was just a question because I wanted to know if these phrases are important or you can just skip them.. And I do respect your opinion and any other persons opinion..

maryamalbulushi

Person's*

mike1410

Mostly they are not that important. Agatha knew full well when she was writing the books that a lot of her readers were not French speakers, it's just another Poirot idiosyncrasy. Use Google to translate the first few you find or any that particularly interest you. You'll see a lot of the phrases are repeated by in other novels.

++++++++SPOILERS++++++++++

Far more important are the subtle plays on names that Agatha uses. Abbreviations like Lottie & Lettie in 'A Murder is Announced'. Gender neutral names like Pip & Em (also in 'A Murder is Announced') or Evelyn (in 'Mrs McGinty's Dead'). The use of mirrors and reflections in them (with regard  to Arabella Tanios and Theresa Arundell in 'Dumb Witness') or to reflect a persons physical characteristics (Cora in 'After The Funeral'). Spot these little tricks (which Christie is always open about) and you're far more likely to guess the murderer.

roamingrover86

Murder on the Links is probably the book with highest percentage of french being used not only by Poirot but by most of the characters as well. The book/story is based in France however its elementary French so shouldn't be a problem for most.

Tommy_A_Jones

That will be why I don't like it, I find difficult Books set abroad especially The Continent, I read Betty Rowlands Mel Craig Books and my least favourite is set in France