Happiest Memories of reading an Agatha Christie

MarcWatson-Gray

I have just been sitting in my garden on a beautiful, sunny evening with my dog beside me whilst reading Death On The Nile and feeling very blessed.
This made me wonder,if anyone has any particular memories of a time and place whilst reading and Agatha Christie that brings back happy thoughts ?

MarcWatson-Gray

P.S. May have posted this in the wrong place !!!! But it is the message that's important !!! ha

Griselda

I remember reading Sparkling Cyanide at Butlins Holiday Camp on November 2nd 2012; the party in Sparkling Cyanide for Rosemary's birthday was November 2nd; and I had just read Murder is Easy, which, timefully too, centres on events at Halloween. My sister was occupying my son with music on her phone in the room next door, and it was me time, with a cup of Earl Grey tea, and no need to jump up for the next bout of frantic 'holiday' activity for another hour!!! Bliss.

tudes

I have a lot of moments just like that. I remember the first time I read Why they didn't ask Evans? It's a saturday (my mom has bought it for me that day) and I read it all night sitting on the couch. I was so absorbed by the book that I was invited to a party and I just forgot it. It was a magical night.

tudes

@MarcWatson-Gray , my dog is always with me when I read A.C! She's also a big fan!

Griselda

What does she do to indicate that she is a great fan - and have you tried the 'Dumb Witness' ball game with her on the stairs?

tudes

@Griselda, she's always by my side when I read A.C. She loves playing ball game, but I live in a apartment, so we don't have stairs. I think she would love this game!

Tommy_A_Jones

I have a lot of happy memories reading the Books, Buying the Fontana Paperbacks with the Beautiful Covers, Choosing which I would buy due to which Synopsis I loved most and choosing which ones to read using the same criterior, I used to sit in my batricar and watch the world go by and a lady always came to chat to me and we talked about my 'Blood and Thunders' as she put it, she got me 4. 50 From Paddington and One, Two Buckle My Shoe From The Library so when I read those Books I think of her, I remember losing Dumb Witness at a Friend's House and she sent me Death In The Death In The Clouds because she couldn't find it and I remember My Grandmother Starting me On Agatha Christie when we went to see her in Yorkshire, So many happy memories from Books that have helped through bad times.

MarcWatson-Gray

I tried the Dumb Witness ball game with my dog.I sat the ball in front of him at the top of the stairs....He just sniffed it and walked away !!!! Like you Tudes, I have been so involved in an book (A.C.) that i have stayed at home rather go to a planned party !!!

tudes

@MarcWatson-Gray I'm imaginig the scene. Your dog is fantastic! I've lost parties because of her books. And I don't regret!

Griselda

I remember reading And Then There Were None on holiday in France, as a young teenager, and being terrified by the idea of people being picked off. I could identify with the idea of being there in the story. And the setting became really real to me, its detail of rocks and woods vivid in my head, as it can be only when you are so much younger and more imaginative and impressionable. I hated holidays in France, because my dad would always try to relive his student days in that grand land, and would drag us round cathedrals which seemed dull to me, and Syndicat d'Informations or initiatives, speaking French, which I couldn't understand, and stopping too occasionally in restaurants with live shell fish which walked across the platter to meet your fork, and cafes which served tea with no milk. I would totally immerse myself in Agatha Christie novels on these holidays, to drown out disappointment of not being on the sandy beaches in South Wales, - our other usual holiday destination.

GKCfan

I just have lots of great memories– I started reading Christie in fifth grade, after Christmas, and by October of seventh grade I'd read all of her mysteries.  I spent all of the "reading periods" in school at that time reading every Christie novel I could find.

Griselda

Where did you find the novels? 

GKCfan

Though I eventually bought all of them from local bookstores, my school library had dozens of Christie novels– I'd estimate about 60% of her work.

Griselda

That must have been good! I once visited a rental cottage that had four Agatha Christies. I was so delighted. Death on the Nile was one. I became completely absorbed. Amazon are there for a quick fix now - though I think I've read all the novels.

ChristieFanForLife

I remember when I first read The Ten Little Indians and it was so good I spent the whole night reading it. It definitely kept my attention! At the beginning of the story when the voice on the gramophone began playing ("into that silence came The Voice. Without warning, inhuman, penetrating) and concluded by saying "Prisoner's at the bar, have you anything to say in your defense" it caught my attention immediately and I knew I had to continue reading. I loved that particular scene and the dark mood that it evoked. .....full of mystery and suspense....love it!

GKCfan

Yes, when I started collecting Christie books in 1993, there was no Amazon.com to find everything.  Some small local bookstores only sold a couple of titles, but the mega-bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders had most of Christie's books.  At the time, Five Little Pigs was out of print in the United States, but after a lot of searching I found a shop that had a brand new copy that had been printed a few years earlier.  The problem was that a lot of the books in my school library used alternative titles, so I had to carry an extensive list around to remember what I read and what I hadn't.

Etleva

I always read AC at bed-time,these are blessed moments... After a stressful day, I start traveling with my fantasy, outside of my ordinary world,on the places and characters that Christie describes so masterfully in her works!

Luke

I was in Scotland once in May, reading Death on the Nile and loved it, it took me right to the heat of Egypt. Loved this one! 

Agathasmykid

GKCfan said:

Yes, when I started collecting Christie books in 1993, there was no Amazon.com to find everything.  Some small local bookstores only sold a couple of titles, but the mega-bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders had most of Christie's books.  At the time, Five Little Pigs was out of print in the United States, but after a lot of searching I found a shop that had a brand new copy that had been printed a few years earlier.  The problem was that a lot of the books in my school library used alternative titles, so I had to carry an extensive list around to remember what I read and what I hadn't.

Like you GKCfan, my memories are around finding/buying Agatha Christie books. I started collecting AC books prior to the internet and many of her books were very hard to find. I remember feeling very excited when going on holiday even a short one, and looking for something to read at the bookstore of the place we were visiting.  I would find the occasional Agatha Christie book and I remember how excited I felt, and how much it improved my holiday experience!