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Friday, August 19, 2016

Mr Davenheim's Clocks


When reconstructing the events leading up to a murder, it's important to get a record of what took place when. Clocks feature prominently in Agatha Christie's stories, particularly her early novels. In The Murder on the Links and The Big Four, a broken clock suggests the time of a murder. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a doctor who mends clocks will accompany Hercule Poirot on his investigation. 

The TV productions didn't always use all the little clues Christie sprinkled into her stories. One of the casualties was often clocks (or broken clocks), as well as the recorded times, which led the police to suspect or arrest people for a given murder. But the productions often showcased beautiful clocks in people's homes, as set dressings for these period productions. In "The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim," we find a smart mantle clock in the large, modern home of a bank executive who has gone missing. But it's far from the most impressive clock in this rich man's house.



This is the one I really like. We see Mrs Davenheim standing near it when she's waiting for her husband to emerge from his study, as well as when he leaves her to walk into the village. But we don't get to see its entire grandeur yet.



Later, when Captain Hastings arrives to question Mrs Davenheim on behalf of Poirot, accompanied by the stalwart Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard, we see Mrs Davenheim lighting a cigarette before this clock. We see that it is a pedestal clock. Its structure and ornamentation are reminiscent of a Greek temple. I long to see more of it, but then Mrs Davenheim turns away from the mirror to see her visitors, and the camera turns away with her.



The only time we see the entire clock is on the night of Mr Davenheim's disappearance. His wife is calling the police, to ask for assistance in locating him. She stares through the open blinds, through the window, and down the road to the village. While she's hoping to see her husband emerge from the darkness, I'm hoping to get a close up view of the clock. Sadly, this is as close as we get, and no amount of enlarging or zooming will give us a really clear view of this clock. But one thing is certain. In addition to losing a lovely wife, and a spacious home, Mr Davenheim lost two really nice clocks the day he disappeared. 

Dragon Dave

Monday, August 1, 2016

Agatha Christie's Hotel on the Moors

I've recently learned that the Moorland Hotel at Hay Tor, or Moorlands House, was sold earlier this year to a company called Hieronymous Gruff Limited, which sounds as if it must be associated with Harry Potter in some way. The company plans to renovate the hotel, and even hire actors and drama students to help energize the new hotel's ambiance. 

When my wife and I planned our trip to England last year, we tried to book a room in Moorlands House. After all, to stay in the hotel where Agatha Christie stayed and wrote would have to be inspiring, right? But it had no vacancies, so we stayed in a nice, homey Bed & Breakfast nearby. But I couldn't leave Hay Tor without stopping by Moorlands House, and taking a quick photograph of the hotel Agatha Christie stayed in. There, in a room without a computer, or even electricity, she picked up her pen, and a pad of paper, and wrote a major portion of her rough draft of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. Or, as she put it, "I used to write laboriously all morning until my hand ached."

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Then, in the afternoon, she would take a walk across the moors, and think about what she had just written, as well as how to carry the story forward. No doubt during these walks she also climbed nearby Hay Tor numerous times, and gazed around the surrounding moors.




I'd like to return to Devon, and Dartmoor, to explore more of Agatha Christie's English landscape. If, in a few years time, I were to book a night in Moorlands House, I wonder if I might find a well dressed Belgian refugee, with an exquisitely tailored mustache, working there. Or perhaps a handsome Army officer walking with a slight limp, as a result of his WWI injuries? I'd like that. It'd certainly be something to see.

If you go there before I can return, let me know what the revamped hotel was like, okay?

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links:

Hay Tor Hotel Sale

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Arthur Hastings & the Battle of Messines

Recently, a reader wrote in to enhance my understanding of the setting for The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The clues she caught, but I had missed, set Agatha Christie's novel in 1917. Initially, this confused me, as Agatha Christie wrote her novel in 1916. She booked a room in the Moorland Hotel at Hay Tor in Dartmoor, and finished her novel. Unless she could hop into Doctor Who's TARDIS, and travel forward in time, how could she know what the next year would bring, and set the story, during World War I, in a specific month? 

But then I thought about the situation some more. Although she wrote the first draft of her novel in 1916, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was not published in the United States until 1920. (It wasn't published in her home country of England until 1921!) This means that, during 1917, 1918, or 1919, or perhaps even 1920, she could look back on WWI, how it affected her home town of Torquay, and decide when to "set" her story. 

So she wasn't envisioning the future when she wrote her first draft. Which is too bad, for those who are looking for more links between Doctor Who and Agatha Christie, aside from those covered in "The Unicorn and the Wasp," in which the Tenth Doctor encountered Agatha Christie during a crucial period of her life.


Agatha Christie, Donna, and the Doctor

Anyway, back to Captain Hastings, and how Agatha Christie's decision to set The Mysterious Affair at Styles means for his life.

In the TV production of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", Captain Hastings watches Black & White Newsreel Footage of the "New Flanders Offensive." 


At first, I linked this footage with Battle of Passchendaele, or the Third Battle of Ypres, which occurred from late July until November 1917. But Christie (as Hastings) writes that Hastings leaves his English convalescent hospital and travels to Styles House on July 5, 1917. A review of the newsreel footage suggests that what Hastings was actually watching was the Battle of Messines, in which the British army set a series of explosives beneath German lines, and turned a defensive ridge into a series of craters. Although only lasting seven days, from 7 to 14 June 1917, it was one of those complicated, bloody land battles of WWI that caused thousands of injuries and deaths. 

Somehow, this makes it easier for me to imagine what Arthur Hastings is feeling. He's just spent seven months or so in this "rather depressing Convalescent Home," as he puts it. Now (in the TV adaptation) he sees all the deaths and injuries his fellow British soldiers are suffering. Surrounded by so many soldiers suffering, and presumably dying, this hits him hard. 



He's got to wonder how many more troops will be evacuated to stay in the place where he's been recuperating, and how many of those will die instead of getting better. And this is just from a little, preliminary battle, which involves getting British troops into better strategic positions, so that the real battle, The Third Battle of Ypres, (or, if you prefer, the slaughter) can begin.

Dragon Dave

Related Poirot And Friends entries
Arthur Hastings, a Beautiful Lady & the Battle of the Somme

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Strong Women, Humor & Homosexuality in the Library

Warning: This article contains spoilers!

Recently, I watched a TV adaptation of the Agatha Christie story "The Body in the Library." This production featured Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, and the vivacious Joanne Lumley as her friend Dolly Bantry. I've loved Geraldine McEwan's work ever since I saw her playing Lucia in a London Weekend Television production of "Mapp And Lucia," and also as reclusive Miss Farnaby in the Fantasy Sitcom "Mulberry." In many ways, she seemed a perfect fit for the character of Miss Marple, but I always had trouble seeing her as that character. Ms McEwan must have agreed, for she left the series after playing the character for a mere two years. 

One thing I noted in the TV story was how many strong female character there were. Of course there's Miss Marple, who dresses in dowdy clothes and mumbles strange phrases that no one understands. As she seems so odd, few people initially respect her. But in the end, she solves the murder, and proves all the male police wrong, so there! Then there's her friend Dolly Bantry, who is thrilled to have found a corpse in her library. How delicious: a body found in her own library! A murder for her friend to solve! 


Hercule Poirot's library
 in Torquay, England

She empowers Miss Marple, taking her out to a seaside resort, and putting her up in the hotel where the dead woman worked, in order to tag along, and assist her friend, the great but quiet detective, in every possible way. We view Dolly as extraordinarily strong, because her husband retreats from the world when a body of a beautiful young woman, and all that implies, is found in his house.

There's the dead woman, who was so extraordinarily successful in playing up to an elderly man that he decided to adopt her, and leave her a fortune in his will. And there are the two villains, who turn out to be two women, who have fallen in love with each other. They kill the money-hungry young woman, and attempt to kill the rich old man, in the hopes of getting their hands on the money. Really, all the key characters are female in the production, with the exception of the police, who are all male.

For their adaptation, the production decided to do something modern and daring. They updated Christie's story to make the two villains female, and unite them in a homosexual love affair. I can't say this is really a huge change, when you consider how the Hercule Poirot stories starring David Suchet were adapted for TV. I suppose it did portray these two women as stronger, as they indulged in a love affair, despite how society of that time would view such a relationship. It also highlighted their intellect, in that they committed such an intricately planned crime, which called for great ingenuity, and a lot of work, to pull off.

Ultimately, the production left me dissatisfied, however. Although they left the revelation until the end, the homosexual angle struck an inauthentic note, and seemed out of character with Christie's writings. The production also stressed sexuality in other ways, most explicitly in the character of a male dancer at the hotel, who also had sex with any female guest willing to give him money. He seemed unapologetic in this regard, as if flaunting his liaisons as a virtue. Overall, the adaptation reminded me of a big screen movie, edited for pace and filled with humor. It unreeled too quickly for a mystery, and kept me laughing constantly. 

Sadly, Geraldine McEwan has left this mortal plane, so I cannot ask her why she left the series, and such a popular character, after a mere two years. But the changes to this Christie story, and the ample humor, left me feeling as if the production were more spoof than serious. After all, if you don't really love and respect the original material, you're likely to take far greater liberties with it, such exploiting the story's humorous potential, playing up the sexuality, and changing the identity of the murderers. 

I wonder if Ms McEwan had similar doubts about the character she portrayed, and how those productions were updated for modern sensibilities. While I cannot judge a series based upon one story, I must say that this production of "The Body in the Library" left me cold. 



And that's a horrible thing to say, especially in regard to writer Agatha Christie, her great detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, and in association such a wonderful thing as a library.

Dragon Dave 

Friday, May 13, 2016

Agatha Christie Loves Life

Life in Torquay, England

A thought for today:

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly despairing, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

--from Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The Importance of the Family

Left to Right:
Lord Kalidor, Red Sonja, Prince Tarn, & Falkon
(Photo courtesy of Chud.com)

While based on a Robert E. Howard character, the Red Sonja known and loved by fans of the Sword and Sorcery genre was created by comics writer Roy Thomas. She appeared in Marvel's "Conan The Barbarian" series, and her popularity demanded reappearances, and eventually, her very own comic. Yet, when you think of Red Sonja, you typically think of a loner. 

Clive Exton, the co-screenwriter for the 1985 "Red Sonja" movie, chose to give her a family. Not a blood-based family: those were all killed by evil Queen Gedren. But a host of companions to assist her on her journey. Red Sonja, as I mentioned, is a loner, so it's not as if she invites these folks to tag along. But they come along regardless. One is Lord Kalidor, who has sworn to protect (and if need be, destroy) a powerful artifact in Gedren's possession. Another is young Prince Tarn, whose kingdom has been vanquished by Gedren's forces. He, in turn, is accompanied by his bodyguard Falkon, who overlook's all his young charge's faults. These people need Red Sonja, and in her own way, she needs them. And so, as I mentioned in my previous post, "The Gentle Humor of Red Sonja," Clive Exton gathered these other characters around her, and give her a sense of family.

Left to Right:
Inspector Japp, Hercule Poirot, Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon
Photo Courtesy of Gumshoe Pages

Would we have fallen in love with David Suchet's portrayal of Hercule Poirot in the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot had Clive Exton not surrounded the famous detective with his friend Captain Hastings, his secretary Miss Lemon, and Scotland Yard detective Japp? Personally, I think not. I find the later adaptations, in which Poirot's early family is mostly absent, and he is only surrounded by characters unique to that particular story, rather empty. 

Hercule Poirot & Ariadne Oliver
(Photo courtesy of Pinterest.com)

It's only in the last few seasons, when the production team paired him continually with mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, that the series gave me that buzz that made those early shows so powerful.

But then, that's the importance of family. I'm sure Clive Exton knew it before "Red Sonja," but it's a skill he demonstrated in the fantasy movie, a few years before he perfected it in Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Dragon Dave

Links
Gumshoe Pages 



Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The Gentle Humor of Red Sonja

On paper, the 1985 film "Red Sonja" has a lot going for it. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sandahl Bergman from the 1981 film "Conan The Barbarian," as well as a host of notable appearances. The story is painted on a broader canvas, and far more complex than "Conan." The movie contains some striking visuals, in locations, in sets, and in special effects. Yet ultimately, it all fails to come together. Perhaps it was just too ambitious a story to relate, given the director's experience and resources. When I initially saw the movie, I dismissed it, as did many others viewers.

Yet something in the film keeps drawing me back, insisting that I watch it again and again. Not only do I feel this call, but my wife does also. We've got the film on DVD. We can stream it on VUDU. We've even downloaded it to our computer, so we can watch it while on travel. Some stories are like that. For all their imperfections, there's still something at the heart of the story that makes it special to you.

While Robert E. Howard created a character named Red Sonya for a historical adventure, it was Roy Thomas who adapted her into Red Sonja, and included her in Conan's Hyborian Age. Even more so than in the earlier "Conan" movie, "Red Sonja" feels like several issues of a Marvel Comics series faithfully translated to the screen for our enjoyment. One great set piece follows another. None of them are as great as they should be, but they're all fun, or exciting, or visually interesting, or humorous.

Humorous? You naturally think of a Sword and Sorcery story being action-packed, but not necessarily big on humor. Yet the characters in "Red Sonja" have a sweet, endearing quality, and when they are together, you notice the gentle humor between them. It's the same humor that binds Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings together, as well as their secretary Miss Lemon and Scotland Yard Inspector Japp, and makes Agatha Christie's Poirot, particularly those early episodes, so much fun to watch. But then, Clive Exton, who adapted twenty of those early Poirot stories for television, and enhanced Christie's stories and novels to increase the characters' mutual affection, also cowrote the screenplay for "Red Sonja."

No wonder I love the 1985 movie "Red Sonja" so much.

Dragon Dave

Friday, March 25, 2016

I Am Not Alone


One reason I avoid book groups is because everyone has a different interpretation of what he or she reads. I'm okay with that. In fact, I view that as a plus. That's why I joined book clubs in the past, to hear all those different opinions. Unfortunately, so many readers believe that their interpretation is the only interpretation. Often, they back their opinion up with research in order to fortify their opinion, until it becomes indistinguishable to them from the truth. So when I put my spin on things, ostensibly for their benefit (as I already know my own opinion), they launched into me with their claws, or if you will, their daggers, with a seeming delight in slashing my inferior, if not flat-out-wrong opinion, to shreds.

I freely admit that my speculation regarding Arthurian influences in The Murder on the Links is just that: mere speculation. I'm by no means an expert with regard to Agatha Christie. Yet King Arthur is regarded an important mythological, and perhaps even a historical figure, in England. I imagine, in Agatha Christie's day, he was even more so than today. And closely associated with Arthur was his sword, given to him by the Lady of the Lake, or pulled by him from a stone. It's name, as you might recall, was Excaliber.

Perhaps I'm wrong about Agatha Christie's intentions on weaving Arthurian symbolism into the novel. But if I am, I suspect I am not alone in my speculations. Agatha Christie specified a very different looking knife to that which the production team used in filming the story for Agatha Christie's Poirot. They obviously made that change for a carefully considered reason. Is it possible that they also noticed the little clues I noticed, and thus transformed a plain looking, black-handled knife for this miniature sword with an elegant, dare-I-say kingly handle?

Believe what you will. By no means does their decision validate my suspicions as to Agatha Christie's intentions. But their decision on how to depict the murder weapon, or the murder weapons, leads me to one comfortable conclusion. Perhaps, just perhaps, in this matter, I am not alone.

That's a good feeling.

Dragon Dave


Thursday, March 24, 2016

One Mysterious Knife?

Finally, the knife ends up in police custody!

In her novel The Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie describes the murder weapon as having a plain black handle. In the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation, it sports an elegant golden handle. In her novel, it's referred to as a knife, a letter opener, or a dagger. Jack Renauld had it made to commemorate his military service in World War I. He was a pilot, and although it's never stated, we wonder if some of the metal came from the wreckage of his crashed plane.

The knife in Agatha Christie's novel may not be as pretty as its TV cousin, but it's more mysterious. Finally, we learn the reason for its amazing mobility. Jack Renauld commissioned not just one knife, but three. He gave one to his mother, one to Ms. Duveen, and one to Marthe Daubreil. So which knife committed which murder? 

I wonder how many former soldiers like Jack Renauld commissioned weapons to commemorate their World War I service.

Dragon Dave

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Another Stabbing?

Another stabbing victim in The Murder on the Links?

Hey! What's that knife gotten up to now? There it is: stuck in the chest of a man found in the garden shed on Paul Renault's property. So the knife has killed again! 

Or has it? The coroner's not so sure. After he assesses the body, he finds insufficient blood outside the wound. So that means someone stuck the knife into the man after he died. Why would someone hide the body? And why would someone stage another stabbing?

It's just one more question for Hercule Poirot. But that's why we love Agatha Christie: She keeps us guessing.

Dragon Dave

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Deadly Beauty


In the Agatha Christie's Poirot production of The Murder on the Links, we find the beautiful knife has gone walkabout. Now it's no longer in lounge singer Bella Duveen's dressing room. Instead, it's in the back of Paul Renault, handsome Jack's father. He's been found on the golf course adjacent to his house. 

Is it beautiful weapon? The Coroner's not sure.

Dragon Dave

Monday, March 21, 2016

One Beautiful Knife


In the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation of The Murder on the Links, we see elegant lounge singer Bella Duveen in her dressing room. On her table sits a photograph of handsome Jack Renault. As she stares at the photograph, she picks up an elegant knife. Pain infuses her expression, and her gaze turns inward. We can't help but wonder what she's thinking. And what's her fascination with the knife all about?

It is a beautiful knife, isn't it? Why do we see beauty in such weapons?

Dragon Dave

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hercule Poirot & Arthurian Legends


A display of swords in Torre Abbey museum
in Agatha Christie's hometown Torquay

When I visited the World Fantasy Convention held in Brighton in 2013, my wife and I met an  artist from France. Among his interests was a focus on King Arthur. I enjoyed his paintings of Arthur and his knights, as they searched for the holy Grail, and lived out many of the other stories that surround this historical (mythological) king, his sorcerer and advisor Merlin, his right-hand man Sir Lancelot, his loving but ultimately adulterous Queen Guinevere, and the rest of those who sat around the round table. Only later did it strike me as odd that a French artist should be so interested in an English king.

Unlike English children, who would have grown up surrounded by Arthurian myth, what really drew my attention to Arthurian legends was the film "Excalibur." Named after his famous sword, the movie, directed by Englishman John Boorman swept me away with its rich characterization, gripping drama, and lush photography. I saw it several times in the cinema, and later purchased it on VHS tape, DVD, and Blu-ray. Because I loved the film so much, I later read Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, novels in the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead, and many other books and stories associated with Arthurian legend.

While King Arthur may be a curiosity in the United States, the Arthur history and myths are part of English culture. It surprised me to learn that they are also important in France. In fact, while Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur aims at being a comprehensive record of Arthurian lore, much of what he includes in his book was first recorded by French poet Chretien de Troyes. While I've not read any of these Medieval English or French stories that Malory drew on in his depiction of Arthur, I get the sense that the English and the French depict Arthur in different terms. To the English, he is heroic and wise, the first man to ever unite the disparate peoples, towns, and areas into one island nation. The French see him as a very human man, cuckolded, vulnerable, and many times ineffectual. Nevertheless, because he tries so hard, and aims so high, they still view him with affection and respect for his ambitions and achievements. 

In The Murder on the Links, a plea for assistance from Paul Renauld summons Hercule Poirot and his friend Captain Hastings to France. The name of the town where Renauld lives is named Merlinville-sur-Mer. The house in which the Renauld family lives is named Villa Genevieve. Sadly, by the time Poirot and Hastings arrive, Paul Renauld has been murdered. One of the suspects is a woman who lives next door. Once she was a beautiful young woman, the queen of her husband's financial empire, who ultimately committed adultery against her husband. The man who she committed adultery with was Paul Renauld, then known as Georges Conneau, who was her husband's right-hand man. The murder weapon is a long, sharp letter opener, or paper knife. The Renauld family also refers to it as dagger, which is a term for a short sword. And this is not just any dagger, but like Excalibur, one that was specially commissioned. 

As we all know, Merlin was the wizard who served the legendary King Arthur. Like Hercule Poirot, he was impossibly wise, and performed feats that others could only attribute to magic. In The Murder on the Links, we see events unfold through Captain Hastings' eyes. We see his initial distrust of Poirot's methods inevitably overturned, as his friend's magical methods of detection, and his wisdom, are proven true. Like King Arthur, Captain Hastings longs to be the hero of the story. In many ways, particularly with regard to the young, beautiful, and seemingly helpless Ms. Duveen, Captain Hastings risks his life and future career to preserve her life and character. While his acts ultimately prove ineffectual, we still view him with affection and respect for his ambitions and achievements.

I don't know to what extent Agatha Christie loved the King Arthur legends, but I can't help but notice the similarities between them and the characters and events in The Murder on the Links. I also find it striking how she makes the narrator, Hastings, someone we love and admire, even if his wise friend often solves mysteries through seemingly magical means. While he no longer serves in the military, he did achieve the rank of Captain, which suggests that he is a leader of men. In addition to assisting his friend Hercule Poirot, he currently serves an MP in the English Parliament, a high post for any person to achieve. Finally, of all the names she could have chosen, what name did Agatha give the narrator of her first two Hercule Poirot novels?



It was Arthur, wasn't it?

Dragon Dave

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Reading Recollections: Three Act Tragedy

While adding a reading list for 2016, it occurred to me that I cannot continually add lists in the sidebar. So I decided to go through my list of books from 2011, and share a few recollections about those reading experiences. Then, I'll have to edit the list, or move it elsewhere on the blog.

Before we made our first visit to England that year, my wife and I spent a week on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The first few days proved idyllic. The biggest highlight, by far, was our whale watching trip. We cruised along on a large ferry, and found ourselves constantly surrounded by whales. If they swam a little farther away from us, at least our ride was more comfortable than that enjoyed by those aboard the little powerboats, that zoomed up far closer to our aquatic neighbors.




One night, we awoke to blaring sirens. When we turned on the television, we realized that a tsunami warning was in progress. We stayed awake for most of the rest of the night, and watched ongoing news reports about the terrible devastation occurring in Japan. As our hotel lay along the beach, we debated getting in our rental car and moving to higher ground. Finally, to take our minds off our anxiety, we turned off the TV and read. 

One of those novels I remember reading that week was Three Act Tragedy. Hercule Poirot attends a party at a house along the coast of Cornwall. Drinks are passed around, and one of those who take a glass dies. Yet no poison is found, and if the drink was poisoned, how could the murderer insure that his intended victim took the correct glass from the waiter's tray? What I remember most is that Hercule Poirot, for the most part, remains a spectral, remote figure during the novel. Instead of investigating directly, the task is left to his friend Charles Cartwright, and an attractive young girl nicknamed Egg.

Ironically, that week we visited a cowboy town in the mountains. At a farmer's market, we found a yellow fruit the seller called Egg Fruit. 



The interior was dense, and this, in addition to the taste, reminded me of cheesecake. I've been back to Hawaii several times since then, and each time I've searched through the farmers markets. I have yet to find another egg fruit available for purchase. 

Oh well, there are always papayas.


Yum...papayas!
EXTERMINATE PAPAYAS!!!


Tsunamis may be regular events in Hawaii, but that doesn't mean they don't cause difficulties for everyone. Even though powerful waves did not hit Maui's shores, all the events we had booked for the rest of the week were canceled. Most were never rescheduled. We tried to go snorkeling during our remaining time there, but couldn't, as the currents around the islands were disrupted, more violent, and unpredictable. On our last day there, we broke down and purchased a second whale watching trip. But the whales, perhaps spooked by the displacement of the ocean currents, eluded us.

We never really recovered from the loss of that night's sleep. This left us in a dulled, drugged state for the remainder of the week. But if we found the remainder of our vacation rather disappointing, at least no one we knew died. This could not be said of the people of Japan, who experienced the brunt of the tsunami. Our disappointments cannot be compared to the terrible devastation visited upon that island nation. Theirs was truly a tragedy, and of far more than three acts.

Dragon Dave

Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Romance of the Seafront: Part 2


Like Deauville and Trouville, Agatha Christie's English hometown of Torquay offers romantic views along the seafront. My wife and I wandered along the above stretch of seafront on our second day in Torquay. It was pleasant to stroll along, take photographs of the sea, wander through the occasional park, or climb down the stairs to the beaches we passed along the way. It offered us a nice little walk to stretch our legs, before spending the afternoon in the Torre Abbey museum.



With its palm trees, and all the sails out on the water, you might easily believe you were visiting a tropical island. But this is England, and even though it was summer, we saw few bikini-clad ladies lazing on the beaches, or families frolicking in the surf. Still, it was a lovely day, and Torquay offers a nice mix of old and new architectural styles. I especially liked this circular walkway, that corkscrews from the seafront road to the beach.



On our first day in Torquay, we had not yet located an inexpensive place to park. So we stopped in this carpark at the edge of town, and paid for an hour or two. It was such a scenic place that, after eating our lunch, I got out my pencils and started drawing. It was the first time I worked with my Prismacolor pencils, and sadly, it shows. But the main problem was that I simply didn't have time to do the vista justice, not at the parking rates they were charging, and not when there was so much of Torquay we had yet to visit.



One of my goals for the year is not only to do more sketching, but to finish the sketches I've started. Hopefully, I can do this sketch justice, by imbuing it with the sense of romance that tempts us to leave our comfortable homes, and travel great distances to such exotic locales. I loved that little place by the sea, the boat bobbing in the water in front of the island, and the waves wash gently against the rocks. I can imagine Arthur Hastings and Bella Duveen standing there, holding hands while they ponder their future together. I can also see Hercule Poirot standing on the ramp, holding onto the guardrails, and gazing out at the lovely view. How about you?

Dragon Dave

Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Romance of the Seafront: Part 1

Is there even one person on this planet who does not find the seafront a romantic locale? After the cataclysmic events of the Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "Murder on the Links," Arthur Hastings finds he cannot yet bear to return to England. So he remains in Deauville, and the place he immediately heads to is the seafront.

One thing he had not reckoned upon was Hercule Poirot's understanding of the human heart. So as Hastings wanders along the seafront, who should pull up, but his friend in a beautiful old car? 




The person who leaves the taxi is not Hercule Poirot, however, but Bella Duveen, the girl Arthur Hastings has fallen in love with. The seafront provides a perfect place for their reunion.



According to one blogger, Joan D., this scene was actually filmed along the old waterfront road in the nearby French town of Trouville. But whether you're looking to fall in love with a beautiful hotel lounge singer, as Captain Arthur Hastings did in "Murder on the Links," or to share a special trip with the person you already love, the two lovely French towns of Deauville and Trouville, with their sweeping views across the English Channel of the white cliffs of Dover (at least, on a cloudless day), seem like the perfect place to spice up your love life.

They seem like wonderful places to take my wife one day. Or, at least, after we've visited all the places we wish to see in England.

Dragon Dave

Internet Links
Joan D's location comments on "Murder on the Links"

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Pleasant Recollections: Evil Under The Sun

While adding a reading list for 2016, it occurred to me that I cannot continually add lists in the sidebar. So I decided to go through my list of books from 2011, and share a few recollections about those reading experiences. Then, I'll have to edit the list, or move it elsewhere on the blog.

In 2011, I read two novels by Agatha Christie, both featuring her famous detective Hercule Poirot. While I'm familiar with the story of Evil Under The Sun, having seen the production many times, I cannot honestly recall anything from reading the book five years ago. Perhaps, when I read it again, some memories of that earlier experience will return.

For those not familiar with the story, it occurs on Burgh Island off the south coast of Devon, England. Cut off from the mainland, several murders take place there, and it is up to Hercule Poirot to solve them. Agatha Christie visited the island once, and her visit there inspired her to write the novel. Later, when Agatha Christie's Poirot adapted the novel, the TV production also filmed the story on Burgh Island. I had hoped to visit Burgh Island during our tour of Devon last year, but ultimately had to drop it from my itinerary.


A small, unnamed island off Beacon Cove,
one of Agatha Christie's favorite bathing spots
in her hometown of Torquay, England.

There's lots of little islands off the coast of Cornwall and Devon. Not all of them are large enough to have a hotel or village built on them. Some, such as the island of Lundy, off the west coast of Devon, are wildlife sanctuaries. I seriously considered visiting Lundy, as some key events in Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! take place there. But ultimately, we had to drop that visit from our itinerary as well.

Despite all the places we couldn't visit in the time available, including Burgh and Lundy, and all the other picturesque islands off the coast of Devon, we visited some key Agatha Christie sites, including Dartmoor, Torquay, and Dartmouth. Still, with two full weeks available to us, you would think we could have seen more than a fraction of all the places we wished. After all, England is only an island nation, right?

Dragon Dave

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Hastings in the Houses of Parliament

Recently, I read I Will Repay by Baroness Emma Orczy, the sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel. Although written second, this eventually became the sixth novel in her series of books about Sir Percy Blakeney, a British nobleman who saves the French aristocracy from the guillotine. I like how Orczy took the time later to illumine earlier periods of Sir Percy's life, and I look forward to reading those prequels. I also like how her novels, or at least the two I've read thus far, illumine the French revolution for me. I don't remember studying this period in any depth in school History classes, whether in elementary, high school, or even in my college years. Any American readers out there feel as though their teachers covered the French Revolution well? Or have I just grown forgetful in my, um, mature years?

While reading I noticed some intriguing similarities between Orczy's second novel and the characters and situations Agatha Christie used in her second novel, The Murder on the Links. As Christie set her novel in France, perhaps this was intentional on her part. Likewise, when I read Orczy's first novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, I spotted similarities with Christie's debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I wrote about these in a couple posts, perhaps most extensively in "Agatha Christie: Inspiration for Hercule Poirot." (See link below). 

Similarities can always be drawn between stories, especially stories written about a particular country or topic. But one similarity is especially worthy of note. For his early adventures, including The Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie partnered Hercule Poirot with his friend Hastings. Ex-Army officer Captain Arthur Hastings had strong links with the British aristocracy, and worked for a Member of Parliament. Plus, he was an all-around good guy, and fun to have around.



In Baroness Emma Orczy's novels, and especially in I Will Repay, Sir Percy Blakeney helps whisk French nobility from the murderous mobs with stalwart companions who join The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. One prominently mentioned in I Will Repay is Lord Edward Hastings. Although I don't know him so well, I'm sure he's also a really good guy, and equally fun to have around.

Later in her series, John Hastings (Edward's cousin) would also join the League. I look forward to reading about that.



In 2011, on our first visit to London, my wife and I visited the Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister (or P.M.), and the Members of Parliament (or M.P.s), meet in the House of Commons. That's the green upholstered room in the Palace of Westminster, where these elected officials discuss, argue, and vote on governmental issues. By the time we were allowed admittance, the meeting in the House of Commons had adjourned for the night, so we could not see that section of the Palace. But we were allowed admission to the House of Lords. This other wing of the Palace, in which Lords appointed by the monarch, or their successors, meet to discuss the same or similar issues as those of the M.P.s, is upholstered in red. So, in Christie's world, Hastings works for an M.P., elected by the people, who helps run the government of Britain in the green House of Commons. In Orczy's world, Hastings helps run the government in the red House of Lords. Both authors envisioned an important, trustworthy, and fun-loving man named Hastings working in the Palace of Westminster, on the affairs of the nation, on behalf of the British people. An interesting similarity, don't you think?

Of course, as I mentioned in "Agatha Christie's Exclusive Club," Christie and Orczy were both members of The Detection Club, an exclusive writers' club in England. But that would come later for Agatha Christie. When she published The Murder on the Links, she was just an up-and-coming writer, inspired by the efforts of her literary heroes. Might Baroness Emma Orczy have been a hero of Christie's? It'd be nice to pop into Doctor Who's TARDIS, travel back in time, and chat with her about that. After all, it was a Doctor Who TV story, the First Doctor era six-part episode "The Reign of Terror," that got me interested in Baroness Emma Orczy, and reading her books about the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Dragon Dave

Related Poirot Posts:
Agatha Christie: Inspiration for Hercule Poirot
Agatha Christie's Exclusive Club