tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post1035780050607414632..comments2024-03-28T22:42:54.810-07:00Comments on Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Stories from The Labors of Hercules by Agatha ChristieTracyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-20082351734229310532022-04-07T18:55:44.456-07:002022-04-07T18:55:44.456-07:00I agree, Rick, he is the perfect Poirot and the se...I agree, Rick, he is the perfect Poirot and the sets seem perfect to me. Just gorgeous.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-30687274104184720932022-04-07T18:19:49.646-07:002022-04-07T18:19:49.646-07:00The productions with Suchet are all uniformly exce...The productions with Suchet are all uniformly excellent.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-53136982122253919062022-04-07T15:33:55.106-07:002022-04-07T15:33:55.106-07:00Sam, that is a good question. I have different ans...Sam, that is a good question. I have different answers for the short story adaptations and the novels, although I enjoyed all of them. And we have watched all of them, most of them twice.<br /><br />For the novels, I think the adaptations are very good, and the solution to the crime is always true to the book. In some cases, such as where Poirot does not show up until 1/2 or 2/3 through the novel, the story is rewritten to have him there from the beginning. In some cases, characters are changed or combined. I did not find any that had changes that bothered me much. One very minor thing that irritated me was that in later adaptations, Poirot is portrayed as more religious than I remember in the books.<br /><br />I haven't read a lot of the short stories, but I think a lot of the adaptations added a secondary plot or extended the main plot to make them more interesting. But since Hastings is in most of those, I enjoyed them a lot.<br /><br />Another thing is that Miss Lemon, the secretary, is not in that many Poirot short stories or novels, nor is Inspector Japp, but they are in a good number of the early adaptions. I love those characters in the adaptations too, so that did not bother me. <br />TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-39101144801645783582022-04-07T14:11:52.611-07:002022-04-07T14:11:52.611-07:00I'm curious as to whether the television adapt...I'm curious as to whether the television adaptations do justice to the written stories. Any thoughts?Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-23010873247170910452022-04-06T21:44:02.247-07:002022-04-06T21:44:02.247-07:00George, I read a lot of Agatha Christie books when...George, I read a lot of Agatha Christie books when I was younger and I don't remember which ones. I think maybe I read more Miss Marple and Tommy and Tuppence then.<br /><br />This is a clever collection of stories, from what I have seen so far. I don't know why but I never run into large print editions at sales. That would be very kind of you.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-54371427280103555142022-04-06T19:06:34.418-07:002022-04-06T19:06:34.418-07:00I read this collection back in the 1960s and it Wo...I read this collection back in the 1960s and it Wowed me! I thought Christie was clever to fashion a series of mysteries based on the Labors of Hercules. If I run across a Large Print edition at a Library Sale, I'll send it to you.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-47839980033851291312022-04-06T16:58:47.467-07:002022-04-06T16:58:47.467-07:00And I just realized that the Labors of Hercules st...And I just realized that the Labors of Hercules stories are in that book so I don't need to buy another copy. That is good.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-53576886662853392262022-04-06T16:52:10.391-07:002022-04-06T16:52:10.391-07:00Rick, I have a trade paperback edition of all the ...Rick, I have a trade paperback edition of all the Poirot stories, and I plan to read all of them. It will take a while, but that is fine.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-84629532899854080522022-04-06T15:21:25.798-07:002022-04-06T15:21:25.798-07:00Ah. I have a hardcover of all the Poirot short sto...Ah. I have a hardcover of all the Poirot short stories. I like them!Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-46568762022198796422022-04-06T12:04:30.043-07:002022-04-06T12:04:30.043-07:00Rick, I wish I had a copy of this book with larger...Rick, I wish I had a copy of this book with larger print, this one I have is pretty hard to read. I had planned on waiting to buy a trade paperback and read it later, but changed my mind. If I decide to reread them, I definitely will find a better copy to read.<br /><br />I usually choose to read books before watching an adaptation, in general. I just prefer that. But in the case of the Hercule Poirot novels, the David Suchet adaptations always have the ending (or very similar) as the book, no matter how much they change the rest of the story, and I didn't want the solution spoiled for me. There are three or four of the novels that I did not care that much about reading and I went ahead and watched the adaptations. TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-28774864144194283352022-04-06T10:59:43.385-07:002022-04-06T10:59:43.385-07:00I like this collection a lot and have read it two ...I like this collection a lot and have read it two or three times. <br /><br />You say “I would not watch the adapted novels if I had not read the book first.” Why?Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-20779441872667915782022-04-06T10:23:12.625-07:002022-04-06T10:23:12.625-07:00Margot, I am really just getting started reading C...Margot, I am really just getting started reading Christie's short stories. I have read a few Poirot stories, a few Miss Marple stories, some of the Mr. Quin stories, and Partners in Crime, the Tommy and Tuppence stories. I did not really care for Partners in Crime, but I mostly like the other short stories I have read more recently.<br /><br />Next I want to try the Parker Pyne stories.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-76205433287374960692022-04-06T10:07:24.796-07:002022-04-06T10:07:24.796-07:00Cath, I thought of you when I was reading these st...Cath, I thought of you when I was reading these stories because you have talked about liking myths (and retellings?) on your blog. I know very little about mythology, my son has read much more in that area that I have. So the Labors of Hercules are new to me.<br /><br />I did find your review of this book. You noted that you especially liked the humor in the books, and that is the thing I like about Christie's stories. <br />TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-11108050161752710032022-04-06T09:55:35.649-07:002022-04-06T09:55:35.649-07:00Patti, to a certain extent I agree with you, the s...Patti, to a certain extent I agree with you, the short story form doesn't work as well for puzzle mysteries, so there are a higher percentage of stories I don't like in collections like that. Generally the ones I do like have interesting characters or some other additional attraction. However, I have grown very fond of Hercule Poirot so that makes up for other flaws. Unfortunately these stories don't have Hastings at all, and I love reading about him. <br /><br />When I watched the Poirot TV series, I was surprised to see that the first two seasons were primarily short stories. That worked well for me because I would not watch the adapted novels if I had not read the book first. And I did not realize until later that only a few of the books and short stories have Miss Lemon in them.<br />TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-38485986149122434442022-04-06T09:49:04.025-07:002022-04-06T09:49:04.025-07:00I liked a lot of these stories, too, Tracy. I thin...I liked a lot of these stories, too, Tracy. I think you're right that some of them are better than others. But Christie really was effective at writing short stories, I think.Margot Kinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08599589137890528065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-11329337592298820612022-04-06T09:02:35.522-07:002022-04-06T09:02:35.522-07:00I read this collection several years ago and, if m...I read this collection several years ago and, if memory serves, really enjoyed it. I thought the premise behind the whole thing rather clever.Cathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06371069000185280668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4167054806459662988.post-2550532536980240722022-04-06T07:52:32.736-07:002022-04-06T07:52:32.736-07:00I think it is hard to pull off a whodunnit kind of...I think it is hard to pull off a whodunnit kind of short story. The best ones for me are character driven and don't feature someone trying to solve a crime. Especially Christie who always relied on a large cast of characters. I keep meaning to watch the POIROT's based on short stories. I have only watched the ones based on novels. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.com