Why I never read an Agatha Christie Novel (and read Eragon instead)

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- By Ananya V Rao

Okay, let me start of by saying, please don’t be judgemental by just reading the topic. I know Agatha Christie is only the 3rd most popular writer in the world(after Shakespeare and Bible), and her books have sold nearly 4 billion copies, but, BUT, there is a story behind this (meaning, “I can explain”), behind why myself, being an avid novel reader, have ignored this author for the past 6 years of my life(since I first came to know about her works).

I think I was in 8th grade, when I first came across the author “Agatha Christie”. Back then, I was in a shift, migrating to new genres, new style of books. From reading “Secret Seven” and “The Famous Five” and “Harry Potter” to books by Jeffry Archer and the likes (even Lord of the Rings, :O). But back then, something happened. My parents, they said, “Don’t read Agatha Christie yet, it’s wayy too mature for you, the mystery and everything, and it may affect you, so give it a few more years. I was at the library at that moment when I heard these words over the phone.

So I picked up this book titled “Eragon” instead(I’m pretty sure you guys have read the inheritance series, c’mon!), and what can I say, I did end up with a pretty good book. But now, many years have passed, and I finally plan to read her books(because all these years, to be entirely honest, I forgot all about her haha!).

There you go, my story. What about yours? I’m pretty sure ALL of you have read Enid Blyton’s Famous Five. What else? What other books? What are you reading now? Do share with me and all of us!

 

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104 responses on “Why I never read an Agatha Christie Novel (and read Eragon instead)”

  1. I’m an avid Christie fan! I highly recommend And Then There Were None. It’s a fantastic read, sure to get you hooked on her other works!

  2. I’ve read so many books that they’ve all become a big jumble in my head! – But one that stands out is: The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay which i read decades ago but still remember.

  4. Interesting. I grew up on a variety of books that I probably wouldn’t recommend other seven year olds, which is when I started on all the books that my other family members left lying where I could reach them. At eight or nine I started on Shakespeare, Conan Doyle and Christie along with other lighter fare, and while I may not have understood all of it (particularly Shakespeare, but you couldn’t have ripped MacBeth or Hamlet out of my hands). I read these things over and over again throughout the years, asking questions thinking about complex ideas, being challenged and trying to use words I could barely pronounce. And you know, I’ve never stopped reading books other people think I shouldn’t – there’s been a certain amount of joy in that.

    Having said that, I read Eragon when it came out… and I really wasn’t impressed. I love dragons as much as the next girl, but I wasn’t impressed by the plot or the writing, having encountered better plot lines and more engaging prose in fan fiction.

    • Wow Sare “Shakespeare, Conan Doyle”, I only tried them. I always and will continue enjoying lighter reads, but that’s amazing. It means you really got an awesome grip on such works(applaud!)

      “trying to use words I could barely pronounce”

      Haha I’ve been there sometimes :P

      Hmm, Eragon is fine. It’s not exceptional, but yeah, it’s fine

  5. I used to be a fan of the mystery genre, so the i started reading Agatha christie from 6th…her stories always have a good twist in the end and you keep guessing about the murderer write till the end….then i got bored of them to a point that if i couldnt read the first chapter ( if i didnt find it intersting from the start) i would leave the book.
    Current fav book : The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

  7. Fascinating! I think that my mom and I read Orient Express together when I was in 5th grade. Poirot is by far my favorite, although Miss Marple is quite fantastic as well… Eragon is an amazing book (and start to a series) too… I have funny stories about not wanting to read it before I grew to love it…

    Great post!
    Eva

  8. Awesome :) I’ve never read Agatha either, but not by choice, it just kind of never happened. It’s on my TBR list though. I had an English teacher who said the only author she didn’t find predictable was Agatha Christie.
    Oh, and I haven’t read Eragon either… I’m worried it won’t measure up to Harry Potter.
    But I have read the Famous Five, long loooong ago… and reading is awesome. I’d like to hear your thoughts when you finish your first Agatha novel.

    • Eragon is a brilliant story in it’s own way. The final book, it became too long, a bit boring, and I got a bit pissed off(why do writers try to go from 300 to 1000 pages as the number of books in a series increase? Don’t they know we can get the same enjoyment and story still within 500 pages, without stretching it)

  9. Oh… Famous Five – I soooo loved those books – I wanted to be George!!! I tried to read them to my kids but they hated them and said they were old fashioned :(
    I love Agatha Christie too- good for a gentle Sunday afternoon!

    Thanks for reminding me of these memories :)

  10. I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Narnia as a child. I remember how I tried to hunt down every last book in the series. And I read a lot of Nancy Drew too :)

    • Nancy Drew, I never read.

      Chronicles of Narnia, I bought that one mega book(HUGE!) with all the parts in it, and read it(quite a few times).

      Say, has anyone read the Faraway Tree?

  12. Fun, Manipal!
    Just finished reading poetry for a change, Luci Shaw’s amazing The Green Earth | Poems of Creation. Am now reading Anne Hamilton’s Merlin’s Wood, having loved her Many-Coloured Realm. By the way, Agatha Christie’s work is fascinating…Try her The Affair at Styles and then read Curtains. These two involve crimes at the same locale perpetrated years apart: interesting bookends on her detective Hercule Poirot’s career.

    • Hmm, I usually don’t read Poetry that much, only occasionally. I prefer the simple lines than complicated ones (:P) lol

      I will try all her works that I can find once I get back home Maria. Loads to read… Now I’ll have to decide where to start.

      But I fully intend to read Poirot’s adventures first.

  14. First book that stayed with me the rest of my life – and I reread my worn old copy every couple of years:

    “Days and Nights” by Konstantin Simonov. A journalist, war correspondent who survived the siege of Stalingrad – the setting for a love story in the midst of war, despair, brutality and incredible heroism.

    • Wow, that sounds very very interesting. My Mom LOVES, I mean absolutely loves such books and moves on these settings too.

      I’ll definitely see if I can pick up this book and bring it back home as a present these holidays

  15. You will like her, and you would have been fine back then starting out with something like Hound of the Baskervilles. I confess, I have wanted to, but have not yet read Eragon.

  17. Read Christie, she’s fun. I haven’t read all the comments but I hope someone has recommended The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Wonderful book, for the simple reason that it turns the very concept of rules of detective fiction on its head.
    And, oh yes, there are rules. Read Ronald Knox’s Decalogue to get an idea of what I’m taking about.

  18. I was in hospital once and had a shelf full of Agatha Christie books to read. They were good fun (like the Famous Five for grown-ups), but the problem is that after you read a few of them, you begin to guess whodunit for the others (always the least likely person!).

    • Haha Marina guess we get smarter after a few of those books huh :P

      Wow, when I was in the hospital for the first time in my life(chicken pox, sigh), I had a huge mirror to my right(kept showing me the UGLYNESS aarrghh!)

  19. Thanks for the blog visit! I love the layout of your site! Cool pictures, fun stories, and Harry Potter mentions seems to be the formula for a fantastic blog, in my opinion :)

  20. I am a sucker for detective mysteries and psychological thrillers.
    I remember as kid, I stumbled upon my mom’s collection of James Hadley Chase and read every single one of them!! she kept saying, ‘oh, you are too young for those.’ But by then i was too far taken with the plot to listen to her. That is how i fell in love with detective and suspense thrilling stories. After that, I went on to read every single detective mystery written by Arthur Conan Doyle (hence my love for Sherlock Holmes).
    I have read Agatha Christie’s books as well:))

  21. Thank you for visiting my blog brother ^__^
    i like Agatha Christie since i was 13 years old.
    but now i am still reading some series of Chicken Soup book by jack Canfield and Mark P H.

    Have you read all of them?

  24. I read all of the Poirot series over the space of 30 days. Fitting them in during lunch breaks, commute home, breakfast, dinner… etc.

  25. Trouble is, our Agatha writes about nice pleasant rich people killing each other – how about Raymond Chandler? He’s very witty and a bit dark and grubby…

  27. you have a great style of writing :)
    and talking about books, I still remember and cherish Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Anne of Green Gables, Short stories in Readers Digest and of course the all time famous comics (too many to name). I feel that they are still “the best ride to imagination” :)

  28. I used to be an avid reader when growing up. Now I can barely manage it becasue of a lot of schedules. Yes, I read Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Nick Carter, James Hadley Chase, Ludlum, Sydney Sheldon, Stephen King, and many more and when younger read the Nancy Drews, Famous Fives, Anasne Tales, five Find Outers, Secret Seven, Mallory Towers, Hardy Boys and almost all the abridged Classics.

  29. Thanks for deciding to follow my blog. I appreciate that! Also, it is so cool to have connections with people in the blogging community from all over the world!

  31. Personally I find her to be good but also highly over-rated in terms of how good she is as a writer.
    Perhaps it’s simply a matter of tastes because it’s nice but… eh…

  33. If you like lighter reads, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is always fun. (And by “fun,” I mean almost every book makes me laugh so hard I cry.) Great combo of fantasy with tidbits of sci fi, all wrapped up in satire. But I enjoy many denser books as well, like Hofstadter’s _Godel, Escher, Bach_, Mitchell’s _Complexity_, or Ford’s _Quantum World_. In fiction, the Silmarillion is an all-time favorite – read it back in high school.

  34. I have read a bunch of Agatha Christie stories, and have seen many adaptations for film and television. I love the mystery genre in general. Her books can be fun. They are known more for the clever construction of the plots, the puzzle she presents, rather than for their merits as fine literature, but they are mostly good reads. I hope you enjoy them!

      • Yes. Been afflicted for about 50 years now.

        By the way, the book I chose to start reading next is “The Third Gate” by Lincoln Child. It might not show up at the bookstores yet because I get lots of pre-publication books, which this one is. I have so many pre-publication books on my shelf to read that sometimes I’m reading a pre-publication book after it’s actually be published.

            • Russel, in the coming months, I will be starting a new project, where I will require everyone to put in their thoughts and imaginations(because it can only be made by them collectively).

              It’s a new project I’ve been thnking about for quite a while now. I shall reveal more about it to all in my summer holidays, and hope to finally launch it within the next 3 months if all goes well.

              If the project is successful, a person working at a Major Publication House, would make the world of a difference, honestly

  37. I have preferred Ian Rankin over Agatha Christie too till a few months I tried her someone gave one of books (see I still don’t remember the name) now I feel I should read it, we should share our experiences on her.. Also do try Ian Rankin :)

  38. Hi Preetham. Thanks for revisiting my blog and liking my posts. I love your blog. Your photos are wonderful. Re Agatha Christie, my favourites are any of the Miss Marple stories. She is such a wise yet unobtrusive personality, I can’t help but admire her, and hope to achieve her level of understanding one day. Best regards.

  40. Just this morning I was cleaning my “mini-library” and saw my collection of Agatha Christie, browsed a few and got hooked again! in the midst of hi-tech investigation and techniques, detective novels are less intersting now… Investigation using wit and deductions and common sense is much more interesting… and that’s Agatha Christie’s. happy reading!

  41. Interesting to find this post now. Over the past few days I have been contemplating reading Agatha Christie after watching a couple movies based on her books. I love mysteries and I love her time period. It is great to see so many suggestions in your comments!

  43. You know how my eyes opened widely when I saw the two words ” Agatha ” and ” Christie..lol

    I can say that the works of Ms Christie is my entire world during my early till late adolescence. How I LOVE her books. How I love Hercule Poirot, and don’t forget! Mrs. Maple, too..hehe..

    Your post has brought back my craziness about the books. For me, those are the bestest mystery novels, I’ve ever read, even Eragon’s series can’t beat Ms Christie’s masterpieces ( well, I DO read The Inheritance series, too that’s why I can tell ).

    And my parents’ allowance all went to buy them! ( the novels of Agatha Christie, of course..Lol)

    Thanks for reminding me of those crazy yet fun memory, though..:-))

  44. I started reading Agatha Christie at about 10/11 (I’m almost 15 now) and I still enjoy rereading them now :) Another book series is the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. It’s a kind of cop thriller amd it’s very entertaining :) It amazes me how so many people don’t make the time to read, I was in my English class and we had a quiz about the last book we read and at least 3/4 of the class hadn’t read for at least 2 years :0 I would also reccommend the northern lights series by Philip Pullman, great books :)
    xoxo maddi <3

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