Now if we can only burn all copies of Kenneth Branagh's version. LOL. I'm glad you used the Peter Ustinov version for the characters. My favorite moment in that version doesn't have anything to do with the mystery. It's right at the end when Nurse Bowers and Mrs. Van Schuyler are leaving the ship and Mrs. Van Schuyler remarks about wanting to go on a trip to the Gobi Desert. The look on Bowers' face, the way she was treated, I would think to myself "Bowers, no one would blame you if you did something to Van Schuyler... not even Poirot." LOL
Spoilers: I slightly disagree with you about the motivations. I think Poirot left Jackie the "merciful" way out, partly because she wasn't motivated by greed. That's what she tells him in the end, and he believes her. Simon wanted the money, and she decided to help him, because she loved him. That's her motive, not the money. And Poirot more or less offered the "easy" way out mostly for her. But in the end, she didn't want to leave Simon alone facing the trial, so she killed him first before she killed herself.
I also always interpreted Poirots motivation this way and thought that Jackie was very obviously motivated by her excessive love for Simon. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like Poirot has a soft spot not only for young charming murderesses as you pointed out, but also for a murder committed out of 'honorable' motives. I need to revisit some novels to confirm! Anyways, it was also my first Christie novel ever, and I'll always cherish it!
I really like Linnett as a character. Christie's books have several heroines of this type, but she's probably the best example. She's shrewd enough when it comes to business, but very stupid about people (because she doesn't really care). And she sooo had it coming for her. I mean if she wasn't an "I like this guy, I take this guy"-person, Jacky's plan would have failed obviously. But nooo, Linnett saw Simon and instantly decided she wanted him for himself thus putting their plan into action.
A very thorough review. Your mention of Christie and her husbands makes me think - I'm guessing you've already read Lucy Worseley's biography of Christie? I own it but haven't read it yet. If you have things to say about it, I think a review of that book might be interesting?
Yes, I have and that would be interesting. I've considered doing a video on the most interesting items from various biographies and other books about Christie.
It can be difficult sometimes to recall clearly what was in the book and what got thrown in in an adaptation. One thing that struck me as highly effective in the Suchet version was Linnet's casually taking cocaine, though I think they made Mrs Allerton rather too racist; in the book, she's no worse than Amy Leatheran. I think the radio version, in which she was played by Rosemary Leach, was a closer approximation. (At the time the Suchet adaptation came out, I was disappointed, as I had hoped Barbara Flynn, my second choice behind Diane Fletcher, would have been cast as Mrs Oliver.). One side thought arising from this was that I started ruminating over Poirot's relationships to various women and the wheel stopped on wondering why Poirot didn't get on better with Angela Warren.
I also have a similar problem. I've read the books and watched the adaptations so many times now, I'm always having to double check the books to make sure what I want to talk about is actually in the book and not only the adaptation.
Nice review. I read this novel just last year, a little long, but well put out. At some point I was waiting for the murder to happen, lol. Anyway, I would like to see you review Towards Zero.
Imho this is a complex masterpiece which justifies its length by virtue of the richness of its multiple themes, characters and situations. Just finished a much shorter (and far inferior) novel, Berkeley’s ‘Murder in the Basement’ - length is not the issue, but quality is. The more I read the other ‘Golden Age’ writers, the more I’m convinced there’s only one ‘Queen of Crime’. I think your analysis of Christie’s attitudes towards the younger and older generations is spot on.
I don't mind the length at all in Death on the Nile. I do like Murder in the Basement, but it is inferior to Death on the Nile in every way imaginable. I think readers nowadays always tend to think of Christie as perpetually old when her first book was published when she was around 30 or so. She really doesn't become a bit of a cantankerous old woman until much much later on and even then, it's not as much as people tend to think it is.
@@summationgathering I’m not familiar with what others think about AC or her attitudes towards the generations but the context of much of her work being upper class life in Britain, it wouldn’t surprise me if many think of her as being a stodgy aristo wannabe…for which the evidence presents otherwise. As you’ve done mostly textual work on AC, you may not have read the Lucy Worsely bio, widely praised and quite surprising to me. She volunteered as a nurses’s aide during the Great War and was jolted out of the comfort zone of her upper middle class life. There was the time she had to take a severed limb down to the furnaces for incineration….she was not the dainty Marple-like character some would expect from a writer of cozy mysteries.
Now if we can only burn all copies of Kenneth Branagh's version. LOL. I'm glad you used the Peter Ustinov version for the characters. My favorite moment in that version doesn't have anything to do with the mystery. It's right at the end when Nurse Bowers and Mrs. Van Schuyler are leaving the ship and Mrs. Van Schuyler remarks about wanting to go on a trip to the Gobi Desert. The look on Bowers' face, the way she was treated, I would think to myself "Bowers, no one would blame you if you did something to Van Schuyler... not even Poirot." LOL
The Ustinov Death on the Nile is so good even beyond the mystery. Everything just comes together and works.
Spoilers: I slightly disagree with you about the motivations. I think Poirot left Jackie the "merciful" way out, partly because she wasn't motivated by greed. That's what she tells him in the end, and he believes her. Simon wanted the money, and she decided to help him, because she loved him. That's her motive, not the money. And Poirot more or less offered the "easy" way out mostly for her. But in the end, she didn't want to leave Simon alone facing the trial, so she killed him first before she killed herself.
That's a fair interpretation as well. I absolutely see that point.
I also always interpreted Poirots motivation this way and thought that Jackie was very obviously motivated by her excessive love for Simon. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like Poirot has a soft spot not only for young charming murderesses as you pointed out, but also for a murder committed out of 'honorable' motives. I need to revisit some novels to confirm!
Anyways, it was also my first Christie novel ever, and I'll always cherish it!
I really like Linnett as a character. Christie's books have several heroines of this type, but she's probably the best example. She's shrewd enough when it comes to business, but very stupid about people (because she doesn't really care). And she sooo had it coming for her. I mean if she wasn't an "I like this guy, I take this guy"-person, Jacky's plan would have failed obviously. But nooo, Linnett saw Simon and instantly decided she wanted him for himself thus putting their plan into action.
She's one of the most complex Christie characters for sure.
A very thorough review. Your mention of Christie and her husbands makes me think - I'm guessing you've already read Lucy Worseley's biography of Christie? I own it but haven't read it yet. If you have things to say about it, I think a review of that book might be interesting?
Yes, I have and that would be interesting. I've considered doing a video on the most interesting items from various biographies and other books about Christie.
@@summationgathering That would be great!
It can be difficult sometimes to recall clearly what was in the book and what got thrown in in an adaptation. One thing that struck me as highly effective in the Suchet version was Linnet's casually taking cocaine, though I think they made Mrs Allerton rather too racist; in the book, she's no worse than Amy Leatheran. I think the radio version, in which she was played by Rosemary Leach, was a closer approximation. (At the time the Suchet adaptation came out, I was disappointed, as I had hoped Barbara Flynn, my second choice behind Diane Fletcher, would have been cast as Mrs Oliver.).
One side thought arising from this was that I started ruminating over Poirot's relationships to various women and the wheel stopped on wondering why Poirot didn't get on better with Angela Warren.
I also have a similar problem. I've read the books and watched the adaptations so many times now, I'm always having to double check the books to make sure what I want to talk about is actually in the book and not only the adaptation.
Nice review.
I read this novel just last year, a little long, but well put out. At some point I was waiting for the murder to happen, lol.
Anyway, I would like to see you review Towards Zero.
Towards Zero is penciled in for later this year. It's the 80th anniversary this year.
@@summationgathering Nice.
Imho this is a complex masterpiece which justifies its length by virtue of the richness of its multiple themes, characters and situations. Just finished a much shorter (and far inferior) novel, Berkeley’s ‘Murder in the Basement’ - length is not the issue, but quality is. The more I read the other ‘Golden Age’ writers, the more I’m convinced there’s only one ‘Queen of Crime’.
I think your analysis of Christie’s attitudes towards the younger and older generations is spot on.
I don't mind the length at all in Death on the Nile. I do like Murder in the Basement, but it is inferior to Death on the Nile in every way imaginable. I think readers nowadays always tend to think of Christie as perpetually old when her first book was published when she was around 30 or so. She really doesn't become a bit of a cantankerous old woman until much much later on and even then, it's not as much as people tend to think it is.
@@summationgathering I’m not familiar with what others think about AC or her attitudes towards the generations but the context of much of her work being upper class life in Britain, it wouldn’t surprise me if many think of her as being a stodgy aristo wannabe…for which the evidence presents otherwise.
As you’ve done mostly textual work on AC, you may not have read the Lucy Worsely bio, widely praised and quite surprising to me. She volunteered as a nurses’s aide during the Great War and was jolted out of the comfort zone of her upper middle class life. There was the time she had to take a severed limb down to the furnaces for incineration….she was not the dainty Marple-like character some would expect from a writer of cozy mysteries.