Sing A Song of Sixpence by Agatha Christie

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  • Опубліковано 19 кві 2024
  • Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those featuring her famous characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, with her works having sold over two billion copies worldwide. Her innovative plots, clever misdirection, and surprising twists have earned her the title of the Queen of Crime.
    "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is a short story by Agatha Christie, first published in the December 1929 issue of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News in the U.K. The story was later collected in the anthology "The Listerdale Mystery" (1934) and published in the U.S. in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in February 1947 and the collection "The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories" (1948).
    Within Christie's extensive body of work, "Sing a Song of Sixpence" stands as an early example of her mastery of the short story format. Published in 1929, the story falls within the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in Britain, a period characterized by puzzle-like mysteries, amateur sleuths, and complex plots. While the story deviates from some of Christie's more famous works by featuring a one-off protagonist instead of her iconic detectives, it still showcases her ability to craft intricate and engaging mysteries.
    One criticism of "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is the unexpected resolution that may leave readers feeling that they were not given a fair chance to solve the mystery themselves.
    The story also reflects the class stereotypes and prejudices prevalent in British society during the early 20th Century . These class dynamics in the story provide insight into the social attitudes of the era, even as they may not align with contemporary values.
    You could Buy Me A Coffee!
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 61

  • @ropeburnsrussell
    @ropeburnsrussell Місяць тому +33

    The Queen of crime, read by the best narrator in the business.
    Brilliant!

  • @thurayya8905
    @thurayya8905 Місяць тому +51

    I think it was the comedy movie, "Murder by Death" in which many authors of detective fiction were roasted, where the Agatha Christie character was accused of "withholding clues from her readers." I had to laugh when I heard that, because who hasn't read Christie and at the end said,"well, if I had only known THAT . . ."?

    • @kevinlada4018
      @kevinlada4018 Місяць тому +6

      Great movie. It is free on UA-cam right now. I luv it. I remember seeing it as a kid.

    • @mariamcgee4462
      @mariamcgee4462 28 днів тому +4

      Such a funny film with so many brilliant actors.

  • @thurayya8905
    @thurayya8905 Місяць тому +14

    I had forgotten: it's Saturday and time for Classic Detective! What a pleasant surprise. 😊

  • @franken-pattern
    @franken-pattern Місяць тому +12

    Oh, this is a feeling similar to when the cake is just cool enough to cut! Yum!

  • @daftirishmarej1827
    @daftirishmarej1827 Місяць тому +9

    One of her ones where you have no idea where it's going!
    Thanks Tony!

  • @MaggieatPlay
    @MaggieatPlay Місяць тому +9

    Excellent, Tony! Wonderful hearing you read Agatha Christie in your indomitable style; all the different voices. Thank you! Enjoyed the end waffle and all the information about the story; history of the era; and all the bits and bobs thrown in for our consideration.

  • @evelanpatton
    @evelanpatton Місяць тому +7

    Just so lovely to continue to enjoy having a content generator who is HUMAN & has several hats that he wears so well- an educationally creative vaudeville of STORYTELLING.
    I love Agatha’s writing. Such genuine contributions to writing from what might be called a “singular narrative voice”; however, the creativity of logical imagination is supremely elegant & eloquent.
    And Tony…just a world communities’ “cup of tea”- Thank you! ☕️🫖🪭 of 🗝️🚪🪄🪅,🪆,🖼️ of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📝📚📖❣️

    • @classicdetective
      @classicdetective  Місяць тому +1

      Interesting how well Gates Of Imagination channel is doing . i’m not sure people realise it’s all
      AI. that’s why they can generate so many audiobooks so quickly . truth is that most people don’t mind the AI. We humans will become like an artisan etsy product !

  • @LostSoulSearching
    @LostSoulSearching 21 день тому +7

    I am genuinely shocked by the quality of this podcast. The dialog after the story really captivated me.
    It is so vastly different than 90% of the podcasts I have listened to over the years.

    • @classicdetective
      @classicdetective  18 днів тому +2

      i’ve had a few negatives about my commentary so yo hear this really cheered me up a lot

    • @Buddybaba
      @Buddybaba 5 днів тому

      You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.
      John Lydgate

  • @debra333
    @debra333 Місяць тому +4

    Hi, dear Tony! Wonderful selection, one of my favorite Agathas. Thank you!❤

  • @kathleenerikson2856
    @kathleenerikson2856 28 днів тому +3

    I think this presentation is one of my favorite!! Love stories like this!! Great job ❤

  • @along5925
    @along5925 Місяць тому +5

    Excellent Tony. I had read this many years ago but had forgotten it almost totally! Loved your reading of it and loved the after-chat. Thanks so much.

  • @martiwilliams4592
    @martiwilliams4592 Місяць тому +5

    Very enjoyable, Tony! Masterful storytelling, entertaining, interesting, informative commentary. Thank you!

    • @noelle7658
      @noelle7658 25 днів тому

      I agree. I enjoyed this story very much. Nice audio besides .

  • @shelleymcafee8197
    @shelleymcafee8197 29 днів тому +1

    Lol; I loved that, Sir Edward would have been a fine Character to use in further stories!
    Thank-You!!

  • @wherami
    @wherami 21 день тому +1

    So well spoken

  • @thurayya8905
    @thurayya8905 Місяць тому +3

    I believe she was 17 when she met Sir Palliser, so she'd be 27 now. He is sixty now, so he would have been about 50 on the cruise.

  • @lunablue745
    @lunablue745 Місяць тому +5

    Oh to have the writing brilliance of Lady Agatha!
    Question: if I didn't know a woman wrote this, I would have most certainly thought a man penned this by the way the older gent sees Magdalen mostly as an object. It seems her youth and beauty made her more interesting. Does it seem lightly misogynistic? I don't mean the age difference or them coupling up. Somehow it seems a little discomforting. I think it is important to take into account the culture in which the story is birthed. I find it interesting. Sorry if my comment offended anyone.☮️

    • @soundsilence2604
      @soundsilence2604 25 днів тому +3

      Perhaps, Christie wanted you to bristle at every mention of Magdalen's 'loss' of her girlhood 'charm'. 🙄 Christie's divorce from her husband, Archie, occurred in 1928 prior to this story's 1929 release. The divorce deeply pained Christie but not Archie-boy. A week after its finalisation, he married 24-year-old Nancy Neele (10 years Christie's junior). Perhaps, this story upholds contemporary culture. Or, betrays a bit of self-loathing. Or, maybe it serves as social critique.

    • @lunablue745
      @lunablue745 25 днів тому

      @@soundsilence2604 Interesting! I did not know that. Thank you for enlighting me!

    • @tshepimufamadi3414
      @tshepimufamadi3414 18 днів тому

      And maybe pedophilic. She was in late teens?

  • @terrymitchell2533
    @terrymitchell2533 Місяць тому +2

    Very enjoyable, thank you 👍🥂

  • @juliashearer7842
    @juliashearer7842 21 день тому +1

    Very enjoyable reading and conversation. I have not heard this story before and i honestly thought i had heard them all.

  • @ThornMushiness
    @ThornMushiness 15 днів тому +1

    That was amazing. What a voice, bro! Great voice acting. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

  • @sheilakethley5351
    @sheilakethley5351 Місяць тому +4

    I enjoyed your commentary!

  • @Story-Voracious66
    @Story-Voracious66 Місяць тому +5

    Oh how delicious!
    Sunday morning in bed with Agatha and a cat and a coffee!
    (It's bitcoin halving time, so I'm currently not in demand. Yay)
    What a treat!
    Thanks SO much Tony for a cosy Christie. ( love the thumbnail),
    It's vtmuch appreciated.
    🤗👏

  • @Story-Voracious66
    @Story-Voracious66 Місяць тому +1

    I think that Mrs Christie nailed the great aunt character. The sort of woman who does "good", in order to control others. By being generous she holds the moral high ground, and expects the recipient to be beholden to her.
    Not a nice lady at all, so we don't need to reproach ourselves for enjoying her demise.
    Nor need we pity the murderer because he was legitimately illegitimate.
    A guilt free indulgence, better than chocolate.

  • @colley1962
    @colley1962 Місяць тому +2

    Just an FYI: In the AI-generated picture of a detective, he has only 3 fingers.
    Love your channel! You’re my favorite narrator.

  • @sleepychamaeleon
    @sleepychamaeleon 29 днів тому

    Enjoyable, thanks!

  • @m.-fp8rd
    @m.-fp8rd 29 днів тому

    Excellent read. New subscriber+ notifications. Thanks!

  • @ropeburnsrussell
    @ropeburnsrussell Місяць тому +1

    Haha, Tonys gone bolshie on us!! And youre accent changed dramatically, I've always wondered what the real Tony sounded like.

  • @janebrown7231
    @janebrown7231 23 дні тому +3

    Please don't misinterpret this sentence! -
    "He had made love to her, in a discreet, elderly, man-of-the-world fashion."
    In 1929, "made love to" simply meant "flirted with", usually light-heartedly and in a public place.
    To 'make' love meant to 'pretend' love, to flirt without any real feelings involved.
    Yes, it's still uncomfortable to us, a man approaching 60 flirting with a girl he knew was 17, but it's not nearly as creepy as it sounds!
    And Christie doesn't express approval; I think she is experimenting with an unattractive lead, and she opens with his inappropriate flirting because she doesn’t want us to find this character sympathetic.
    I wouldn't call him a sleuth... more a man with access to documents and a rational former profession. She makes it clear he won't be venturing out of his cul-de-sac again!
    Thanks again, Tony. 😊

  • @honesty3440
    @honesty3440 26 днів тому

    WHO IS THE BRILLIANT READER WITH THE MOST PURE BRITISH ACCENT??? ❤❤❤

  • @user-ld6nq9mu8b
    @user-ld6nq9mu8b 27 днів тому

    👏👏👏

  • @daftirishmarej1827
    @daftirishmarej1827 Місяць тому +2

    Thanks

  • @andreacraik9757
    @andreacraik9757 15 днів тому

    There is a strong current of “not one of US!”

  • @mijiyoon5575
    @mijiyoon5575 Місяць тому +1

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  • @soundsilence2604
    @soundsilence2604 25 днів тому +2

    I will respectfully disagree with you, Mr. Walker. 😉 Perhaps, Christie made a comment with the remarkable age gap (even for the era) and her emphasis on diminished youth. She and her husband divorced the year before this story's release. Are you familiar with the disappearance of Agatha Christie? I recalled Christie's use of Neele's name as I listened. Christie can be subtlety unsubtle when she wants to be. 😅

    • @classicdetective
      @classicdetective  25 днів тому

      I remember watching a drama made about her disappearance. I don’t mind being disagreed with. My ideas are only lightly grasped :)

  • @bayadere8308
    @bayadere8308 Місяць тому

    First time I've tried your channel; I stumbled straight into the spoiler in your fourth paragraph.
    What was also unnecessary was the boilerplate lesson in social dynamics. Next stop: trigger warnings I suppose.

    • @evelanpatton
      @evelanpatton Місяць тому +4

      Isn’t it lovely to have a whole World Wide Web to find things that you might find fits your particular enjoyment? Ta. 🪭

    • @classicdetective
      @classicdetective  Місяць тому +1

      i’m guessing you won’t be back

    • @willzimjohn
      @willzimjohn Місяць тому

      @@classicdetective Neither will I. Giving away the ending in your intro is beyond lame.

    • @classicdetective
      @classicdetective  Місяць тому +3

      Git ye gone. I don’t remember inviting you

    • @lynnhardaker5466
      @lynnhardaker5466 Місяць тому +2

      I didn't find that a spoiler at all, as it's such a general comment. Guess this channel just isn't for you. There's loads of us who love it. To each their own.

  • @ajb7786
    @ajb7786 Місяць тому +1

    I’m not going to pretend this was a good story just because it’s Christie. It’s not a good story. Thin plot, thinner characters with contradictory traits, no delight in language, the realizations are weak, the detective isn’t likable or even delightfully dislikable, and the twist is not telegraphed and simply functions to serve the author of the story rather than the audience. It’s a bad story, through and through.

    • @lunablue745
      @lunablue745 Місяць тому

      I wouldn't call it a "bad" story, but, I did feel a little uncomfortable with the way the main female character, in fact all the female characters are drawn.

    • @zaphodflys
      @zaphodflys 26 днів тому

      I agree. Not only was it terribly structured, the main detective was annoying and unlikable.
      Honestly the only good thing was the narration. Please pick better stories to narrate because your voice is lovely but the story was grating af.

    • @janebrown7231
      @janebrown7231 23 дні тому

      You make some good analytical points.
      I've read worse from her... usually later works, when she was churning them out as if quality was no longer of any importance.
      She certainly had a great range, from the top of her particular niche a lot of the time, down to some pretty dire stuff, often the short stories, which sometimes feel like storylines for novels that she abandoned as simply not good enough.