If there is any writer who can match Arthur Conan Doyle in weaving stories of sinister murders, it is Dame Agatha Christie. While Doyle created the legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie who was often called the Queen of crime writers, created the eccentric but highly efficient Hercule Poirot.
To mark her birthday today a film called A Haunting In Venice will be released in cinemas in Europe. The film is directed by Oscar award winner Kenneth Branagh. The story is a terrifying mystery set in Venice and the main character is the detective Hercule Poirot. When he visits an old palatial building, one of the guests is murdered and Poirot finds himself in the midst of a secret world of shadowy crime.
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, UK. Her fans exist all over the world and have formed Agatha Christie fan clubs which celebrate her birthdays every year by enacting plays based on her famous novels. Many of her stories were made into films. According to The New Yorker, the most popular ones are Murder On The Orient Express, The Moving Finger, And Then There Were None and Witness For The Prosecution.
Among her numerous fans are filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, actor David Suchet and the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen bestowed on her the title of Dame in recognition of her contribution to popular literature.
Best selling fiction author of all time
In all Christie wrote 66 crime novels and 14 short stories mainly featuring Hercule Poirot and the lady detective Jane Marple. The Guinness Book of World records list Christie as the best selling fiction author of all time. Her novels have been translated into all major languages and have sold more than two billion copies – a staggering number indeed.
One of her most popular novels is titled And Then There Were None. It is a gripping tale of ten people marooned on an island before all of them are killed one by one until nobody is left alive. But the question arises – if all of them were killed, who was the killer? That is the mystery that is finally unveiled at the end of the unusual story.
Gumnaam based on her story
The Hindi film Gumnaam released in 1965, starring Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen and comedian Mehmood was based on this Agatha Christie novel. It had a gripping plot and lilting music with songs sung by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and Sharada. It turned out to be a very popular film that year and the songs are still popular.
When she was a young child, Agatha Christie was a voracious reader. Her favourite authors were Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Arthur Conan Doyle. But her foray into writing crime novels herself came about after a challenge thrown by her sister. Taking up her sister’s challenge, little Agatha, then aged 11, wrote her first crime story.
When she became an adult, she realised that she enjoyed writing and began writing more stories. Her first well known novel was The Mysterious Affair At Styles. In this story she introduced the detective Hercule Poirot who went on to become famous throughout the world just like Sherlock Holmes had done earlier.
She was a shy person and disliked crowds
Agatha was a shy person and said about herself: “My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. However I do like the sun, sea, flowers, travelling, sports, concerts, theatres and embroidery.”
She also had a wry sense of humour. One of her best known quotes involves her second husband Max Mallowan who was an archaeologist. She said: “I married an archaeologist because the older I get, the more interested he is in me.” She belongs to a rare breed of writers who is still popular decades after her death in 1976. Her novels are being read avidly even now by lovers of crime fiction.
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