MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA by Agatha Christie

To say I cut my teeth on Agatha Christie novels may be an exaggeration, although my wisdom teeth didn’t sprout until late. Whether I read Murder in Mesopotamia during my teething years remains a mystery. But when the novel was chosen for a local book club reading, I eagerly jumped in head first. Who doesn’t like meeting up with an old friend, especially someone as masterful a detective as M. Hercule Poirot?
 

First Edition cover - 1936
Wikipedia

One thing that pleasingly caught my attention early was Ms. Christie’s apt use of metaphor to describe an elusive feeling: 

“Nobody seemed quite natural. There was a queer atmosphere of tension.

I can explain best what I mean by saying that

they all passed the butter to each other too politely.” 

With the above statement, Agatha Christie allows her character to simply and vividly depict the atmosphere of the situation. I immediately felt the discomfort around the dinner table. 

 

 

As for solving the mystery within the story, it took me some time to eliminate most of the suspects. And while I did have a fairly good bead on the culprit, I couldn’t have told you why other than through the logic of writing a mystery plot. Of course, using “mystery writer’s logic” as a method of deduction can make reading less enjoyable. I tend to avoid this tactic in favor of having the author reveal to me “whodunit.”

Agatha Christie’s straightforward writing style and the personality traits of her detectives make reading her novels a relaxing form of entertainment.

 

Continuing in 2016

Next up for review:

First Four Virgil Flowers novels

by John Sandford

 

 

 

Know Where You're Going -or- Wait 'Til You Get there?

It's NaNoWriMo time again! Do you know where you’re going, or do you prefer to wait ‘til you get there?

Is it better to know the theme of your novel before you begin writing? Should you have a handle on the protagonist’s internal problems so you can build your writing around that issue?

For myself, I find it easier to write out the story, beginning to end, then go back and see what theme emerged from the writing. In my latest WIP (before NaNoWriMo) my third sentence emerged as the metaphor that describes the novel’s plot and subplot. It wasn’t a perfect match after the first draft but become more apparent with the second draft. During the (ongoing) editing process, I started to adjust the story to fall into line with what I saw as the defining theme of the novel.

Enlightenment is an illuminating experience!

Where do you stand on the writing process, do you want to know the facts upfront or do you prefer to watch them unfold as your story grows? Do you consider your story’s theme while you write the first draft, or mine your work later for those enlightening nuggets?

 

 

Tuesday Thoughts at Dawn

Do you ever lie in bed, between sleep and wakefulness, and have these random thoughts running through your head? Nothing in particular and everything at once. Then you wake and can’t quite grasp any of it. But you know if you could write down those thoughts, you would have the most-fascinating invention, award-winning recipe, or best-selling novel of all time! 

My thoughts often rally around editing of a current WIP or planning upcoming activities. Often I am composing a reply to a question or the response to a letter. Yesterday, I received a postcard in the mail from a friend in Oregon. The card displays photographs of two Sultans on the front; is postmarked PORTLAND OR; and carries postage of the ALOHA Hawaiian shirt stamp. The postcard serves well as a metaphor for my eclectic morning thoughts: a potpourri of ideas, thoughts, and sights. 

Making use of these morning thoughts is a bit tricky because of their elusiveness. On sitting up, or opening my eyes, the bulk of a plan or the nucleus of an idea vanishes, never to return. Even now, having risen from bed to write this in hopes of capturing a recent sleep-wake thought, I draw a blank. I am left wondering if the thought was as utterly amazing as it appeared in my sleep state or if, like an alcohol-induced statement, was utter hogwash filtered through . . . well, through no filter at all. 

At dawn, the splendor of an idea is considered and dissected, warts and all. A beautiful opening line of a new novel suddenly takes on the amateurish (though brilliant) Snoopy-ness of “It was a dark and stormy night.” At that point the editing begins and any uniqueness is removed because it does not conform to the edicts of protocol. Spontaneity vanishes, along with the enticing invention, the mouthwatering meal, or the innovative novel. 

It isn’t always best to listen to your inner Archie Bunker and “stifle” your ideas. Do not edit the life out of your creations. Allow your ideas to flow in the brilliance of morning sunlight. Preserve the uniqueness you bring to a thought that is common around the world but, until now, has not received your personal and inimitable touch. 

Do you ever lie in bed, between sleep and wakefulness, with random thoughts running through your head?