Wednesday, April 21, 2010

If you like "Thursday"...

If you liked GKC's The Man Who Was Thursday, I think you might like Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery. I just finished it last night. I won't say more about the relation between these two stories, because it is best that you be surprised - which is what detective fiction is all about. As is Christianity.

Here's a bit of GKC on AC:
...Miss Marple, quite as meek and spinsterish as Miss Mitford, actually is a creation of modern detective fiction; a modest maiden lady who plays the demure detective in some excellent stories by Agatha Christie...
[GKC ILN May 23 1936; thanks to Frank Petta and my mother]
(Note, the Seven Dials story is not one with Miss Marple in it.)

7 comments:

  1. I've noticed the parallels between the books– "Seven Dials" is clearly inspired by both GKC and P.G. Wodehouse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember attempting to read Seven Dials when I was in labor with my first child (not a good time to be reading anything). I know I eventually finished it (not then), and I do remember some of what it's about, but I think I need to go back and re-read it with Thursday in mind, now that I've read that repeatedly. I've abandoned Agatha for GKC for years. I need to re-visit her.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not a fan of mystery novels, but Chesterton and Wodehouse make for an intriguing pedigree. I might pick this one up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such fum. it had been so many years since I read this one that I had forgotten the plot, although I must admit that I suspected the killer from the outset (I must have remembered something about it!). How enjoyable to get to reread a Christie that I couldn't practically quote ahead of time. Thanks for the recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll get to watch the video version (available through Netflix). I'll let you know if it's worth it. Does anyone know if anyone ever tried to make a movie of The Man Who Was Thursday? I've got the Orson Wells radio version on CD, but I've wondered whether anyone ever made a movie of it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. There has never been a movie of TMWWT, although some people have tried over the years.

    ReplyDelete

Join our FaceBook fan page today!