tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post3559599190888601252..comments2024-03-11T01:39:11.362-04:00Comments on At the Scene of the Crime: Year in Review: Worst Reading Moments of 2013Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-89508121430772806852014-05-31T03:18:09.039-04:002014-05-31T03:18:09.039-04:00Oh come on! why do i end up getting spoilers?/ lol...Oh come on! why do i end up getting spoilers?/ lol but you ruined my "Curtain" experience by telling that poirot was dead in it..but i hope there is gonna be lot more than that..<br />i would also like to state that i was browsing through the guardian.co.uk website where top 10 Agatha books were given.. and what the heck they did! they clearly stated the Murder of Roger Ackroyd twist ending in a line!<br />well they hv corrected their mistake now..but that book too is spoiled...<br />And on Goodreads i accidentaly read the spoiler of Murder on Orient Express. damn,<br />And on top of that last but not the least My friend deliberately told me the concept of Peril at the End House.<br />Haha. So since you are much experienced in reading mysteries than me (i hv read 7 Agatha books, 1 Dickson Carr's and 1 Edgar Wallace) could you recommend me any books that would compensate for the damage :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17381974435571423634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-38983152353803635142014-01-13T10:03:05.672-05:002014-01-13T10:03:05.672-05:00Rich, this might shock you... but I kind of agree ...Rich, this might shock you... but I kind of agree with you. I've never been too fond of the Hickson Marple adaptations, which just haven't aged well. From a modern perspective, the production values don't always seem great and the Inspector Slack bits annoy me in much the same way as Inspector Valentine. (Interestingly, in Season 2 of Father Brown, they get rid of Valentine and replace him with a young hotshot, a by-the-book professional whose antagonism towards Father Brown is at least *understandable*, whereas Valentine was just an incompetent buffoon.) Inspector Japp's intrusions in the Poirot series sometimes produce the same effect. Had they done the Orient Express back then, Japp would have popped out of a suitcase and frowned at Poirot, saying "Poirot? What the devil are *you* doing here???"<br /><br />BUT... and here's the key difference -- the nostalgia factor that you throw at the Hickson series is very much in the spirit of the Miss Marple books as Christie wrote them. In that respect, it captures the spirit of Christie's originals to a tee. They don't have Miss Marple, say, lecturing a young interracial couple on how the world will one day accept couples like them in some sort of banal attempt to whitewash the past.<br /><br />I totally understand why write a new Poirot. Because the Suchet TV series is done, so we need a new stream of revenue, because Matthew Prichard is trying to construct a submarine lair from which he can plot a takeover of the world. Also, because the Suchet TV series has always been more of a draw than the "Marple" TV series (geez, that name is annoying). Therefore, the analysts deduce that Poirot is more popular than Miss Marple. Therefore, a new Poirot will sell better than a new Miss Marple. And if it does well enough, then next year the analysts will expand the operation to include other characters. This is what you get when you hand over the creative property of an author to the analysts and the men of business.<br /><br />Why not write a new Marple?, you ask. Because they'll screw it up. Father Brown is supposedly set in the 1950s, but I'm convinced it's a show set in a modern-day lunatic asylum, told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator who shares a communal delusion that the asylum is a 1950s Catholic village in England.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-82417840791251010362014-01-13T09:42:39.563-05:002014-01-13T09:42:39.563-05:00One thing I find especially interesting about your...One thing I find especially interesting about your tormented experience with Father Brown is your impression of Inspector Valentine. I agree that it's stupid that he doesn't seem to remember that Father Brown has solved several dozen murders. (I think it's almost always a serious mistake for shows to analyze their own implausibilities too hard, like Sherlock and Reichenbach Fall, but that doesn't mean the main characters should be amnesiacs.)<br /><br />But...<br /><br />Is this treatment of the character really any different or less infuriating than the treatment of Inspector Slack in the Joan Hickson adaptations of Marple? He also stays aggressive and dismissive week after week, in the service of cliche and limited humour.<br /><br />And that's not all. Is the addition of endless cups of tea and trite platitudes to Father Brown any worse than the things the writers made Hickson's Marple say? Is the shortcircuiting of logic in the solutions any worse than the curtailed versions of Christie's reasoning (they don't change the answers, admittedly, but they do change the explanations)?<br /><br />My thesis (only partly designed to make people's heads explode): <br /><br />"Father Brown is certainly terrible, but the original Miss Marple series was terrible IN ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME WAYS. It's only nostalgia that makes people think any different."<br /><br />I'll just go and hide in my bunker now...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-51408675172801492862014-01-13T09:24:57.998-05:002014-01-13T09:24:57.998-05:00I'd be really interested to learn how Father B...I'd be really interested to learn how Father Brown got made. I can imagine it progressing by degrees: someone vaguely thought it would be a good idea, it got commissioned, and then someone else was lumbered with the job of adapting it and no way to back out. Not that the BBC series isn't terrible, but I don't think anyone could adapt Father Brown successfully. They work because of their philosophical and dreamlike nature - there's no way to take it off the page without solidifying them somehow, which will ruin them.<br /><br />I really don't understand the decision to write a new Poirot. I don't think it's an inherently bad idea to write new books in a series after an author's death, and I don't see Christie's opinions about the character as being sacrosanct. After all, the book isn't for her. But there are SO MANY Poirot stories. Too many. There's plenty of classics but also a lot of rubbish. And Poirot is so implausible a character that I don't see how a modern writer can do anything sensible with him.<br /><br />Why not write a new Marple? There are hardly any of those, and most of them are underbaked and dripping with Christie's misplaced nostalgia. But the character is enduring, beloved, and there are plenty of plausible directions to take her in without being lurid or mawkish about it (I liked the first series of the ITV reimagining - I pretend there were only four episodes - but that would be a bit much for the books).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-25538480440614994962014-01-11T09:33:38.710-05:002014-01-11T09:33:38.710-05:00To be perfectly fair to Tey, the painting is not t...To be perfectly fair to Tey, the painting is not the only reason she suggests Richard was innocent. However, some of her evidence is inadmissible after more facts was unearthed by historians that contradicts much of her case. However, Grant keeps returning to the painting, not content to leave well enough alone. As a plot device to get him interested in the case, the painting would work fine. As a piece of evidence (like Tey insists), it's absurd.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-59367088070349562832014-01-11T09:31:42.158-05:002014-01-11T09:31:42.158-05:00I watched three times, and my opinion went from &q...I watched three times, and my opinion went from "flawed but harmless" to "I really am not enjoying this show at all". Episode 4 was the tipping point where I went from passive unenjoyment to aggressive dislike.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-15988956725694582132014-01-11T04:43:08.191-05:002014-01-11T04:43:08.191-05:00As to be expected, you compiled a varied and expat...As to be expected, you compiled a varied and expatiated worst-of list. <br /><br />Anyway, the only title on this list I'll probably read somewhere in the not-so-distant future is Tey's <i>The Daughter of Time</i>, just to have something to rant about. The premise of a modern police inspector asserting the innocence of a long dead king by staring at a piece of cloth with an artists impression of the man in dried placards of paint struck me as ridiculous the first time I heard about the book. No matter how well written the story is or how convincing the contemporary characters are drawn, if the solution hinges on the innocent, cherubic face of Richard III it can't be good in terms of a detective story. Logic forbids it. <br />TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-2544777027591023482014-01-10T16:48:38.082-05:002014-01-10T16:48:38.082-05:00I agree about Dust and Shadow - really wanted to l...I agree about Dust and Shadow - really wanted to love it but couldn't - and Father Brown. I watched three times thinking it would grow on me and am glad to see I'm not alone.Carolyn J. Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499059171631792224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-80394822458570422952014-01-10T12:59:19.062-05:002014-01-10T12:59:19.062-05:00John, thank you for the compliment. When I enter m...John, thank you for the compliment. When I enter my rant mode (or my Patricia Highsmith mode, as I sometimes like to call it), I try to throw in the occasional joke, to lighten things up. I'm glad to hear that some of them worked.<br /><br />MURDER BY THE BOOK is an odd situation for me. I've got a bit of a sore spot about it. Years ago, I recorded it onto our DVR from a VHS tape, right before my local library axed its entire VHS collection. Before I got the chance to watch it, though, my dad deleted the recording in order to record a movie he was watching on TV... even though he stayed in front of the TV and finished watching the movie!!! I was quite upset about that, and I have yet to track down a copy of the movie. If it's still on YouTube, though... well, Watson, you know my methods!Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-1510199854803928632014-01-10T12:55:52.205-05:002014-01-10T12:55:52.205-05:00Sergio, I think our opinions on the Psycho sequels...Sergio, I think our opinions on the Psycho sequels are completely reversed! I remember heavily disliking PSYCHO II and PSYCHO III, but being surprisingly pleased with PSYCHO IV.<br /><br />As for the book PSYCHO II, I'd agree with much of what you say. The twist is phenomenal, I agree, and the commentary on the film industry is excellent. I'd call it a good book overall, and it hasn't spoiled my picture of the original novel. But the reason I placed it on here is because I feel that if it had removed things like the graphic nun-rape, or Vizzini's graphic memories and attempted rape, maybe doing them in more subtle terms like the original novel did, you'd get a really worthy sequel that could stand proudly side-by-side with the original. (I wouldn't have minded an extra murder or two in the middle section of the book -- as it is, all the violence occurs in a gigantic burst at the very start and at the very end. I would have liked to get it a bit more spread out.) It got so close to pulling it off that I was genuinely sad to see it stumble by the end.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-31652422386003967602014-01-10T12:51:17.767-05:002014-01-10T12:51:17.767-05:00I'm glad that you enjoyed the post. It was, if...I'm glad that you enjoyed the post. It was, if I'm to be honest, the most difficult post I ever had to write. I just couldn't get coherent about the series, and it was only when I hit on the idea of collecting my initial Facebook reactions (which had the benefit of spontaneity) that I was able to post anything at all about the series.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-62520300779523795062014-01-10T12:49:58.626-05:002014-01-10T12:49:58.626-05:00In my full review of the series, I pointed out tha...In my full review of the series, I pointed out that it was doing a second-rate impression of MARPLE. In doing so, the series has become the antithesis of what Chesterton stands for.<br /><br />The irony is that Mark Williams is absolutely brilliant in the role of Father Brown. He keeps bringing me back. He really captures the essence of Father Brown most beautifully, his simplicity, his common-sense, his good nature... It's wonderful. A pity it's wasted in such a terribly-scripted series.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-69142235838971111672014-01-10T12:46:08.921-05:002014-01-10T12:46:08.921-05:00Yes, I think when it first showed up, the idea was...Yes, I think when it first showed up, the idea was new and revolutionary enough for critics to ignore its shortcomings as a detective story. But it hasn't quite stood the test of time as well as you'd think from its most vocal fans.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-28030116328233008252014-01-10T12:45:23.067-05:002014-01-10T12:45:23.067-05:00I must say the only thing the really surprised me ...I must say the only thing the really surprised me about this list was how high WHO CENSORED ROGER RABBIT? scored. It came up at the same spot as STRANGERS ON A TRAIN did last year, and at least STRANGERS ON A TRAIN started excellently.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-72101383477597922972014-01-10T12:10:12.652-05:002014-01-10T12:10:12.652-05:00You really do work well in this rant mode of yours...You really do work well in this rant mode of yours. Though I've read a lot of this before and skipped over much of it what I did read that was new to me was quite funny at times.<br /><br />RE #2: Have you ever seen MURDER BY THE BOOK (1986), a UK TV movie where Poirot literally does rise from his grave and visits Agatha Christie played by Peggy Ashcorft? I just stumbled across it on YouTube last month. I have yet to watch the whole thing yet. The beginning is INCREDIBLY dull and I lost interest. But I went hunting for reviews of it that same night and I've read that the scenes between Christie and Poirot are fun and often witty.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-23240774188380852342014-01-10T02:48:24.521-05:002014-01-10T02:48:24.521-05:00This really made me chortle - never let anyone sep...This really made me chortle - never let anyone separate you from your bile duct Patrick! I actually liked Bloch's Psycho II a lot more than you did (but then I also thought the first two movie sequels weren't bad either) and was only a few years younger than you when I read it when it came out, but still remember being rocked by the twist ending and the jaundiced view of the film industry. Hope 2014 is a better reading year though I would hate to miss as entertaining a roundup of the worst of the year!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-7271527096581562462014-01-09T23:17:49.198-05:002014-01-09T23:17:49.198-05:00This post about the Father Brown tv show has earne...This post about the Father Brown tv show has earned you epic status in my pantheon of truth-speakers!<br /><br />Sadly this is the general state of broadcasting. These are times when every TV show with a priest in it has him A) dealing with a child molestation incident, or B) being confronted by a gay priest/parishioner/relative , in spite of the fact that the lives of priests, to the greatest extent, have very little to do with either...except in the minds of the haters. <br /><br />I think the days in which character get to be more than fodder for political extremists are long gone...so sad. Imagine what we'd get if father Brown were Muslim!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-1955106408422729102014-01-09T19:02:29.690-05:002014-01-09T19:02:29.690-05:00I especially find myself in sympathy with your #1....I especially find myself in sympathy with your #1. I'm by no means a Chestertonian but can easily see how the recent FATHER BROWN adaptation was treated and written by people who seemingly have no concept about the literary property they're building their newfound success upon. That this version was well enough received to have scored a second series is indicative not of the merits of the show itself but of the desire for this type of (seemingly) old-school mystery programming on the part of audiences. Jeff Flugelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06127134815672151999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-11695150632598526652014-01-09T15:41:40.964-05:002014-01-09T15:41:40.964-05:00I've never gotten The Daughter of Time fuss an...I've never gotten The Daughter of Time fuss and I used to be fascinated with the Wars of the Roses period. I can see why it struck people at the time, but it seems old hat to me now.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-41993789997440880542014-01-09T15:02:25.830-05:002014-01-09T15:02:25.830-05:00This is great– I had a pretty good idea of what mi...This is great– I had a pretty good idea of what might be on the list, and I was right.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03343947041898057102noreply@blogger.com