Agatha Christie books - Classics?

[Iwasfeelingepic]

I love Agatha Christie books & I was talking to a friend about what book I would chose if I could only pick one, when I said Then there were none, she laughed & said I should pick a 'classic'. I think Agatha's books are classics, but apparently if it's not War & Peace or Little Woman etc, then it doesn't count.

You are right and your friend sounds snobbish. Agatha Christie stories are classics; much-imitated and rarely (if ever) bettered.

I don't like War and Peace or Little Women but I wouldn't sneer that they aren't classics. They are. I'm guessing that what your friend means is that if it's not a book she personally likes then it doesn't count as "a classic".

They are definitely classics to me! The 4:50 from Paddington is one of my all time favourite books.

And there was none is my favourite Agatha Christie too! I pretty love them all. My least favourite is the Tommy & Tuppence ones.

Yep, your friend is a snob.

I agree with you on that. I am more of a Poirot than Miss Marple, but they are great books to read.
Thanks everyone for agreeing with me😏

I love Agatha Christie but they aren't classics. Mid-century genre fiction, extremely readable and entertaining but it's not literary fiction. Then they're were none has a clever plot and I really enjoyed it but it's not the same as Dickens or Austen. I don't think you have to choose a literary novel if you prefer crime though.

It's a good plot, but you do know the history don't you?

www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/02/05/mystery/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAgatha%20Christie's%20And%20Then%20There,the%20title%20Ten%20Little%20Niggers.

Classics are novels that will endure and be read far into the future. They are usually high quality literature. Writers don’t usually produce or churn out the number of books AC did, with them being great literature.

I love AC too. I often read one and thoroughly enjoy it.

Would it be on the GCSE or A Level specification in the future? Probably not.

How long will people continue to read them and enjoy them? We don’t know yet, but they will probably never be considered high quality literature, but might endure.

Can I be cheeky and ask advice on this thread? I was thinking about getting an Agatha Christie for my 13 year old. He is a big reader which I am not so haven’t much knowledge. Are they suitable for his age? And which is your favourites?

Of course they’re classics!

Murder on the Orient Express perhaps?

I love them!

@Puygo I think your son willl be just the right age if that kind of book appeals to him. Try the Murder of Roger Ackroyd or Murder on the Orient Express maybe? Or Death on the Nile? Hope he gets hooked.

I love them too but I wouldn't call them a 'classic'. Some of the writing (and some of the later books in particular) is pretty dodgy. I'd say they were comfort reads for me rather than being classics - that's not a bad thing because I'll go back to them time and time again - but it's a very different experience to reading, eg, Middlemarch which is my favourite 'classic'.

Murder of Roger Ackroyd cracking story and good introduction to the idea of unreliable narrator.

I read Evil Under The Sun when I was 14, and literally gasped at the ending when Poirot revealed all! After that I was hooked, and read them all. I like Miss Marple, but love Poirot. Tommy and Tuppence - no.

I have not read any AC, but plan to. To me I would consider them classics, in a similar way to Daphne Du Maurier.

That's one of my favourites, too.

Perfect thanks will get some ordered

@Puygo Box sets from the book people www.books2door.com/pages/search-results-page?q=christie
The £16.84 one looks good.

They are classic enough to be on the AQA English Literature B A-level syllabus!

I bloody love Agatha Christie.

War and Peace is nothing when compared to Anna Karenina. Tell your snotty friend to stick that in her pipe and smoke it. Then realise that bound paper is not the boss of you and you can like whatever you like

Your friend is a snob. My favourite is "the mirror crack'd from side to side" or "death in the clouds"

Lol, well some have lasted over 100 years so far and are still being read and enjoyed so I'd say they meet the definition of classics. As for "they may endure" - think that's already proven!

Agatha Christie books are my go-to comfort reads! My favourites are 4:50 from Paddington, Crooked House, Dumb Witness and Pocket full of Rye. Though I've read them all including Curtain (which I'll never read again)