I got into Agatha Christie because I watched the repeats of the ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot and then the Marple series too. There were other factors, such as the fact that her name kept cropping up and it was said she is the best selling author of all time. I was curious.
The first proper Agatha Christie book I read was not a Poriot at all. It was And then there were none as it was said to be an excellent place to start with Christie's work. I enjoyed it and realised that the woman probably really was a genius. So I decided to read more.
I haven't actually read that many Poirot books. There's simply so many things I want to read that I only get around to these books every so often, usually when I'm stuck for choices. It's also because I've seen most of the books and short stories in their adaptations, so I know the answers and it makes the books just slightly less enticing.
Something that intrigued me was the way Agatha Christie disliked all the actors portrayals of her detective, but her daughter said that David Suchet, who played Poirot for a long time after Agatha Christie died, would have made her proud. I wanted to gauge for myself why this was.
On reading the first book, it was obvious why. To start, David Suchet was almost exactly like Poirot. He genuinely matches the physical description very closely with the height and head shape. The mannerism, the character, I think is generally very like Christie's description too. He has a wonderful warmth but can be very fierce when need be. He is a genius. He knows it and it's interesting how he makes it clear that he knows how brilliant he is, but he's kind of casual about it. He does not shun the company of others who are less intelligent than him, he welcomes them, in his own way. Most importantly, Poirot is a kind man. The original Poirot walked with a limp, Suchet's version walks with a strange sort of waddle. Suchet says that he put a penny between his buttocks to create this distinctive gait.
I have seen other Poirot's. It's difficult, when you're used to one version, to accept others in the role. But in general, I didn't like any of them. Albert Finney made Poirot appear a little bit creepy. David Niven lacked anything that made Poirot likeable. Kenneth Brannagh didn't have the quirkiness.
Character's don't always have to be portrayed as the original novel writers saw them. And every actor can bring their own style to the part which might work for some. But it was definitely David Suchet who worked for me.
A few things I noticed.
Poirot constantly criticises Hastings for being an idiot. I generally do find Hastings a bit annoying. He is a little dense and he keeps uttering the same phrases of astonishment. Why exactly did Poirot put up with him? I think the answer's simple. For all his faults, Hasting's was forever loyal and completely honest. He didn't have a bad bone in his body. Whilst Poirot was constantly surrounded by murder and deception and perhaps found it very hard to trust or believe in various authorities and police figures, at least he had Hastings. Someone who he knew he could trust and was a genuine and loyal friend. The books also tend to be at their best when Hastings is the narrator. I think audiences probably identify with the very English and innocent Hastings who thinks he's doing a good job with helping to find clues, but whilst he is not quite an idiot, he also isn't the detective he likes to think he is.
It's also worth noting, that for the TV adaptation at least, Hastings was probably needed as the "action man" figure. Many stories were changed from the original version to include Hastings and he definitely did a lot of the physical activities. Doctor Who did the same thing in the early series, where the Doctor was intended as the clever one with all the answers and then there was a male companion, like Ian Chesterton, who did all the heavy lifting.
Whilst many figures of authority in Christie's works were proven to be untrustworthy, such as police officers and doctors, Inspector Japp was one within the Poirot books who I think was highlighted as being someone else Poirot could trust. Despite any boastings he makes about his own perceived brilliance, he does seem to pay attention to Poirot and he is mentioned in many books, even if he is not seen. It seems that if Poirot asks Japp to do something, he will. Probably because he knows the detective is good and he trusts him. Many will also start paying attention if Poirot mentions his friendship with the Chief Inspector. In the TV series, Japp tends to boast, out of Poirot's hearing, that he's the real brains behind everything. He sometimes gets frustrated by the way Poirot solves the case and that he, Japp, keeps missing things. But while he seems exasperated and frustrated by Poirot most of the time, and they're shown to be drastically different people, Japp obviously has clear morals. He knows to follow what Poirot says, so if the detective says he needs to do something, then he will. Like Hastings, for all his faults, Japp is trustworthy and a loyal friend.
Several times, famously, Poirot was referred to by terms like "that funny little French fellow" when he was in fact Belgian. The fact that he's a foreigner in England is somewhat key to his character and a lot of the humour as well as more unpleasant elements at times. He has all kinds of eccentricities which are very odd to the English, but Poirot thinks the English are the odd ones. One episode of the adaptations highlight this when Japp spends a few days staying with Poirot. Japp liked hearty English food and big portions. Poirot served dishes which he probably saw as the height of fine dining but were not appealing to Japp (it looked like pigs legs) and everything was in minute portions. Poirot thought it was madness to expect eggs and bacon in the morning. He also kept his flat extremely warm, too warm for poor Japp, and when Japp tried to return the favour by doing the cooking, Poirot, sort of politely, turned down the mammoth portion of slightly sloppy English food by claiming he was allergic. He requested cheese instead and listed all kinds of cheese, though I only remember brie, as though he expected everyone to have the expensive and fancy things he did. All Japp had was a block of cheddar. It was the episode which I think highlighted the gap between Poirot and people like Japp. Although, it's fair to note this episode also highlights Poirot's generosity as he was actually trying to make Japps life easier whilst his wife was away and he was overwhelmed trying to work and manage his home.
Poirot would probably be labelled now, in the 21st century, as being OCD or autistic. There is another food example where he refused to eat two boiled eggs as they were different sizes. He was shown to be rather obsessively neat and tidy and very much disliked the smallest of messes, which is one of the things that set him apart from Japp. He had a thing about time too. I think he was certain that he was always absolutely right on time and everyone else was wrong. He was, very often, certain he was correct and the best at reading people. Though he once completely ignored, forgot or did not register repeated pleas from his secretary to buy a new typewriter. Instead he bought her a new clock, after finding out she couldn't wear a watch, and insisted he was the Master at knowing what women wanted. Hastings, at this point, smiled, as he knew full well that this time Poirot was wrong, although he would never see or admit this himself. It was all part of the character, the relationships and the general humour. Death in Paradise, inspired by Agatha Christie, has a lot of quirks that are part of the characters.
Did I like Poirot in general? I only raise this, because Agatha Christie herself didn't like Poirot after she'd written quite a few books about him. She described him using words like bombastic, egotistical, detestable and a little creep. Honestly, I've never been sure either. He is a genius, he knows it, and despite what I said earlier about the casual way he puts this forward, he does show off. He does put others down. The one thing I really disliked was the way Poirot lied. He was constantly lying and deceiving everyone, even his friends, although not without reason. This was usually how he solved the case and sometimes a way of protecting his friends and people involved in the case.
As a character, Poirot is brilliant. At least he has strong morals and I think he is genuinely kind when he needs to be. As a person, if he were real, I don't think I could stand to be around him.
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