tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post3797756900941686394..comments2024-03-27T11:26:20.466-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: Deserted: Destination Unknown (1954), by Agatha Christie (Christie in the Fifties)The Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-44385890966834452212015-09-22T13:43:33.204-07:002015-09-22T13:43:33.204-07:00Susanna, I think it's great to have an unread ...Susanna, I think it's great to have an unread Christie, or perhaps an already-read Christie that we don't remember so well. I haven't reviewed Christie much here (until this week), because I had already read about everything by her. But I am enjoying looking at some of her books again now. I think I may launch a new Christie review series on the blog.<br /><br />Destination Unknown sounds like a good title for a canoe trip!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-68497309021567302902015-09-22T12:37:07.519-07:002015-09-22T12:37:07.519-07:00Funny. I hadn't given Destination Unknown a ...Funny. I hadn't given Destination Unknown a thought in years, nor had read it again since the first time, a LOT of years ago. But last week I was packing for a 4-day canoe trip and needed some light (in both senses) reading to take along. I've found old Agatha Christie paperbacks are perfect for that; entertaining and undemanding, weighing next to nothing and not irreplaceable if they fall in the water or the fire. <br /><br />So I grabbed Destination Unknown from my box of Christies (hesitated for a moment over They Came to Baghdad) and enjoyed it muchly out in the wilds. I was thinking, here's one Christie that no one ever mentions or perhaps even thinks about in relation to her works.<br /><br />And lo, here is your review.<br /><br />Spoiler....<br /><br />Sorry, Matthew, but the Trumpish character dodges justice. <br /><br />Susan Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17163152026039153248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-84719368384396763642015-09-21T13:44:35.497-07:002015-09-21T13:44:35.497-07:00I've got one left! I finished everything by C...I've got one left! I finished everything by Christie back in the 1990s but these two.<br /><br />I enjoyed The Man in the Brown Suit back when I read it in the 1990s, thought that was one of her better thrillers.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-84935954515808252972015-09-21T09:53:14.578-07:002015-09-21T09:53:14.578-07:00This is one of my favorite Christie books and for ...This is one of my favorite Christie books and for me it's enjoyable precisely because of the fantasy (or fantastic) elements in the plot. I reread this one, along with THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD which is the better book, I admit, and THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT, as a kind of trio, though this last one was written in the twenties. It's hard for me to imagine anyone reading Christie now for the first time - I've been reading her books since I was a kid. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-38871532300195813792015-09-20T02:25:05.595-07:002015-09-20T02:25:05.595-07:00Nope. I've always thought that is one good qu...Nope. I've always thought that is one good question, however. ;)<br /><br />That was one of the last ones I read, but it's not the last one left unread.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-3052540331860146462015-09-20T02:13:03.348-07:002015-09-20T02:13:03.348-07:00Why Didn't They Ask Evans?Why Didn't They Ask Evans?Nick Fullerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05668031989499870182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-13014033810324167532015-09-19T03:09:49.622-07:002015-09-19T03:09:49.622-07:00LOL, Mathew, there indeed is that. Maybe Christie...LOL, Mathew, there indeed is that. Maybe Christie was more plausible in this book that I thought!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-60407548957943257612015-09-18T13:07:22.267-07:002015-09-18T13:07:22.267-07:00Thanks for the caveat, altho if the Trumpish chara...Thanks for the caveat, altho if the Trumpish character gets a comeuppance in <i>Destination Unknown</i> it just might be the antidote I need for the horror in our daily news of late. Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-75966744626936830732015-09-18T07:42:35.167-07:002015-09-18T07:42:35.167-07:00This is also one of my many unread Christies. I...This is also one of my many unread Christies. I'll take a guess at your last unread one... <i>Ordeal by Innocence</i> perhaps?J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-89860454677989905692015-09-18T02:09:06.576-07:002015-09-18T02:09:06.576-07:00By the way, I quite liked Baghdad, when I read it ...By the way, I quite liked Baghdad, when I read it some fifteen years ago!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-12660222991921039982015-09-18T02:08:27.628-07:002015-09-18T02:08:27.628-07:00I suppose I should give Christie credit for trying...I suppose I should give Christie credit for trying to be more thoughtful in the second half of the novel rather than merely attempting to provide the reader with thrills. I was just disappointed that she fell back on the old device of the <br /><br />SPOILER <br /><br />Billionaire Megalomaniac Businessman--though of course I say this as Donald Trump is leading the GOP field in the United States.<br /><br />END SPOILERThe Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-60060197234237078722015-09-18T01:53:04.087-07:002015-09-18T01:53:04.087-07:00I love They Came to Baghdad, especially the "...I love They Came to Baghdad, especially the "moment of truth". Christie doesn't often get credit for dreaming up worldwide conspiracies, but they feature more than once. I found her take-off of a "perfect society" quite chilling. I learn from Darren Anderson's Imaginary Cities (just read) that too many were pushing micro-managed utopias from the late 19th century. I think Christie did "brain-washed functionary of the ant-heap" better than Le Carré.Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com