Agatha Christie: An Autobiography Review
I had tried to read the authorized biography of Mrs. Christie written by Janet Morgan but found it too difficult to wend a way through all the facts thrown in. This biography was a welcome change and a book I couldn't put down. I'm sure this will be a book I'll read again and again. Mrs. Christie's account of her life is not meant to be all encompassing, but rather, the things that came to mind as she wrote. She is very honest about her shortcomings and especially wonderful were her thoughts as to her state of mind and thoughts as to why one does certain things. She was very modest about her writing talent.
Unlike one reviewer, I didn't find it a fault that she didn't address the disappearance event as she clearly writes about her problems after her mother's death which occurred just previous to her disappearance in which she describes her lack of memory and mental breakdown, implying she was going through a nervous breakdown before her husband asked for a divorce and that event must have furthered that condition. I don't find it difficult to believe that she has little to no memories of that time, but in any event, I appreciate so much that she took the time to share her thoughts about her life with us and I would have it no other way than the way she chose to write the book. Her writing almost feels as though she is sitting right beside me talking....she is one talented writer.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Mrs. Christie. For other views of her life, i would recommend Richard Hack's "The Unauthorized Biography...." as it is well written and will keep one's attention. Not recommended is Morgan's "Authorized biography..." as the writer relies so heavily on what Mrs. Christie herself wrote and presenting facts and facts and facts. It isn't a "reading" book but a book of gathered facts. The best of the lot by far is the biography in Mrs. Christie's own words.
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography Overview
The great mystery writer shares her own vivid chronicle of her childhood, family life, marriages, personal relationships, and world travels, as well as a discussion of her own struggles as a writer and the general problems of creative writing. Reprint.
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Customer Reviews
An engaging memoir by a gifted writer - Anson Cassel Mills - Lake Santeetlah, NC
Some of Agatha Christie's fans may complain that this autobiography does not tell them the things they really want to know, such as why Christie briefly disappeared after her first husband confessed his infidelity, or how one can write successful mystery stories.
But near the conclusion of this book, Christie herself says, "I have remembered, I suppose, what I wanted to remember; many ridiculous things for no reason that makes sense." (548) It is better, then, to take this work not as autobiography per se but as a long memoir, touching in turn on those aspects of Christie's life that most interested her. Christie's life had its disappointments, even tragedies, but from the first sentence in which she boasts of a "happy childhood," Christie revels in emphasizing those aspects of the past she enjoyed in the interest of engaging and amusing her readers as well. Some of her anecdotes are laugh-aloud funny.
There are no profound ideas here and only the most superficial touch on philosophy and religion. (Her hobby was collecting houses.) True, Christie doesn't tell all and doesn't tell deeply, but what she does tell is expressed with that wonderful eye for detail that made her a master storyteller, the best-selling fiction writer of all time.
What an interesting life! - B. Kruse -
We selected this autobiography as our book club read - and were a bit disheartened about the number of pages. But once I started I got captured by the language and what an interesting life Agatha Christie has led. Travelling all over the world and so critical about her own writing. She also has comments about life that I found profound and interesting, I would recommend this book to my friends.
Meh - cserpent - Texas
While some parts of her first autobiography (I understand there is another, later one), were interesting or entertaining, I just can't get excited over it. Not only is her disappearance on being rejected by her first husband not covered, but there is zero mention of sexual attraction or sex life with either of her two husbands. She dwells on her very early childhood until you want to scream in the beginning. You do gradually get a picture of her personality, and her travel stories, joys, and hardships, are interesting, esp. her outsized reaction to bedbugs endemic to The Orient Express. It was interesting that her second husband, 14 yrs. her junior, was the aggressor in seeking to marry her, and you were glad for her sake, since she'd been devastated by the first husband's adultery and insistence on a divorce. But I read elsewhere that the second husband eventually asked for a divorce (unverified so far in my research), and that he had a long-standing affair with a woman he married as soon as Christie died. Gotta' find the second autobio and see what really transpired in that second marriage. She brought a LOT to it, and was very beneficial to him. I had hoped that she would be rewarded for that by undying devotion and fidelity, but apparently not.
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