The other thing with Christie is that you WILL encounter very casual racism and classism. There is sort of no way round it. One of my very favorite plots was Ten Little Indians, also known as Ten Little N*ggers. And Miss Marple always talks about "you know how "those people" are"- and there is also always some sort of nefarious swarthy person in Poirot (although that was sort of interesting, because Poirot was sort of a different type of nefarious swarthy person).

Yeah, there is a lot of that. It's generally not at all important to the plot/mystery, which makes it, I dunno, weird. I actually saw less of that in the Miss Marple books than I was braced for, but I've been gobsmacked by offensive descriptions and language in the middle of several mysteries, not just Christie, I was otherwise enjoying and I always feel like they could have just not done that, you know. So unnecessary.

I remember being not too happy about Cat Among the Pigeons but I can't remember exactly why. I was planning on probably skipping that one because if that vague memory, but by the time I get to 1959, who knows what I may do? That's ages from now.

Ngaio Marsh has some appalling racism and homophobia.

I think if I examine the difference with JK Rowling and Christie and March is that they are dead and not on social media. So I can take in their stuff. I can like it/choose to be appalled by it/examine both at a distance. I can do that with Harry Potter as a series, but then JK Rowling just keeps popping up! With opinions.

And yes, the fact that it is just not plot related is weird!

She does. I've spent more time thinking about hers because it's kind of isolated in particular books, not randomly sprinkled throughout and that is confusing. And some of it is, I think, trying to be progressive or enlightened or something but it really doesn't come off. Have come to no conclusion about it, other than I wish she didn't.

We share poems here, yes? My friend wrote this one; the author photo is of course the one with the motherfucking BEAR in the background, Sara. And the high visibility vest she's wearing is fluorescent pink, in a thus far successful effort to keep the male foresters from strolling off with it.

(Yes, a bear: she was in the field with two colleagues, one of them had eaten a sandwich about 15 minutes earlier, they started around a copse and not 50 feet away, there was a bear. Sara stood there and calmly explained that while the sandwich had in fact smelled great, it was gone now, and it would be better for all parties concerned if the bear looked for a snack further up the hill. And one of the foresters TOOK A PICTURE as this was happening.)

That is a gorgeous poem, amyparker.

I finally got Piranesi from the library and read it in one sitting tonight.

SO GOOD. So beautifully written, despite the slow reveal of horror and trauma in the past. So many vivid gorgeous passages! So much kindness as well.

That's a very good book.

That is one of the few books I may have to read again. It was really unique.

Yes! I just read that myself and felt like I was under a spell the whole time I was reading it. It's so strange and beautiful and magical. It also made me want to go back and reread The Magician's Nephew, which was apparently one of her influences.