tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post8526320426005697954..comments2023-09-16T09:00:31.715-04:00Comments on Telecommuter Talk: Ngaio Marsh's Death in a White TieEmily Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-12862177290282721452008-08-24T09:28:00.000-04:002008-08-24T09:28:00.000-04:00Dorr, Phew! Relived to hear I'm not the only one w...Dorr, Phew! Relived to hear I'm not the only one who thought it got tedious. You're right: great for a light read (it was good on the airplane), but a bit long for that. And, yes, that gender thing was really odd, wasn't it? Sorry, as always, that I missed the discussion.Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-57839581375974274092008-08-24T08:18:00.000-04:002008-08-24T08:18:00.000-04:00I, and the group, agreed with your conclusions her...I, and the group, agreed with your conclusions here -- the book does definitely get tedious with all those interviews in the middle, and it was hard to see Bunchie disappear because he was so amusing and charming. The book felt pretty bare bones -- I wanted more ideas, and when the ideas did pop up, they were odd -- like the gender stuff about women wanting men who might possibly knock them around a little bit. I did like all the references to detectives and detective fiction and the way she makes her chapter titles self-reflexive. But there just wasn't enough going on here -- it's good for some light entertainment (although probably too long), but not a whole lot else.Rebecca H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10825532162727473112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-85207991056048203422008-08-22T22:19:00.000-04:002008-08-22T22:19:00.000-04:00Linser, let me guess: you were reading that at Mom...Linser, let me guess: you were reading that at Mom and Daddy's while eating a huge brownie. <BR/><BR/>"The detectives, for example, don't have to constantly deprecate their education at an ancient college at Oxford or admit reluctantly to a connection with some duke." I love that! I ran across Marsh's "Final Curtain" in a list of her novels when I was looking up to see what else "starred" Alleyn, and my first thought was, "Wasn't that the title of Christie's last Hercule Poroit novel? I figured I'd ask you -- still the one I consider my Agatha Christie expert (as well as the one who introduced me to Tommy and Tuppence and "unsh-ed" snow. Do you remember that?).Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-54771555560044696812008-08-22T21:26:00.000-04:002008-08-22T21:26:00.000-04:00Now that's funny because I just finished reading a...Now that's funny because I just finished reading a Ngaio Marsh called "Final Curtain" and was thinking I liked "Death in a White Tie" the best, although I haven't read it in a long time. (And yes it was made into an BBC mystery). I like Marsh and Dorothy Sayers a lot but my problem with them is, frankly they're snobs: the culprit almost always ends up being middle class--"a person not quite...". Agatha Christie isn't as "intellectual" but she's far more democratic with her murderers and sleuths. The detectives, for example, don't have to constantly deprecate their education at an ancient college at Oxford or admit reluctantly to a connection with some duke. linserAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com