I was at an event in a Parisian University and referenced Hercule Poirot, to find that nobody understood the reference!
Now it could be a generational thing rather than by country however I was wondering whether she is actually as famous outside the UK than in it. In the UK she is THE detective writing author. Yes we have Sherlock Holmes but Christie's works are far more represented in media than Conan Doyle's.
And if not Marple and Poirot, what are the famous detectives/authors of the genre in your countries. Is the genre particularly big where you're from? Every other show here seems to be a new detective comedy.
20 comments
Yep.
I remember lychnari publications releasing them as small, yellow-and-black books. ERT channel often airs the Poirot and Marple series
It’s definitely well known in the Netherlands. Maybe not the newer generations, but I’m 40 and I know them. My mom used to watch that tv show about Poirot when I was a kid.
FWIW she’s literally the [most widely translated author ever](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67389-most-translated-author). I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with the slightest interest in reading English authors who hasn’t heard of her.
Agatha Christie ? The crime novel author? Creator of Miss Marple? Writer of such iconic stories as Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile? Writer of the longest running theater play The Mousetrap? No, never heard from her, who is that?
Of course!!! I had an Agatha Christie’s period in my teens, and I still have more than 30 books in my parents’ home.
Perhaps the French didn’t appreciate your reference because Poirot was Belgian, lol.
I have yet to stay in a summerhouse in Denmark that did not hold at least one copy of an Agatha Christie novel.
And I have been to plenty.
I’d say that people would probably consider Sherlock Holmes to be the quintessential detective, but nevertheless Agatha Christie may well be the most well known classic crime fiction author over here as well (I’m pretty sure there’s people who know Holmes, but don’t know that Doyle is the author). However, a lot of people will probably mainly associate her with Miss Marple and might actually be surprised that she has written Poirot as well. Then again, with both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile having been in cinemas again recently, that may possibly have changed. The recent films also make this whole nobody getting Poirot references extra weird…
there was a time in the 70s-90s that you couldn’t shake a stick in a used bookshop or charity store without hitting one of her “quintuplets” A series where they’d take 2 novels and pad them with 3 short stories.. They made 27 of them and they sold in huge numbers.
Additionally David Suchet’s Poirot did really well on TV.
Absolutely.
However, I was very surprised to find out that a friend in US had never heard of Enid Blyton. Despite having a degree in literature and generally being well read.
I am a bit surprised. We’ve had Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple series on tv for years
On the other hand the younger generations don’t watch TV anymore.
I would say Agatha Christie is more known than Conan Doyle, but Sherlock Holmes is more known than Miss Marple
Of course she is well-known outside the UK. Here in Finland we have been very well acquainted with her work for decades. My mother read Miss Marple stories in Finnish and in English when I was a child, and I was very young when I first read *And Then There Were None* in a Finnish version called *Kymmenen pientä neekeripoikaa*. We have seen all the Poirot TV films with David Suchet. Dame Agatha is one of the iconic detective writers of the world.
Yes, but crime and particularly British crime is very popular in Norway and has been for ages. Also British TV crime productions are very popular.
Yes, her books have been translated and printed numerous times, and her name is very well known – as well as the name ‘Poirot’ and the titles of her most popular novels.
I’d say the name ‘Sherlock Holmes’ is definitely even more iconic, but the books aren’t as widely read as Christie’s.
Detectives in general are definitely popular over here. Georges Simenon’s Maigret novels are widely read and saw a lot of international success as well. In Flanders, Pieter Aspe’s books are very popular. They also got adapted into a tv-series. There have been several other hugely successful detective series on tv as well, although there currently don’t seem to be any big iconic series like there were 10-30 years ago. Oh, and Midsomer Murders is probably the most successful British series over here, perhaps only surpassed by Keeping Up Appearances.
That’s because Hercule Poirot is Belgian. Yes, Agatha Christie is very well known here in French speaking Belgium.
I suspect a lot of the younger people I work with here in the UK wouldn’t get the reference either. I grew up with Poirot and Miss Marple on TV but those days are gone. I’ll do some research at work this weekend!
I haven’t seen any French person answered, so here are my two cents /quids / kronas.
I’m 30+, so I might be “out dated,” but Agatha Christie is very very well known here. Hercule Poirot even more. I can’t fantom the idea that they do not know about it. They might not get some references due to translation, but the TV show Hercule Poirot is a thing here. I would even dare to say it’s slightly less known than Sherlocks depending on the generation.
My mom is a huge fan of Agatha Christie, so I might be biased (and old 🤷🏻♂️).
Two things:
1. It might be a generational thing. I’m older GenZ and I don’t think all of my peers know Hercule Poirot, although Murder On The Orient Express was recently sucessfully refilmed.
2. Might have been your pronounciation.
After googling I have heared of some of her books. But neither the name nor the character you mentioned I knew. But Im generally bad with authors names.
Yes, I love her books, a wonderful holiday read. Suchet’s Poirot is one of my favourite series, it’s one of things we love to watch with afternoon coffee with my husband. We know the plot, we know all the murderers, but it’s a comfort show.