We take a #Poirot break in Tuesday’s #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation with a standalone novel (despite an ITV Marple!) asserting that ‘Murder is Easy’ - which is disputed by @PastMortems fab book!
The high body count does point to the murderer’s relative success tho. That poor canary! 🐤
The Danish #TitlesinTranslation are markedly different!
The modern-day version (left) is literal; an earlier translation is quite “spoilery” as to the murderer’s identity (which is why I’ve hidden the image and provided a translation in it).
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#24 Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (or 💎🇿🇦🎄🥸)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish (and more!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts🚨
- Join in!
🧵
In Tuesday’s #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation we meet our second consecutive awful parent: the odious Mr Simeon Lee.
The Christmas period may be nearly over, but we’ll be checking in on Hercule’s festive celebrations on Tuesday (just after Twelfth Night) 🎄🎁
We start, comme d’habitude, with the literal #TitlesinTranslation: on the left, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish; on the right, French, Spanish and Hungarian (which isn’t throwing a curve ball - for once).
The Swedish depiction of Mrs Boynton is … quite something 🙀
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#23 Appointment with Death (or💉🇯🇴🐪)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish (and more!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
'I never forget. Remember that. I never forget anything. Not an action, not a name, not a face.'
Mrs Boynton MUST be one of Christie’s most unlikeable victims, and it’s time to meet her in Tuesday’s NYE #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation as she has an "Appointment with Death" 💉
Turning to Portuguese #TitlesinTranslation, I found a literal translation of the OG title (left) and “The Boat of Death” (right), which reminds me of a certain character’s final line in the film that the cruise ship is “beginning to resemble a mortuary” (she’s not wrong!).
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#22 Death on the Nile (or 🚢🇪🇬🐪)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
In time for Christmas (when I hope the 1978 film adaptation is shown!), on Tuesday we reach a classic novel in my #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation countdown: Death on the Nile.
Join me - and my love for this diva - aboard the S.S. Karnak 🇪🇬 🐪 🐫 🚢
Turning to the foreign #TitlesinTranslation, there are two camps (as ever).
The French, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish go literal, in some of them clearly expressing that the witness is “mute” not stupid.
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#21 Dumb Witness (or 🐕🎾🔮💊)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
Despite being a #catdad, it’s impossible not to love “Monsieur Bob”, the true star of this Tuesday’s #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation novel: Dumb Witness (although he’s far from “dumb” in the more common meaning of the word!).
Join me looking at the MANY alternative foreign titles!
The Nordic/Scandi #TitlesinTranslation adopt the same word-for-word approach.
It seems “cards on the table” is a common expression in many languages!
There are MANY literal #TitlesinTranslation of Poirot’s investigation into the murder of Mr Shaitana.
Here are just four examples of covers from the four Romance languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#20 Cards on the Table (or ♥️♦️♠️♣️)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
Now, I love a good board games night.
And I’m happy to play a card game or two.
But hours of bridge?! 🃏🤯
Fortunately, Poirot is no dummy in this Tuesday’s #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation
Plus, Major Despard (as portrayed in ITV’s Poirot) is very easy on the eye! 😍
Q. So, which #TitlesinTranslation opt for a word-by-word translation?
A. The French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch and Finnish.
Masks, vases and camels are familiar features; the Swedish cover (the largest photo in the right hand images) is just … odd.
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#19 Murder in Mesopotamia (or☠️🇮🇶🏺)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
You’ve heard of a “whodunnit”?
How about a “whydunnit”?
Well, join me and #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation this coming Tuesday for a #Poirot “howdunnit” (at least for the first murder).
Plus, who doesn’t love a floor plan in a Christie? Sometimes a red herring, other times not!🕵🏻♂️😉
And we finish with two Italian editions (with covers each depicting a different murder scene: A and B).
“The Hellish/Diabolical Series” provides the only whiff of a 'serial' killer allusion that I found in any #TitlesinTranslation
The Spanish and Finnish #TitlesinTranslation offer a third option: The (Railway) Timetable Mystery.
Possibly because an “ABC guide” is a very British notion?
This solution does, of course, also lose the attention-drawing aspect of the initials - a key plot point!
The French and German #TitlesinTranslation go much further (with the latter providing a spoiler!).
The French makes it clear that “ABC” is Poirot’s adversary, with the German revealing the gender of that foe.
So the alphabet link goes beyond the victims’ names and locations!
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#18 The ABC Murders (or 🔤📒🚂☠️)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
Who is ABC?
Why did they launch their murderous rampage?
Why are they writing to Poirot?
How far through the alphabet will they get?
And what light can #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation shed on the case?
Join me on Tuesday on the trail of a most “unusual” serial killer!🕵🏻♂️
And we finish this week’s #TitlesinTranslation with some more bonus Hungarian goodness.
Having asked “is Poirot wrong?” last week, this week “Poirot becomes a suspect” (!), a reference to incriminating evidence found at his 💺!
I am enjoying these 🇭🇺 translations 👏🏻
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#17 Death in the Clouds (or ✈️☁️🐝☕️)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
After two 🚂killings and before *that* 🛳️ case, it’s time for the ✈️ mystery!
This Tuesday’s #AgathaChristie #TitlesinTranslation sees Poirot flying high … and asleep metres away from two corpses (one a 🐝).
A #TomAdams cover also inspired my favourite new #DoctorWho episode 😍
That’s all for this week!
Thanks for reading! How is #ThreeActTragedy tackled in other languages you may know?
Next week, Poirot encounters yet another corpse on a mode of transport … and we see a few #TitlesinTranslation options adopted: 🌌, ✈️, ☁️ and more!
#TitlesinTranslation #AgathaChristie #Poirot
#16 Three Act Tragedy (or 🎭🍸☠️ 🚬🃏)
As ever:
- I’ll be looking at the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and more (!) editions
- I provide spoiler alerts:🚨
- Do join in!
🧵
