Book or film - Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

So, which is better, the book or the film. Personally, I love them both. I love reading Agatha Christie's books. She had four series - Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, and the stories with no leading person. Agatha Christie is such an amazing person besides being such a creative author. She lead a very exciting life, learning to surf, accompanying her husband on archaeological digs, and she shares her experiences in her books. She is total genius, and it is so interesting reading her books through her whole history of writing, because you can see the changes in time and lifestyle, the decadence of the twenties, through the austerity of wartime, followed by the new freedoms discovered in the 50s. And her ideas for murder, so creative, and while the Poirot and Miss Marple, have a certain light-heartedness, the ones without a leading character, are altogether rather sinister, and sometimes quite macabre.

I have seen five films, and I like all of them, although The Mirror Crack'd with Elizabeth Burton, Rock Hudson, and Tony Curtis, was a bit too showy for me. I think I like the films, because they introduce me to a time which I will never experience. Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express are both so decadent, and beautifully shot. I cannot imagine travelling through Egypt or Europe at such an elegant pace, drinking cocktails, admiring the scenery without the crowds, and experiencing it all without social media. I do love my gadgets, but I would also like to travel in a slower world. And the actors chosen for the roles are superb. Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney as Poirot, Bette Davies as a cantankerous old spinster, and Angela Lansbury in several different roles...just divine. I find that often, films with many famous actors, can detract from the story, but the casting choices hugely enhance these productions.

The story told in Death on the Nile is just fabulous, and only slightly different in the film, which loses three of the book's characters, or rather integrates them with the remaining ones. Nothing is lost. It is almost as though the book is being read to you, enhanced by the most beautiful scenery following alongside. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about a couple on their honeymoon, being tormented by a former lover. The plot is laid as each character's juicy background and potential motive, is described and you just get engrossed in all the connections and scandal, and the varying characters of all the people participating in this exotic trip. And, while we know there will be a murder, it doesn't actually occur until almost half way through the book. I won't spoil it, but it is a jolly fine read, and quite unputdownable!

Michael Crichton, writing as John Lange

I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton, although I preferred his older books (Andromeda Strain, Timeline, The First Great Train Robbery, Congo, Jurassic Park, Sphere) to his newer ones (Rising Son, Disclosure). I suppose it was the fantasy and creative elements of the early ones; they really challenged the imagination. I remember the twist in Jurassic Park (the book, not the film), which was so fantastic. I was such a fan, that I even read his autobiography, Travels, which was so brilliant, that bizarrely, I left a few pages unread, because I didn't want it to end. Michael Crichton seems to have been a remarkable man. So, you can imagine my delight, when I discovered that he had also written under a pseudonym! John Lange, recently republished by Hard Case Crime, and written in the late 60s early 70s, when he was a student at Harvard Medical School. He wrote eight books in six years. I have just read two of them, and although slightly raw in places, they were both fantastic, and as exciting and creative as all of his books. They were both proper action adventure stories, with a tiny little bit of romance thrown in.

Easy Go is about an illegal archaeological dig, looking for the last tomb, and it is brilliant, from the fabulous characters to the history and knowledge conveyed about the tombs in Egypt, to the amazing twist at the end.

Grave Descend is set in Jamaica, and focuses on a diver, who is recruited to bring up some treasure from a boat that has recently sunk. It is a complicated story, involving wartime treasure transported by boat to Jamaica, followed by the Sicilian mafia. I can't tell you what happens to the treasure, but it is a very exciting finish. I particularly liked reading about the diving at night experience, and also the walk through the jungle area. Great descriptions in both books, making me gasp when there was a scare! If you are a fan of Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson), there are some nice quotes throughout the book too.

The books are a little bit sexist perhaps, particularly the front covers, but that is understandable, given when they were written. Both of these books are real page turners, easy to read, interesting, and full of adventure, quite in the style of James Bond, but with the heroes a little more rugged, like Indiana Jones. I can't wait to read the rest of them now. Are there any other Michael Crichton fans out there? Which ones are your favourites?

Geek fact of the day: One of my favourite films is Hackers (great film, great soundtrack), and one of the characters is called Zero Cool, which is also the name of one of the books in this series!