Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
Read Agatha Christie’s Passenger to Frankfurt [amazon] [MBLN] over the weekend and it’s a great disappointment. Published in 1970, which was toward the end of her life, this is really only interesting in a historical context. In 1970, the world was full of student protests, riots, and general unrest which, if the text of the novel can be read as an extention of the author’s personal point of view (something that is debateable given the author’s introductio), is to be condemned as a lack of people knowing their place. It’s not like the good old days, in other words.
The novel places the blame of this general unrest at the feet of a massive international conspiracy of neo-Nazis headed by someone posing as Hilter’s son. How he’s presented as Hitler’s son is one of the main themes of the book, but frankly, it’s a stretch. Unlike the regular detective novels, or even The Came to Baghdad, which was quite good, this is just not worth the trouble. No wonder it’s never been dramatized.
September 3rd, 2006 at 12:32 am
I have read and re-read this novel, and I find the above critique to be very narrow-minded.
As an avid Christie reader, I find that there is still more to Christie than meets the eye. She
displays and extraordinary understanding of the human psyche. Just a couple of days ago, I
remarked to my supervisor that one of our new higher-ups at my place of employment reminds
me of the description of Hitler. He had an oratory magnetism that had the masses walking
away from his speeches feeling enthused, but days later, those same people were wondering
what he actually said. One of the top men at my company is very much like this. He says
much, means little, and produces even less; yet, when you hear him speak, you leave feeling
very uplifted until you ask yourself, “What did he say?”…and the answer is, “Nothing.” the
sad thing is that the majority of those listening really think they heard something….though
they can’t remember what, and they continue to blindly follow. So I say Passenger to
Frankfurt is more than just a detective story….Re-read it to see what it really said. Then look
around you with open eyes and really see the world. The review that calls this “a stretch” is
a blind review. Wake up and look deeper. Truth is there if you will see it.
September 3rd, 2006 at 11:25 am
Perhaps, but I still see it less in the context of Nazis or neo-Nazis than in the context of the 60s and 70s unrest.