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Book: 'Come, tell me how to live'

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: autobiography

Rating (1 to 6): 5

Today I will start from afar. When I was little I didn't like to read, not at all. I used to forcefully read the required books from school and I didn't enjoy them. My grandmother used to say sadly, oh well, reading is not your thing. But fate knows its business, because today books are my education, profession, hobby, passion and, so to say, life. And my passion for reading was awakened by none other than Agatha Christie. My earliest memories of reading with gusto are from 9th grade, when I used to hide The ABC Murders under my desk and pretend I was looking at the textbook while secretly reading Poirot stories.

I'm doing this detailed prelude so you'll believe me when I tell you that I really love Agatha Christie. I hadn't thought about it before, but maybe I am the person I am today because of her. If her stories hadn't shown me the good side of books, I probably wouldn't have studied about them and worked with them later. So, Agatha is a woman quite ahead of her time, her sharp mind and subtle humour (albeit English) help her to be able to show us some very different areals of human nature, of the way we are set up.

I've read a sum of her crime novels over the years, I've watched most of their screen adaptations, I've written coursework about them (and I even plan to talk about them at length for you, too), but today I want to introduce you to something I didn't know I needed as a fan of hers - an autobiographical book about her travels with her husband Max Malone's archaeology group.

"Come, Tell Me How You Live" is a book in which you get to know Agatha as a real person, flesh and blood, with feelings and emotions, with everyday concerns such as choosing clothes, ironing and laundry, arranging luggage, with the role of a wife. You see her almost real in front of you, aha we will touch her. An early 20th century woman with her daily chores, thoughts and emotions. And suddenly it makes you worship her even more. This seemingly ordinary English lady who maintains a household and social contacts, accompanies her husband to all sorts of places including wild tours of Syria in search of answers about the cradle of humanity, she has a second deep layer of her mind where stories are created. Not just any stories. Genius. Ones that would make her one of the most translated writers a hundred years later. You read about some conversation she had with some tailor and imagine her mind meanwhile dressing up the image of Poirot in a suit.

Aside from those parallels, which for Agatha Christie fans, are just riches, the book is a super enjoyable and interesting read without all that backstory. The author tells you adventure stories so that you feel them, empathize with them. She takes you to amazing historical places, but also presents you with everyday everyday situations. And all with such sharp and subtle humor that you don't understand where it came from.

Light and enjoyable, funny and energizing, educational and adventurous, Agatha Christie's Come Tell Me How You Live is something you need to read this summer!