Query: Was Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot based mostly on an earlier fictional character?
By her personal account, Agatha Christie’s key inspirations for Poirot had been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Joseph Rouletabille, an beginner French sleuth from the pen of Gaston Leroux, higher often known as the creator of The Phantom Of The Opera. It was Leroux’s The Thriller Of The Yellow Room that instigated a dialog between Agatha and her sister Madge about writing a detective novel.
Agatha additional mirrored that modern occasions persuaded her to make her detective Belgian. In An Autobiography, she wrote that in World Battle I, ‘We had fairly a colony of Belgian refugees residing within the parish of Tor. Why not make my detective a Belgian?’
Agatha was trustworthy in regards to the affect of Sherlock Holmes. She knew she was ‘writing within the Sherlock Holmes custom — eccentric detective [Poirot], stooge assistant [Captain Hastings], with a Lestrade-type Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Japp.’
Agatha Christie’s key inspirations for Hercule Poirot had been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Joseph Rouletabille by her personal account
Agatha revealed that modern occasions impressed her to make Poirot Belgian
The similarities had been apparent: Poirot and Holmes are idiosyncratic characters with quirky private habits, in addition to being sensible detectives with eager powers of commentary and deduction. In addition they share a aptitude for the dramatic and an air of superiority over their contemporaries.
There are, nonetheless, clear distinctions: Poirot’s strategies are extra psychological whereas Holmes depends on forensics and logical reasoning.
That is the place Rouletabille is available in; he pays shut consideration to the psychology of the suspects, usually counting on understanding their minds to unravel the thriller.
Alison McRae, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Query Are there descendants of the Bach household who nonetheless work in music at present?
Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) line died out within the late nineteenth century. Bach had a big household with 20 youngsters from two marriages, however a lot of his descendants didn’t survive into maturity or didn’t have youngsters of their very own.
A variety of his progeny had been concerned within the music world: Catharina Dorothea was a famous singer, and Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian (the ‘London Bach’) had been all composers.
Bach’s line is believed to have ended together with his great-granddaughter, Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Ritter, who died on Could 13, 1871.
Sadly, another nice composers additionally have no residing descendants at present. Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Ravel all died childless, whereas Mozart had two sons who survived infancy however they by no means married or had any recognized youngsters.
Caroline Finch, Gloucester
Query What was the Romans’ favorite meals?
The essential Roman weight loss plan was primarily based mostly on cereals, greens, legumes and cheese.
A key ingredient was garum, a fermented fish sauce constructed from anchovies minimize open and left to rot within the solar. The Italian fish sauce colatura, the Thai sauce nam pla, and the Vietnamese nuoc mam nhi are nonetheless made equally at present.
Because the Roman Empire expanded they more and more launched spices, so their delicacies was similar to the present Center Japanese and North African one.
The poorest Romans ate little apart from wheat, both crushed and boiled with water or as puls, which was like cream of wheat. Bread and honey was a staple for the center courses.
The weight loss plan for rich Romans was way more unique. De Re Coquinaria, by Marcus Apicius, gives important insights into Roman culinary practices. In his Pure Historical past, the traditional historian Pliny the Elder tells us that ‘Apicius, essentially the most gluttonous gorger of all spendthrifts, established the view that the flamingo’s tongue has a specifically effective flavour.’ The wealthy would devour absolutely anything that flew, together with peacock, crane and turtle dove.
One of many extra grotesque choices from Apicius was pig foie gras. To fabricate this delicacy, you will need to first starve your pigs, then permit them to gorge on dried figs. Afterwards, feed them as a lot wine or mead as they will drink, permitting the figs to develop of their stomachs and ferment, thus killing them.
Their considerably enlarged livers had been then used to make fig-fed pork liver: liver in a wine sauce made with pepper, thyme and lovage. Different delights featured within the guide embrace sow’s womb and pig’s paunch.
Kevin Potts, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
