Ms. Marple in Vietnam

Ms. Marple gets busy using her brain and her instincts to
sort out the mess around her. I feel she would handle
culture shock well.

I don't know if you know this, but I am a HUGE Agatha Christie fan. I've read every single one of her mysteries many, many times, ever since I discovered them in middle school (thanks, Mom!). I have almost the complete collection, some 80 odd slim volumes (again, thanks, Mom!!). I'll never get rid of them.

Why are they so enduring? What made her writing so vital and interesting to me? Well, they're undeniably clever, and I always like clever. Ms. Marple always succeeds at catching the murderer, even when (especially when) the police and their strategies have failed. She sums her approach up best (and I'm paraphrasing here) when she notes that, no matter where you go, human nature is basically the same.

This is how living in this strange new city is not new to me, even while it's shockingly, outrageously, vibrantly new.


People are the same everywhere. Their motivations are frequently the same - patterns are easy to find. As theatre students, we were often told (hoo boy, REALLY paraphrasing here... it's been awhile since acting class!) that behind every line or action lies a desperate Want, a need that the character is pursuing intently to fulfill. It may be dynamic and complex, or it could be simple and resolute, but there's never NOT a Want until that character is dead. Identifying and pursuing these wants makes compelling drama. Theatre is about recreating the dynamic, conflicting Wants that happen between people everyday in a streamlined narrative onstage. Theatre is about life, writ large and with occasional musical numbers. To Ms. Marple, the drama of everyday life is just as decipherable as the motivations of characters in plays.

I consider myself a student of human nature (if a rather poor one at times), and human nature has proven to be consistently predictable. This is how Ms. Marple always gets her man/woman in the end. It's not about plot (expertly crafted though it may be)... it's about psychology. Pop psychology, maybe (Sorry, Dennis) but clever and excellently told, and an easy skill to transfer to real life. All it takes is empathy, imagination, and the desire to understand.

I've never stumbled across a real murder (and I hope that I never do) but if I do you can bet that I'll follow Ms. Marple's lead rather than that of her more famous, more flamboyant colleague, Hercule Poirot (even if he is more fun to read)! She absolutely nailed this one. Through observation, deduction, and a firm grasp of human nature, you can "know" your fellow humans. Apply it wisely, and they'll appreciate it.

Trust your elders. Ms. Marple is right.

And if you're interested in diving into Christie's mysteries, here's an excellent list of places to start.

P.S. This is also why I read Science Fiction... writing and reading about The Unknowable Other reveals more about ourselves than it can ever depict about fictional aliens.