Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking." "An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.
Agatha ChristieRead
I admit," I said, "that a second murder in a book often cheers things up." - Hastings
Interpretation
The quote humorously suggests that adding unexpected twists, such as a second murder, can make a story more engaging.
In this quote, Hastings humorously remarks that the inclusion of a second murder in a narrative can enliven the storyline. It reflects a light-hearted awareness of how unexpected events in storytelling can enhance engagement and entertainment, even if they might seem morbid or dramatic in a real-world context.
In practice
During a writers' workshop, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of plot twists.
Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking." "An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.
Best of an island is once you get there - you can't go any farther...you've come to the end of things.
Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody.
I have wanted . . . to commit a murder myself. I recognized this as the desire of the artist to express himself! . . . But-incongruous as it may seem to some-I was restrained and hampered by my innate sense of justice. The innocent must not suffer.
Sitting here with one's knitting, one just sees the facts. -"The Blood-Stained Pavement
No, my friend, I am not drunk. I have just been to the dentist, and need not return for another six months! Is it not the most beautiful thought? --Poirot
I don't believe in comedy as a TV genre - I think there's drama that is funny. Because beyond the laughs, there has to be cost, and there has to be heart.
You have to able to make fun of yourself. Don't take things too seriously and when people make fun of you, laugh at it.
A man who has spent most of his adult life trying out a series of patent medicines is always an optimist.
Turgenev was a very serious fellow but he could make me laugh because a truth first encountered can be very funny. When someone else's truth is the same as your truth, and he seems to be saying it just for you, that's great.
The object of a comedy is not to correct morals or ridicule the vices of society; no, a comedy should depict the discrepancies between life and purpose, should be the fruit of bitter indignation aroused by the degradation of human dignity, should be sarcasm, and not an epigram, convulsive laughter and not an amused grin, should be written with bile and not diluted salt, in a word, it should embrace life in its highest significance.
RICE-WATER, n. A mystic beverage secretly used by our most popular novelists and poets to regulate the imagination and narcotize the conscience.
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