Introduction: The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie
The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery
While taking the History of Architecture course for an informal, non-degree liberal arts program that I created for myself, I stumbled upon The Grand Tour. The young elite took a tour of specific European countries to learn more about architecture.
It was a grand way for them to network, and later get commissions for architectural work. I am hosting and participating in the Performance Accelerator Plan, a reading challenge to learn key skills and to develop cultural awareness. So I thought it would be interesting to read books about The Grand Tour, to virtually experience what those young elites experienced centuries ago.
While researching books, I discovered The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie. Although it was not exactly what I was looking for, I decided to get the book and give it a read. It was an interesting read and gave me more insights into that famed author.
“One of the objectives of the Grand Tour was to round out the education of affluent, young men, and the experience allowed them to move to a higher level. Looking at where you are in your career today, what are the steps that you have to take to move to the next level? What courses do you have to take? Which books do you have to read? Whose works do you have to study? “
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Content: The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie
The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie is a travelogue, filled with letters, journal entries, and many photographs. In the early 1920s, Agatha Christie accompanied her husband, Archie, on a Tour to South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and Canada. Major E. A.
Belcher invited Archie to go on the Grand Tour to promote the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie is an important book because it gives insights into what life was like in 1922. Undoubtedly the countries are very different from nearly a century ago, but the book is still interesting.
The letters and journal entries in the book are fresh and honest. And I’m sure that had Agatha Christie thought that they would one day be published, she would have restrained herself. The way she describes people in The Grand Tour was sometimes brutal.
“The Hawaiians themselves were also slightly disappointing. I had imagined them as exquisite creatures of beauty. I was slightly put off to begin with by the strong smell of coconut oil with which all the girls smeared themselves and a good many of them were not good-looking at all. The enormous meals of hot meat stews were not at all what one had imagined either. I had always thought that Polynesians lived mostly on delicious fruits of all kinds. Their passion for stewed beef much surprised me.”
And quite a bit of the language is politically incorrect today. Colonialism is very present in the book. But we have to remember that it was 1922.
Conclusion: The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie
I have read a few mysteries that Agatha Christie wrote. So I really wanted to read The Grand Tour because of the preconceived ideas I had about who she is as a person. My view of her wasn’t one of a vivacious person, who loved to surf. I am very glad that I read The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie because I saw a very fun side of her.
If you are a fan of her books, I recommend that you read this one. There are lots of lovely photos to look at in The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie.
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