Interview with Kathryn Harkup, author of A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie
Kathryn Harkup, author of A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie recommends a great set of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Kathryn's book:
Review from Book Depository:
Fourteen novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean it's all made-up ...
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A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie revelled in the use of poison to kill off unfortunate victims in her books; indeed, she employed it more than any other murder method, with the poison itself often being a central part of the novel. Her choice of deadly substances was far from random - the characteristics of each often provide vital clues to the discovery of the murderer. With gunshots or stabbings the cause of death is obvious, but this is not the case with poisons. How is it that some compounds prove so deadly, and in such tiny amounts?
Christie's extensive chemical knowledge provides the backdrop for A is for Arsenic, in which Kathryn Harkup investigates the poisons used by the murderer in fourteen classic Agatha Christie mysteries. It looks at why certain chemicals kill, how they interact with the body, the cases that may have inspired Christie, and the feasibility of obtaining, administering and detecting these poisons, both at the time the novel was written and today. A is for Arsenic is a celebration of the use of science by the undisputed Queen of Crime.
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Easons €12.31
Book Depository €10.49
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $17.02
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
I have a soft spot for I Wish I’d Made You Angry Earlier: Essays on Science and Scientists by Max Perutz. I was privileged to attend a lecture given by Perutz on his Nobel Prize winning work determining the structure of haemoglobin. I was a student struggling to come to terms with the enormity of science as a subject and feeling perhaps more than a little downhearted at how much there was to learn just in the field of chemistry. Perutz’s enthusiasm for science was contagious and his explanations of his work reassuringly clear and easy to understand. This enthusiasm, curiosity and clarity is also apparent in his writing about science.
Review From Book Depository
Science is no quiet life. Imagination, creativity, ambition, and conflict are as vital and abundant in science as in artistic endeavors. In this collection of essays, the Nobel Prize-winning protein chemist Max Perutz writes about the pursuit of scientific knowledge, which he sees as an enterprise providing not just new facts but cause for reflection and revelation, as in a poem or painting. Max Perutz's essays explore a remarkable range of scientific topics with the lucidity and precision Perutz brought to his own pioneering work in protein crystallography. He has been hailed as an author who "makes difficult subjects intelligible and writes with the warmth, humanity, and broad culture which has always characterized the great men of science." Of his previous collection of essays, a reviewer said "They turn the world of science and medicine into a marvelous land of adventure which I was thrilled to explore in the company of this wise and human [writer]." Readers of this volume can journey to the same land, with the same delight.
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I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier: Essays on Science, Scientists, and Humanity: Essays on Science, Scientists, and Humanity
Max Perutz (1914-2002) was a brilliant scientist, a visionary of molecular biology, and a writer of elegant essays infused with humanity and wisdom. This expanded paperback edition of his very successful book I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier contains nine additional essays, and a warmly evocative portrait of Max by his friend and professional colleague Sir John Meurig Thomas. The original hardcover edition of this book was co-published with Oxford University Press. A paperback edition is also available from Oxford University Press. The expanded paperback edition is only available from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
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Easons €14.00
Book Depository €28.88
Waterstones £10.00
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I am currently reading The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present by Roy Porter. It is a brilliant overview of the history of medicine, describing how perceptions and practice have changed over the centuries. I would recommend it.
Review From Book Depository:
Hailed as `a remarkable achievement` (Boston Sunday Globe) and as `a triumph: simultaneously entertaining and instructive, witty and thought-provoking . . . a splendid and thoroughly engrossing book` (Los Angeles Times), Roy Porter's charting of the history of medicine affords us an opportunity as never before to assess its culture and science and its costs and benefits to mankind.
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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Porter explores medicine's evolution against the backdrop of the wider religious, scientific, philosophical, and political beliefs of the culture in which it develops, covering ground from the diseases of the hunter-gatherers to today's threat of AIDS and ebola, from the clearly defined conviction of the Hippocratic oath to the muddy ethical dilemmas of modern-day medicine. Offering up a treasure trove of historical surprises along the way, this book `has instantly become the standard single-volume work in its field` (The Lancet).
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Easons €35.00
Book Depository €28.81
Waterstones £25.00
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
I very rarely re-read books as an adult, there are so many books I haven’t read that I want to get to first. But as a child I was obsessed with Mervyn Mouse by Sylvia Creche and Roger Twinn. It’s the story of Mervyn who lost his tail and used a rubber band instead.
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Two Tales of Mervyn Mouse
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Abe Books £1.23
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I prefer reading on paper. But, I often have a few obscure or very old titles on my reading list that I can’t find in physical form, or are more easily available as electronic editions from excellent sites such as the Gutenberg Project. I haven’t listened to an audiobook in years, but my memories of Alan Bennett’s and Stephen Fry’s soothing tones are very happy and I should probably give audiobooks another go.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I love The Petersfield Bookshop. It is one of those wonderful second-hand and antiquarian bookshops where you need a ball of string to stop you getting lost in the labyrinthine rooms and shelves. They were brilliant when I turned up there years ago in need of source material for my book A is for Arsenic. They gave me directions to their Agatha Christie section and didn’t bat an eyelid when I trundled a suitcase full of their stock up to the cash register.
Many thanks to Kathryn for recommending a great set of books! Please don't forget to check out Kathryn's book A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (A is for Arsenic), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,U.S. (I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier), HarperCollins Publishers (The Greatest Benefit To Mankind), Ladybird Books Ltd (Two Tales of Mervyn Mouse).
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