Gems from "The Golden Age"

The first half of the twentieth century is generally considered to be the Golden Age in two genres of fiction, namely Children's Literature & Detective Fiction.

Coincidentally, the year 1926 itself marked the publishing of two of the very greatest works in both genres. They were "Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne & "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" by Agatha Christie. Who can forget Winnie & his friends Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo & the boy Christopher Robin? They were joined in the later volume "The House at Pooh Corner" by the bouncy Tigger. The volumes were memorably "decorated" (illustrated) by E. H. Shepard. The books' influence was so wide that they even inspired a best selling Taoist interpretation "The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff.

In her third novel featuring Hercule Poirot, "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", Agatha Christie created a tour de force, the solution of which, some critics considered illegitimate. However, her illustrious contemporary & fellow writer, Dorothy Sayers, felt that this opinion merely represents "a natural resentment at having been ingeniously bamboozled."

The year 1908 saw the publication of "The Wind in the Willows" by A.A. Milne. This classic about the immortal Mole, Water Rat, Badger & Mr.Toad leading the life of Edwardian gentlemen in a country setting has been illustrated by practically every illustrator of note. The appeal of this book is unbelievably  transcendental.

In 1939, Agatha  Christie came up with her most popular novel, "And Then There Were None." She herself admitted that it was the  most difficult to write. But it has enthralled millions of its readers. Ten people who have escaped from the law are inveigled to a lonely island & made to answer for their crimes, the last committing suicide, all to the words of an innocuous nursery rhyme!