Advent 2

The House At Pooh Corner - A.A. Milne

Another one for children of all ages. Don't worry all you serious souls there will be some grown-up books later in the season.

I've had a good old think about this and, do you know what, I think the Pooh books may just be the funniest in the English language. And yes I have considered Dickens (funny but lacks brevity which is the soul of, well you know), Wodehouse (undoubtedly a contender), Kingsley Amis in Lucky Jim (brutally funny), Three Men In A Boat (considered and wholeheartedly rejected - sorry chaps I just don't get it), Waugh, Raven, Powell etc etc. No if you want to laugh and feel unsullied about it, you can't beat a good Pooh. Apologies I couldn't resist that, which explains my own absence from the list I suppose.

 

One day when Pooh Bear had nothing else to do, he thought he would do something, so he went round to Piglet's house to see what Piglet was doing. It was still snowing as he stumped over the the white forest track, and he expected to find Piglet warming his toes in front of his fire, but to his surprise he saw that the door was open, and the more he looked inside the more Piglet wasn't there.
 

Not a wasted word. Top prose from the Boy Milne.