The Erich Kastner School and Emil and the Detectives
The Erich Kastner School In Bochum, Germany During my stay in Bochum, I used to walk the couple of kilometres from my apartment at the House of Nations near the Ruhr University. This walk was pleasant, it took me through a small wood and then under a railway culvert and past a school and finally to the Tower where the Department to which I was assigned was housed. I noticed that the school was named after Erich Kastner. I was wondering why the name sounded slightly familiar. About a week later I realized: Erich Kastner was none other than the author who wrote Emil and the Detectives. For most of us English speaking types (anti-national Pakis every one of us, I am now told), Enid Blyton was the prototype of the childhood detective story. Whatever else we read, it was of British origin. We who spoke Bengali had, of course, our vast literature of children’s’ literature at our disposal. I am sure our Hindi and Tamil speaking friends also read some children’s’ books in...