The legacy of Poe and Christie: imagination without limits!

Today, reading is necessary for people to develop in many ways.  In many cases, talking to people, there is the issue of reading and the pleasure that many have for reading, but why should this interest? They are often quite specific authors who get our attention and help to generate that love of reading. Their manner of writing and to create, lead us to imagine infinity of situations, characters, settings, etc. which is the cause that people develop this attraction. This is why a comparison is made between the writing styles of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie, taking into account several points.

First of all, we need to know these two great writers. Edgar Allan Poe was born on 1809 and died on 1849, writer, American poet and critic, best known as the first master of short fiction, especially horror and mystery. Regarding the structure and method for constructing a good story, Edgar Allan Poe once said: "To my mind, first of all considerations must be the intended effect of the cause. Having always displayed originality, I say, first of all, among the innumerable effects or impressions that are capable of receiving the heart, intelligence, or, generally speaking, the soul, what will be the one I should choose to write the story? As for "The Gold Bug," Poe immerses the reader in an atmosphere of adventure and mystery through expository-argumentative language.

Second, Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller married Archibald Christie, whereby she received the surname of her husband and today she is known as Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890 and died in 1976. She was an English writer specializing in police and romantic genres. Her 79 novels and dozens of short stories were translated into almost every language. Her classic characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple were very popular.  In her autobiography, Agatha Christie admits to never really having a place or room which was specifically to write in. All she said she needed was a steady table and a typewriter, quite often just the dining room table. Christie creates about 6 or 8 characters whose are involved in different situations. In addition, her stories have false clues that lead the reader interested in solving the cases, which change from one moment to another.

On the other hand, the stories have more differences than similarities. The Gold Bug is developed on a small island fourteen kilometers from Charleston in America. In contrast The Million Dollar Bond Robbery takes place in London and Scottish Bank. In the first one the narrator tells the story of William Legrand who has financial problems and he had to live in a hut. He used to go hiking with his big dog and his African servant named Jupiter, but the second one talk about the famous detective Hercule Poirot with his partner Captain Hastings, who solved the theft case without problems. In addition, Poe shows how Legrand and his friends found the treasure because they were following the clues that he had deciphered from the parchment of Captain Kidd. Even though, Poirot also deciphers clues but he does by instinct and not guided by any writing, just for that people's actions are wrong for him. As the stories have different topics, the vocabulary used by writers is also different because Poe uses vocabulary related to pirates and jewelry, whereas Agatha use a vocabulary related to detectives, banks, money, and travel. Even the writers use a different language, which could be explained by the nationality of each. However, in both stories is looking to find something lost, treasure and bonds, and have characters focus on that mission. Likewise the stories keeps readers focused on what will happen because all the narrative is based on these searches.

Moreover, the narrative genre is a literary genre which tells a fictional story when the author may or may not be directly involved. Therefore, what was narrated by Poe and Christie belong to this genre but differ in that one is story and the other is a novel. The first is a short story, which invented a situation with a very simple argument and the content can be varied. In general, its development has few characters on the story and the process becomes very important in the final outcome. Also the story develops values ​​that we can clearly find on The Gold Bug. While the novel is a prose narrative most extensive and complex than the story, in which the story appears complicated or intense plot, and setting up an autonomous world and imaginary. This is the case of The Million Dollar Bond Robbery.

In my opinion, the story and the novel are interesting. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery creates an interest from beginning to end. Since you started reading it, you were interested to know who was the guilty and you pay attention in every clue that could help you to find the suspect as Poirot. I like investigations where the guilty does not appear immediately and when it is not obvious, so you have to develop a whole theory to reach the end. I think the style of Agatha Christie is more for adults than children, as a novel of this type does not draw much attention of kids because it is not fun, entertaining, does not has drawings and does not covers topics of their age.

Finally, I prefer The Gold Bug because it is a really fun story; it is a better option for children who like to read. It generates an interest with topics relates to pirates and treasure hunts. The Gold Bug stimulates my imagination, the book leads me to a distant world where everything is fun and it may be possible, in contrast with the plot of Christie. Also, important lesson leaves me full of values ​​that I could apply to my life, for example Legrand teaches us that we should be perseverant, we should trust in our friends, and we must be leal and faithful because these actions will be rewards in the future.