The Golden Age

Kenneth Grahame (1859 - 1932)

The Golden Age is a collection of reminiscences of childhood, written by Kenneth Grahame and originally published in book form in 1895, in London by The Bodley Head, and in Chicago by Stone & Kimball. (The Prologue and six of the stories had previously appeared in the National Observer, the journal then edited by William Ernest Henley.) Widely praised upon its first appearance—Algernon Charles Swinburne, writing in the Daily Chronicle, called it “one of the few books which are well-nigh too praiseworthy for praise”—the book has come to be regarded as a classic in its genre.

Typical of his culture and his era, Grahame casts his reminiscences in imagery and metaphor rooted in the culture of Ancient Greece; to the children whose impressions are recorded in the book, the adults in their lives are “Olympians,” while the chapter titled “The Argonauts” refers to Perseus, Apollo, Psyche, and similar figures of Greek mythology. Grahame’s reminiscences, in The Golden Age and in the later Dream Days (1898), were notable for their conception “of a world where children are locked in perpetual warfare with the adult ‘Olympians’ who have wholly forgotten how it feels to be young”—a theme later explored by J. M. Barrie and other authors. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Genre(s): Children's Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Prologue: The Olympians Erin Hastings
00:07:33
Play 02 A Holiday Erin Hastings
00:13:46
Play 03 A White-Washed Uncle Sarah Kerrison
00:07:38
Play 04 Alarums and Excursions Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:12:27
Play 05 The Finding of the Princess Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:14:36
Play 06 Sawdust and Sin Catharine Eastman
00:13:35
Play 07 "Young Adam Cupid" Esther
00:12:49
Play 08 The Burglars Kristin Hughes (1974-2021)
00:14:11
Play 09 A Harvesting Catharine Eastman
00:17:08
Play 10 Snowbound vanrose
00:09:58
Play 11 What They Talked About Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:07:24
Play 12 The Argonauts Mark F. Smith
00:19:23
Play 13 The Roman Road Peter Eastman
00:19:39
Play 14 The Secret Drawer Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:12:59
Play 15 "Exit Tyrannus" Muhammad Mussnoon
00:09:01
Play 16 The Blue Room Muhammad Mussnoon
00:17:37
Play 17 A Falling Out Muhammad Mussnoon
00:12:02
Play 18 "Lusisti Satis" Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:15:16