The Night Before Christmas - Nikolai Gogol

Publication Date: 1st edition 1832
Publisher: Penguin (2007)
Genre: Classic
Pages: 65 pages
Goodreads

This Christmas, I'm reading the Penguin Christmas Classics. Just like last year, I'll use a special rating system to give you an even better idea what this story is about and if it's for you.

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★/5

Merry day of Christmas Eve! Christmas is finally almost here and what better book to review on the 24th of December than The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol. 

This is another classic that I've heard so much about, but never really knew exactly what the story was. As expected, the story takes place on the night before Christmas. The devil decides to steal the moon to take revenge on the citizens of the small Russian place Dikanka. When all the citizens try to make their way home, or to the town tavern, on Christmas eve, they are surrounded by blackness and a lot of confusion takes place.

Like The Nutcracker, The Night Before Christmas reads like a fairytale. All the characters are types, the narration is quick and beautiful and the story doesn't count more than 60 pages. Combined with some amazing drawings, this book is indeed the perfect read for Christmas Eve. It again touches upon themes like forgiveness and love and what it really means to celebrate Christmas with each other. It is not a really memorable read, but very enjoyable with a cup of hot coco and a Christmas tree with lots of presents underneath it.

And that's my very last review of the year. I'm taking the rest of the year off to celebrate Christmas with my family and to finish an essay (ugh). I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2016. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog and I can't wait to see you all again next year! 

At Hawthorn Time - Melissa Harrison

Today is the review of the final Costa Book Awards shortlisted novel and I have learned at the end of this that the Costa jury likes reading complicated narrative plots that play with characters, time and space.

At Hawthorn Time isn't an exception to this rule. Again, we get several different narrators, but this time we get the event that brings them all together at the beginning of the story. A car crash on a small country road in England brings together some very different characters that are connected to the small town, but all so very unlike at the same time. The prologue is written in the second person, really meant to draw the reader in and to prepare them for what is coming, which is very enjoyable. Being approached by the narrator, an ominous third person at that point, enhances the reader's investment in the story at the beginning.

However, that investment slowly went downhill for me. I feel like I'm critiquing in the same way as with The Green Road again, but it is just a fact for me that switching between characters a lot makes a book harder to read. Even though I liked the plot, none of the characters sticked with me or left a very big impression. There is the unhappily married couple, the vagabond, and a young man trying to connect to his grandfather. All the characters seem well-rounded and there was so much to their stories, but there was no way to discover all of it with the constant narrative jumps. The writing is that amazing that it gives the reader enough to continue reading, even in the spam of a couple of pages, but I just really wanted more depth to the characters, especially since the plot is so driven on those characters bring on the main event.

Overall, At Hawthorn Time was a very intriguing read. The beginning makes you immediately curious as to what could happen next in the story and it gives a great push to continue reading. However, my interest slowly faded towards the end of the book and when the final climax came, I just wasn't that impressed with it. The writing is beautiful and the plot well crafted, but I really wish I could have spend more time with all the characters.

A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories - Louisa May Alcott

Publication Date: 8 November 2014
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Classic
Pages: 160 pages
Goodreads

This Christmas, I'm reading the Penguin Christmas Classics. Just like last year, I'll use a special rating system to give you an even better idea what this story is about and if it's for you.

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★/5

Just like Trollope's book, this one is also a collection of several of Louisa May Alcott's stories. Though I reviewed each story separately before, these stories are all so similar that I'll post one big review.

The first short story, and the title of the book, is not as much that than it is an excerpt out of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This is by far the most known story in the book and, though I don't think it works perfectly well without the Little Women background, I loved reading it so I could revisit that world. It also sets the tone for all the other stories; this book is a collection about giving, caring and charity.

Almost all of the stories feature a young, unprivileged girl that gets her Cinderella ending. Rosa's Tale is told from the perspective of a horse, who can speak for one hour right before it becomes Christmas each year, and Mrs. Podgers' Teapot features an older and rich woman, but even the horse and the lady find true happiness at the end of their tales. 

The cors of Louisa May Alcott is simple writing and a moral that pushes hard work and kindness upon the reader. While this is enjoyable to read (I loved Little Women), it does get tiresome after short story three. You always knows it's going to end happily and the seemingly interchangeable narrators who all want the same thing makes the story uninteresting. The main thing for me was that these stories feel very dated due to those two elements - I can imagine 19th century children loving it, but in the 21st century, there's just a little more that I want.

However, all stories do scream Christmas. They take place on Christmas day and really talk about how Christmas is more about kindness than presents and wealth. If you are able to share whatever you have, you will have a merry Christmas, regardless of where you come from, which is a beautiful message.

The Green Road - Anne Enright

The Costa Book Awards are a prestigious British book award that will be held in January. This month, I'll be reading the Novel shortlist consisting of four books, this week is The Green Road by Anne Enright.

The third book of the shortlist convinced me of one thing; the Costa judges sure love a novel that jumps between time and people. Just like the previous two books I've read, A God in Ruins and A Place Called Winter, The Green Road spans over fifty years. Not only that, we also follow different characters at different points in time.

As mentioned before, I'm not overly fond of multiple narrative points of view in a story. I generally like to connect to one character and really grow attached to them so I'm invested in their journey. The Green Road is one of those books that could have benefited from having less characters. We follow Rosaleen and her four children, Dan, Emmet, Constance and Hannah, throughout most of their lives. While the family is originally from Ireland, we see how Dan moves to New York and eventually Canada and how Emmett travels the world to do charity work. In my opinion, the story was just too broad; too many characters in too many different locations with very different time periods just left me feeling lukewarm about each of them. I didn't attach or care too much about any character.

Anne Enright's writing is beautiful, she writes with an amazing balance between detail and action, but the plotting didn't quite do it for me. Everyone in the book was unhappy and going through something. While this could be realistic, I'd like to think that in a family of five, one of them must be kind of happy at some point, but maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.

My favourite character is Dan, who makes the must unexpected and original journey out of all the children. While first introduced as the son who wants to become a priest, the reader sees that course change drastically and follows him through some major life events. I really think I could have fully connected with Dan if I was able to spend more time with him. He, like the other children, gets one chapter by himself, before everyone is thrown together in one storyline. It just didn't give me enough information about Dan.

Overall, this book left me unaffected, especially considering the two amazing previous novels on the shortlist. The writing was beautiful and enjoyable, but the structure of the novel just didn't work for me. If you love multiple points of views and skipping from one character to another, this book is perfect for you. If you like to linger with characters longer, like I do, this is probably not the right match.

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - L. Frank Baum

This Christmas, I'm reading the Penguin Christmas Classics. Just like last year, I'll use a special rating system to give you an even better idea what this story is about and if it's for you.

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★/5

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is written by one the most well known children's author; the man who created the world of Oz. L. Frank Baum is a household name, but I had never read any of his stories before. This book chronicles the life of Santa from his birth to the iconic figure we know today. How does one become Santa Claus? Is he human or some sort of God? L. Frank Baum is able to answer all those questions for readers in a way that both appeals to young children and adults.

As a non-American, I never really grew up with the idea that Santa Claus was real, but reading this book made me wish that I did. L. Frank Baum is so creative and original with his take on Santa and somehow, even though it involves magic and fairies, it seems to make so much sense. As a child, I would have believed this whole story and as an adult, I just fell in love with the easy way of reading it and the creativity on every single page. Baum knows how to entice an audience and how to keep throwing in unexpected plot turns.

This book is the definition of Christmas in my opinion; there is Santa, snow, reindeers, happy children, magic, toys, forgiveness, love,... Absolutely everything you can expect from a traditional Christmas story. There is no romance technically, but the love Santa has for making children happy is more beautiful than any romance storyline could be.

I absolutely adore this book and I can't wait to make it a tradition and read this story every single year - and urge everyone I know to do the same. If you read this, I guarantee you'll feel like Christmas has really started. 

A Place Called Winter - Patrick Gale

The Costa Book Awards are a prestigious British book award that will be held in January. This month, I'll be reading the Novel shortlist consisting of four books, this week is A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale.

Wow.

As I've said before, it's so hard to write reviews for certain books and A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale is one of them. I had absolutely no expectations when I started reading it and I was completely blown away by everything about this book.

The story is set in Victorian England where we see Harry and his younger brother Jack grow up without any real parents. They have to fend for themselves, with Harry becoming the quiet, responsible one and Jack being the social and spontaneous brother. The main character is Harry and we see his day to day life and how this eventually changes when he gets married and has a child. However, Harry then discovers some new feelings that he had never known about before.
At the same, we also gets scenes from a mental hospital where Harry is apparently years later. The details are vague, but we see horrendous treatments being performed on him to cure his "condition."

Just like A God In Ruins, A Place Called Winter is a plot you have to puzzle together yourself. We get glimpses of different times in Harry's life and the different places he has lived; England, Canada and an outdoor retreat for people with mental issues. As a reader, we're constantly piecing together how Harry got to these places and what will happen next, which is a process I thoroughly enjoyed thanks to Patrick Gale's amazing writing. Though Harry evolves as a character, he is recognisable and relatable in every scenario and I felt very connected to him throughout the book.

Spoilers! From here on, I'll discuss a major plot element (though many, many reviewers do too so it's not extremely spoiler-ish). If you want to stay completely spoiler-free, then don't read below this picture:

Though I mostly avoid spoilers, I feel like I can't discuss this book without discussing one major plot element: Harry's homosexual feelings and the response of society to these feelings. As discussed before, Harry gets married but after a few years, he meets a man and starts a sexual relationship with him. Once those feelings get revealed, we really get an insight into Victorian England's attitude towards homosexuality and the often awful treatment people received because of it. I loved how Patrick Gale was able to contrast the feeling of helplessness Harry has about his homosexuality and the brashness and coldness of even the people closest to him. It was extremely heartbreaking and made me tear up at several times. This element of the story did not only make it a more emotional story, but it also made it a historical lesson into the way people were treated and the realities of Victorian England.

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I really enjoyed this book. If I have to compare it to A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson I honestly don't know which one is better. Both books have amazing main characters, a complex and intriguing plot and some of the best writing I've ever read. A Place Called Winter, however, was definitely easier to get into and really gripped me from the first moment. It might be a tad more predictable, especially the ending, but it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming and an amazing reading experience.

Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope

This Christmas, I'm reading the Penguin Christmas Classics. Just like last year, I'll use a special rating system to give you an even better idea what this story is about and if it's for you.

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★/5

This Christmas book by Anthony Trollope exists of several short stories; the main one being Christmas at Thompson Hall. Though all five stories are slightly different, they are all in a very similar style and very distinctively by the same author. To review the book, I'll discuss each short story briefly.

Christmas at Thompson Hall

This is the main story of the collection and also by far the most original and funniest one. Though not very closely related to Christmas, it tells the journey of a married couple from their way to the south of France to their relatives in England to spend the holiday. They stay over in a hotel in Paris and what ensues is a collection of events that I can only imagine inspired Faulty Towers in a great deal.
This short story is quintessentially British and the very "proper" way the upper-class characters try to respond to the worst misunderstandings would make anyone laugh. It is a very Dickensian story, as I actually think all of them are, connected by coincidences and plots driven by misunderstandings. Though the ending is fairly predictable, it added to the fun to know more than the characters do and to anticipate all the future misunderstandings they will endure.

Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage

This might be my favourite story of the collection. A British family have a young neighbour staying with them and something grows between him and the eldest daughter. As expected, no one says anything about it and the two quarrel quite a bit while also trying to hide their feelings.
I thought this story was very Christmas. Not only are there great descriptions of Christmas decorations in it, the idea of people confessing their true feelings during Christmas always makes me a little gushy. I enjoy the fact that the romance and the atmosphere of the holiday were so beautifully interwoven by Trollope's writing and I really enjoyed every single character in this short story. 

The Mistletoe Bough

The Mistletoe Bough is very similar to Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage. We encounter a similar family and again see them through Christmas with the necessary romantic complications. The story revolves around the daughter and the impending Christmas visit of her former fiancé. They haven't seen each other since the engagement ended and are now reunited in the family home.
Again, there are mixed feelings and misunderstandings between characters. This story was really very Christmas like and I enjoyed reading the descriptions of an English Victorian mansion during Christmas. However, the characters weren't as memorable as those in the previous two stories and the ending wasn't really that surprising at all.

The Two Generals

This short story was my absolute favourite. Maybe it's because I was getting a bit tired of British people and their weird coincidences, or maybe it was just because it's an amazing story. The Two Generals takes place in Kentucky during the American civil war. Two brothers join the army; one on the Northern side and one on the Southern side. As you can expect, this causes a lot of tension in this household. Every Christmas, the brothers are home with their father and confronted about their differences. Add to that a woman they both love, and it's not exactly a merry Christmas each year. 
This story has some amazing storytelling and Trollope is really able to take a big historical event and make it more personal to the readers. You learn about history, while at the same time encountering my favourite characters from this collection of short stories. It didn't feel very Christmas like, probably because of the war situation, but the end does fill your heart and there's a great lesson about forgiveness and family in there.

Not If I Know It

Not If I Know It is the shortest story of the collection and also the one that has least impressed me. It's about a British family that comes together for Christmas (I know, again) and a fight between two brothers-in-law whom are arguing about money - or at least one of them thinks they are, the other one thinks they're fighting for another reason. Thus story was only twenty pages long and again based on a misunderstanding that could have been fixed quite easily. Though it takes place on Christmas, the whole arguing about money put me straight out of the Christmas atmosphere. The ending is once again happy, but I really didn't relate to any character to be bothered about that. Compared to the other short stories, this one is definitely the one I'll forget.