Christmas in Novels

 The festive season is now well and truly here ! Not least as I finish University tomorrow for Christmas holidays.  I was talking to a friend over lunch today about being beyond excited about being able to read what I want to read, and take a bit of time doing so, before the new term begins. This lead us on to the subject of  Christmas in novels.

The opening lines of Little Women ( Louisa M Alcott 1868) ' "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug." are arguably one of the most famous references to it, and managed to withstand the damage a more recent film did to the novel ( yes I know , adaptations again ), but also paints a vivid picture of the American Family during the Civil War. Alcott herself is a fascinating figure, not least because of her affiliations with the American Bloomsbury Group. A group of authors living in a seeming Utopian society ? What's not to like ? Of course there was drama, and to a degree the Little Women series of books has been speculatively called a semi-autobiography. I'm not sure how convinced I am by this argument. I'll save the theoretical arguments about this for another post.

Of course if I'm going to talk about Christmas in Novels, A Christmas Carol ( Charles Dickens, 1843) needs to be, in the very least acknowledged. Dickens, ever the showman, even goes as far at to whimsically rename chapters, staves. Yet the story of the repentant Scrooge, seems to be the one that stays with us. Even the Muppets had their own take on this. Is it the idea of redemption ? Or is it the idea of peace at Christmas. The fact that 'Scrooge' managed to find it's way into everyday vernacular is testament to the popularity of the novel. 

And for a more off the wall, but in my opinion just a valid , Christmas tale ..... Hogfather ( Terry Pratchett , 1997). Hogfather could be Santa Claus' aggrieved brother ? Hogfather is 'removed' shall we say, as he does not fit in with the auditors view of how Discworld should be (Not at all dissimilar to Plato banishing the Poets from the Republic? No? Just me then) Death ends up standing in for Hogfather, whilst Susan battles the fiendish Mr Teatime to rescue Hogfather from a pile of children's teeth. 

Christmas seems to creep into Literature in many guises. These are the most obvious I could think to for now. I do, however, like the Victorian imagining of Christmas, and although gifts were exchanged , it was a lot less commercial than it has become. The emphasis was on the family, and people coming together, maybe this accounts for the popularity that A Christmas Carol still enjoys?