Admittedly, I have one Yuletide grouse.
No, not that the mulled wine always runs out too early, or that Christmas lunch with The Family faintly resembles the Battle of El Alamein by the time the pudding’s through. It’s that mostly everyone seems to think “Christmas books” are all for children.
To be fair, there are a large number of Christmas books for kids – Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express, Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, JRR Tolkien’s charming Father Christmas Letters, to name a few. Often, stories are retold for children. ETA Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and Mouse King, for instance, made famous by Tchaikovsky’s ballet. Prior to the fluffy saccharine merriment of later revisions by Alexander Dumas, it was a dark, spooky tale about a girl who discovers that her beautiful, damaged nutcracker has come to life. The mayhem that ensues – involving epic battles between mice and toy soldiers – is either her delirious nightmare, or perhaps an alternative reality into which she wanders. The Brothers Grimm would have been proud.
And while I did enjoy Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a child, in all its many-splendored adaptations and abridgments – from Ladybird Classics to Walt Disney animations – it’s hard to remember that the novella was written as a scathing indictment of the Industrial Revolution.
Take heart, though. I trawled through my bookshelf and picked some truly “grown-up” books for you cosy up with, or stuff into a stocking. Or fling at someone who still thinks Christmas books are all for the kids.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
What is it about this time of year that’s perfect for crime fiction? The cold? The crackling fire? The endless carols? Here, our beloved Belgian detective is summoned to investigate a gruesome murder in a country house, where the estranged family of the victim have gathered for the holidays. How was the victim killed inside a locked room? Who committed the cold-blooded crime? Hint: it wasn't the butler.
Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story by J Jefferson Farjeon
The novel tells the story of an eclectic group of six people stuck on a train stranded by snow on Christmas Eve. While walking to the next station they come across a mysterious house, unlocked, with dinner laid, and a fire on, but no one seemingly at home. Then a murderer strikes. Written in the 1930s, the golden age of crime fiction, this one’s particularly terrific.
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
“It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas.” And so the poet begins, by invoking his memories – reimagined, nostalgic, comically enlarged – of many childhood Christmasses past. It isn’t so much a strict narrative memoir as a selection of descriptive passages written in achingly beautiful prose.
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
A largely autobiographical story set in rural Alabama during the Great Depression doesn't make for quite the most cheerful festive read. But it’s marked by Capote’s characteristically crisp prose and elegant un-sentimentality. Over Christmas, young Buddy is dropped off at the house of poor relatives, where, luckily he has crazy cousin Sook for company. I’ll admit, at the end, I cried, and it has something to do with kites.
Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris
A collection of six short stories laced with a sharp satirical bite. Take “Christmas Means Giving” where neighbours battle it out to outdo each other over presents, and (my favourite) “SantaLand Diaries”, which recounts the author’s experience of working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s. Sedaris also recalls a Christmas Eve when he and his sister attempt to rescue a prostitute from an abusive boyfriend in “Dinah, The Christmas Whore”. Holiday On Ice is darkly ingenious but perhaps not a gift for grandma.
The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike
More Christmas cynicism in this delightfully playful little book, accompanied by Edward Gory’s fantastically off-kilter illustrations. Updike’s list includes (among others) Santa, His Helpers, Carols, Electrocution, and a toppling Tannenbaum.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translated by Simon Armitage)
Like all great myths, this opens in medias res, plunging us into Arthurian Britain, at Christmas time, joining the knights of the Round Table in merry revelry. But the festivities at Camelot are disrupted by the appearance of a green knight (as in, green all over, skin and hair included). The mysterious gate-crasher lays down a seemingly absurd challenge, involving beheading and revenge, and a young knight, Gawain, Arthur's nephew, rises from the table. This tale has survived six centuries with good reason.
Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter (translated by Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Mayer)
This gorgeous gem of a novella would be on my reading list all year round. Tense, moving, and utterly unusual, it tells the story of young siblings Conrad and Sanna who journey to the mountains on Christmas Eve to pay their grandparents a visit, and on their way back, find themselves lost in a frozen, snowy landscape. Yes, there is a "Christmas miracle", but not one you’re likely to expect.
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Hogfather, the Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus, has vanished without a trace, and who should step in to take his place? Death. Who’s keen to take a little Yuletide holiday. Things get weird. Trust me.
Janice Pariat is the author of a collection of short stories, Boats on Land, and a novel, Seahorse.
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No, not that the mulled wine always runs out too early, or that Christmas lunch with The Family faintly resembles the Battle of El Alamein by the time the pudding’s through. It’s that mostly everyone seems to think “Christmas books” are all for children.
To be fair, there are a large number of Christmas books for kids – Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express, Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, JRR Tolkien’s charming Father Christmas Letters, to name a few. Often, stories are retold for children. ETA Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and Mouse King, for instance, made famous by Tchaikovsky’s ballet. Prior to the fluffy saccharine merriment of later revisions by Alexander Dumas, it was a dark, spooky tale about a girl who discovers that her beautiful, damaged nutcracker has come to life. The mayhem that ensues – involving epic battles between mice and toy soldiers – is either her delirious nightmare, or perhaps an alternative reality into which she wanders. The Brothers Grimm would have been proud.
And while I did enjoy Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a child, in all its many-splendored adaptations and abridgments – from Ladybird Classics to Walt Disney animations – it’s hard to remember that the novella was written as a scathing indictment of the Industrial Revolution.
Take heart, though. I trawled through my bookshelf and picked some truly “grown-up” books for you cosy up with, or stuff into a stocking. Or fling at someone who still thinks Christmas books are all for the kids.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
What is it about this time of year that’s perfect for crime fiction? The cold? The crackling fire? The endless carols? Here, our beloved Belgian detective is summoned to investigate a gruesome murder in a country house, where the estranged family of the victim have gathered for the holidays. How was the victim killed inside a locked room? Who committed the cold-blooded crime? Hint: it wasn't the butler.
Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story by J Jefferson Farjeon
The novel tells the story of an eclectic group of six people stuck on a train stranded by snow on Christmas Eve. While walking to the next station they come across a mysterious house, unlocked, with dinner laid, and a fire on, but no one seemingly at home. Then a murderer strikes. Written in the 1930s, the golden age of crime fiction, this one’s particularly terrific.
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
“It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas.” And so the poet begins, by invoking his memories – reimagined, nostalgic, comically enlarged – of many childhood Christmasses past. It isn’t so much a strict narrative memoir as a selection of descriptive passages written in achingly beautiful prose.
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
A largely autobiographical story set in rural Alabama during the Great Depression doesn't make for quite the most cheerful festive read. But it’s marked by Capote’s characteristically crisp prose and elegant un-sentimentality. Over Christmas, young Buddy is dropped off at the house of poor relatives, where, luckily he has crazy cousin Sook for company. I’ll admit, at the end, I cried, and it has something to do with kites.
Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris
A collection of six short stories laced with a sharp satirical bite. Take “Christmas Means Giving” where neighbours battle it out to outdo each other over presents, and (my favourite) “SantaLand Diaries”, which recounts the author’s experience of working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s. Sedaris also recalls a Christmas Eve when he and his sister attempt to rescue a prostitute from an abusive boyfriend in “Dinah, The Christmas Whore”. Holiday On Ice is darkly ingenious but perhaps not a gift for grandma.
The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike
More Christmas cynicism in this delightfully playful little book, accompanied by Edward Gory’s fantastically off-kilter illustrations. Updike’s list includes (among others) Santa, His Helpers, Carols, Electrocution, and a toppling Tannenbaum.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translated by Simon Armitage)
Like all great myths, this opens in medias res, plunging us into Arthurian Britain, at Christmas time, joining the knights of the Round Table in merry revelry. But the festivities at Camelot are disrupted by the appearance of a green knight (as in, green all over, skin and hair included). The mysterious gate-crasher lays down a seemingly absurd challenge, involving beheading and revenge, and a young knight, Gawain, Arthur's nephew, rises from the table. This tale has survived six centuries with good reason.
Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter (translated by Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Mayer)
This gorgeous gem of a novella would be on my reading list all year round. Tense, moving, and utterly unusual, it tells the story of young siblings Conrad and Sanna who journey to the mountains on Christmas Eve to pay their grandparents a visit, and on their way back, find themselves lost in a frozen, snowy landscape. Yes, there is a "Christmas miracle", but not one you’re likely to expect.
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Hogfather, the Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus, has vanished without a trace, and who should step in to take his place? Death. Who’s keen to take a little Yuletide holiday. Things get weird. Trust me.
Janice Pariat is the author of a collection of short stories, Boats on Land, and a novel, Seahorse.