A Very Vintage Christmas post #5
And, in case you're keeping track like me, it's 16 days til Christmas!
Now, I know that I am rather unusual compared to quite a few people in that one of the things I love to do best on cold nights during the Christmas holidays is curl up with a warm blanket, a cup of peppermint hot chocolate, and a great book to get me into the Christmas spirit.
That's right, I love to read.
And there are so many types and forms of literature that pertain to Christmas--poetry, novels, short stories, etc. Well, a couple of years ago I found an old book in my parent's house that was full of traditional Christmas short stories. Naturally, I couldn't put it down after I found it. And one of the ones I particularly enjoyed was an excerpt from a rather old novel. And today, I bring you an excerpt from one of its chapters that really is full of cheer and Christmas spirit.
The Pickwick Papers
An 1836-7 novel
by Charles Dickens
An excerpt from Chapter 28:
"As brisk as bees, if not altogether as light as fairies, did the four Pickwickians assemble on the morning of the twenty-second day of December, in the year of grace in which these, their faithfully-recorded adventures, were undertaken and accomplished. Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitality, merriment, and open-heartedness; the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently and calmly away. Gay and merry was the time; and right gay and merry were at least four of the numerous hearts that were gladdened by its coming.
And numerous indeed are the hearts to which Christmas brings a brief season of happiness and enjoyment. How many families, whose members have been dispersed and scattered far and wide, in the restless struggles of life, are then reunited, and meet once again in that happy state of companionship and mutual goodwill, which is a source of such pure and unalloyed delight; and one so incompatible with the cares and the sorrows of the world, that the religious belief of the most civilized, and the rude traditions of the roughest savages, alike number it among the first joys of a future condition of existence, provided for the blessed and happy! How many old recollections, and how many dormant sympathies, does Christmas time awaken!
...the old house, the room, the merry voices and smiling faces, the jest, the laugh, the must minute and trivial circumstances connected with those happy meetings, crowd upon our mind at each recurrence of the season, as if the last assemblage had been but yesterday! Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fireside and his quiet home!"
The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens, is just one of many excellent books which contain various chapters with wonderful depictions of a good, old-fashioned Christmas, and the joy of celebrating it with friends and loved ones.
That was just part of the 28th chapter of the story, so there are more Christmas details within that chapter. Then there is a Christmas story that one of the characters tells in Chapter 29, and Christmas Day itself is depicted throughout Chapter 30, including a hilarious scene that unfolds when all of the Pickwickians and their host decide to venture out and go ice skating.
It just puts you in a cheerful, Christmas mood. If you or someone you know is interested in the book The Pickwick Papers, I know for sure that you can find and download it for free on Kindle. You can also purchase it in your local Barnes and Noble, or online at Amazon.
And if you are equally interested in other popular Christmas literature that is out there, then I would recommend The Fir-Tree by Hans Christian Andersen, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie, The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, and of course A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Other classic novels that have great Christmas sections or chapters in them are Emma by Jane Austen, most of The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
I hope you enjoyed that little excerpt into the vast land of Christmas literature, and I would highly recommend The Pickwick Papers.
Come back again and join us on Thursday, December 13 for another Christmas song to add to your collection.
And in the mean time, have A Very Vintage Christmas!
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