When my daughters were little, the month of December was dedicated to reading books about Christmas, focusing especially on Christmas around the world. An occasion to curl up on the couch and become immersed in the Christmas atmosphere, through pictures and words, one page at a time.
I decided to collect titles of books about Christmas, the classic cold, snowy, and nostalgic Christmas of my imagination. Short books that can be read in one afternoon, full of meaning and atmosphere, that I hope can keep you company before Christmas.
I’d like to start this list with A Book for Christmas by Selma Lagerlöf, the Swedish author who, in 1909, was the first woman to win the Nobel prize for Literature. In this collection of 8 stories, Lagerlöf transports us to a classic Christmas atmosphere. The legend of Saint Lucia and Jesus’ childhood are weaved with pagan and surreal myths., giving life to a mosaic of wonderful and magical stories. This book is a trip into the heart of Christmas, in between flickering fireplaces and feasts, through fantasy and reality, to detach from everyday life and let yourself feel the simple but intense emotions common to this time of year.
Let’s stay in Scandinavia with a modern Norwegian fable, Brightly Shining by Ingvild Rishøi. It tells the story of Ronia, a 10-year-old who lives on the edge of Oslo with her alcoholic father and 17-year-old sister. A short novel, that can be read in a breath and tells us about the kindness of strangers, the dreams of children, and the difficulties that are faced more easily with love from family. With her writing, Rishøi evokes the atmosphere of the classics, like Dickens, Andersen, and Lindgren, with a contemporary tone.
Moving to Paris, on a cold and snowy Christmas Eve, between glittering streets and an atmosphere of preparation. Here we observe a family, the joy of the children and the squabbles of the parents, a marriage on the brink of failure. In Noel, a short story by Irene Nemirovsky (an English translation can be found in A Very French Christmas- A Collection of the Greatest Holiday Stories of France), Christmas loses its magic. We leave behind the Dickens-like atmospheres to confront the bitterness and misery that often hide behind the passing veil of appearances. Like spectators in front of a movie, we watch this disintegration of values, told with Nemirovsky’s usual talent.
With Irish author Claire Keegan, we move to Ireland in 1985, a few weeks before Christmas. The protagonist of Small Things Like These is Bill Furlong, a coal merchant who, between one delivery and the next, discovers the disintegration of Irish society. This revelation deeply hurts him, and, remembering his own painful experiences, he decides that he can’t just stand by and watch, and realizes the power that “small things like these” can have in changing the world. In this short story nominated for the Booker Prize, Keegan explores with rare sensitivity the better and worse sides of humanity. A book that can be read quickly but that leaves a mark.
In The Night Before Christmas, Nikolai Gogol, a master of Russian realism in the 1800s, tells the story of the blacksmith Vakula, who is in love with Oksana, the prettiest girl in town. He is blocked from her by the devil himself. A gothic love story, in which Gogol weaves humor, sarcasm, and the Christmas spirit. Published in 1832, this short story transmits in a few pages his unmistakable magical realism and offers a vivid and colorful inside view of the old Russian empire.
I would like to conclude with a tiny but precious collection of stories by Luigi Pirandello, A Christmas Dream. It contains 5 brief novellas about Christmastime, written in different periods of the author’s life, in which we recognize the unique style of the great Italian playwright. The cardinal themes of his writing are seen in this collection: the restlessness of the human mind, the disillusionment and skepticism in regards to existence, the melancholy caused by the distance from home, and the fragile balance between being and appearing. Even in their brevity, these short stories offer an occasion to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and on the human condition. Throughout his works, Pirandello invites us to look past the surface and to rediscover what really affects us.
Barbara Amalberti, translated from Italian by EDV
Cover Photo Theo Crazzolara Unsplash