Chistmas Tales 2025

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts. 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December.

 

The Little Match Girl by Hans Chistian Anderson, 1845

 

The very short story of a poor girl selling matches, cold and shoeless, New Year’s Eve in some great European city. It felt like London, but perhaps Anderson envisioned Copenhagen. The little match girl hasn’t sold any matches and she knows her fathter will beat her if she doesn't. In despairing cold, she lights a match to warm herself and in the comfort of the flame she sees a sumptuous feast. She lights another and sees a family gathering around a beautiful Christmas tree. She lights another and sees her dear Grandmother, the only soul who ever loved her. To preserve the reverie, she lights the whole bundle of matches and is lost in the warmth of her Grandmother's love and the vision becomes reality when she is released from all suffering by the one who knows what it is to find no welcome on a winter night.

 

It is a bittersweet tale, very reminiscent of The Beggar Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree by Dostoevsky, 1876. Perhaps Dostoevsky borrowed a bit from Anderson.

 

 

The Family under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson, 1858

     Illustrated by Garth Williams

 

Armand is a hobo, roaming the streets of Paris, Christmastime very early 1900s. He is a very contented hobo with a carefree life of no work and no responsibility. He tells a friend… 

“I can’t abide children,” grumped Armand. “Starlings they are. Witless, twittering, little pests.”

His friend, kindly old Mireli… 

…shook her finger at him. “You think you don’t like children,” she said, “but it is only that you are afraid of them. You’re afraid the sly little things will steal your heart if they find out you have one.”

Forshadowing, that.

 

Armand seeks refuge in a favorite spot under a particular bridge only to find it occupied by three little “starlings”: Suzy, Evelyn, and Paul, and even a dog who "should be white" named Jojo. I bet you can’t guess what happens.

 

It is a sweet tale with surprising adventures, and a happy Christmas ending.

 

The illustrations, including the cover seen here, by Williams are marvelous.

 

 

The worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, 1972 

 

The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. 

So this children’s novel begins as narrated by Beth Bradley, a grade school classmate of Imogene Herdman, the notorious ringleader of the Herdman children. They steal, swear, smoke, set fires, and bully the other children and some adults. Beth’s mother is the reluctant director of the annual Christmas pageant, which is doomed to be the worst ever when the Herdmans volunteer for the lead roles. No one else volunteers under threat of violence by the Herdmans. Imogene herself will play the Virgin Mary.

 

There is of course, outrage and thoughts to abandon the pageant, but perhaps miraculously, the show goes on, and although decidedly unorthodox, there is a powerful and poignant ending that makes it the best pageant ever.

 

It is a marvelous tale, comic enough to make me laugh out loud, but oh — there is something so much more profound, so much more glorious.

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. ~ Matthew 19:14

 

 

Merry Christmas

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope,

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

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A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, 1989 (novel #249)

I am a Christian because of Owen Meany. ~ John Wheelwright

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a coming-of-age story that is clearly personal for Irving, yet with themes that should resonate with many: friendship, fate, childhood-trauma, disillusionment, and faith. More than anything else it is Owen Meany’s life and testimony to the idea that everything happens for a reason.

 

In the opening paragraph, narrator John Wheelwright reveals some astonishing things about his friend Owen. According to John, Owen…

had a “wrecked voice”

was “the smallest person I ever knew”

was “the instrument of my mother’s death”

and was “the reason I believe in God”

Owen and John were best friends, indeed each other’s only friend, growing up in Gravesend, New Hampshire. Most of the novel is John’s childhood and young adult memories from the 1950s – 60s New Hampshire, with occasional flash-forwards to his current life in Canada, 1987.

 

Owen is an unusual child: small and with an unnatural high-pitched voice, which Irving always denotes by putting Owen’s dialogue in all-caps. (not yelling, just distinctly Owen Meany’s voice). Owen’s unimpressive physical traits are offset by a highly intelligent and perceptive mind.

 

Several events in Owen’s life convince him that he is fated, or more precisely, chosen by God for an extraordinary purpose. Some of these epiphanies are vague, some are crystal clear, such as the precise date of his own death. Owen develops several puzzling obsessions, such as practicing a basketball shot over and over, for years, with John. Neither were basketball players, and the shot would not have been lawful in any regard, and yet Owen is obsessed with perfecting the shot in under three seconds.

 

All these quirks are quite out of character for Owen and puzzling to John, but John obliges as he has become accustomed to Owen’s eccentricities. Owen never reveals all that he knows — or believes? — about his destiny, but John begins to realize that Owen is convinced about his fate and calling.

 

At first, I just thought Owen was a little nuts. Along with John I slowly realized he was a man on a mission. According to John…

…on the subject of predestination, Owen Meany would accuse Calvin of bad faith. 

And… 

I know that Owen didn’t believe in coincidences. Owen Meany believed that “coincidence” was a stupid, shallow refuge sought by stupid, shallow people…

Irving’s narration, via John is vivid and accessible. The characters are hopelessly flawed and believable, with the possible exception of Owen, who is intended to be extraordinary. Irving paints a quaint picture of a small-town New England where everybody knows everyone, and the slightly annoying issue that they know everyone’s business too.

 

John Wheelwright is in many ways autobiographical, but Irving has stated the character is a “what-if” version of himself. John is boring, even to himself, but he has Owen, and according to John… 

Owen Meany was enough excitement for a lifetime.

That’s the good stuff. But Irving does something during the flash-forward sections that I didn’t like. John, and I presume Irving by proxy, makes political commentary on the United States late 1980s. I didn’t feel it was relevant or necessary to the story; nor was it compelling. I believe the author has the right to use his novel in this way, and I have the right to not like it. I didn’t like it. I found it hypocritical when John accused a historical person of “bullying patriotism” and more so when John admitted that he possessed a “shallow, superficial” understanding” of world affairs, but not such that it stopped him from his own intellectual bullying.

 

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I’m taking off half a star for the politicization.

 

My rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

 

 

This novel satisfies the “First and Last Name” category (the title must contain a first and last name) in the What’s in a Name? 2025 challenge.

 

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All of Grace by Charles. H. Spurgeon

If God has justified a man it is well done, it is rightly done, it is justly done, it is everlastingly done. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

A concise, personal, and powerful plea for sinners to “look to Jesus and live”. Christ-centered and extensively supported by scripture. A Christian classic by the Prince of Preachers.

Spurgeon’s intended readers are unbelievers. His first point is to introduce them to God who... 

…takes to Himself the title of “Him that justifieth the ungodly” Romans 4:5.

 

Upon this foundational truth, Spurgeon exposes the futility of earning salvation by works of righteousness. It is all of grace—exclusively, completely, and eternally the free gift of God offered to any and all who believe.

 

If you do not know that you have peace with God, PLEASE read it!

 

If you are already a Christian, PLEASE read it, and then order extra copies and give them away.

 

Other excerpts:

 

What is faith? It is made up of three things—knowledge, belief, and trust.

 

It is well for us that sin lives and the flesh lives and the devil lives, so Jesus lives; and it is also well that whatever might these may have to ruin us, Jesus has still greater power to save us.

 

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The Counterfeiters by André Gide (novel # 248)

 

The Counterfeiters by André Gide

            Translated from French by Dorothy Bussy

Oh, simplicity! What a pure angelic soul you possess! And consciously. Life, my dear fellow, is nothing but a comedy. But the difference between you and me is that I know I am playing a part, whilst … ~ Olivier to Bernard

For starters, I did not like this novel.

 

But, I am trying to adopt John Updike’s rules for literary criticism (I don’t truly consider my “reviews” as criticism, but merely my own reaction). Nonetheless, rule #1 is:

• Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

As best I can discern, and as concisely as I can put it, I believe Gide intended to show that we all wear masks. If I am half-correct, I have to admit that he portrayed that premise fairly well, though I am not half-convinced that it is universally true. In this regard, and only this, The Counterfeiters reminds me of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

 

Updike’s second rule:

• Give enough direct quotation—at least one extended passage—of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

A conversation between two main-characters Oliviers and Bernard:

“Then why am I telling you all this? … Because, reflecting on my own case, I became aware that not only images but ideas may strike the brain with more or less clearness. A person with a dull mind receives only confused perceptions; but for that very reason he cannot realize clearly that he is dull. He would only begin to suffer from his stupidity if he were conscious of it; and in order to be conscious of it, he would have to become intelligent. Now imagine for a moment such a monster—an imbecile who is intelligent enough to understand that he is stupid.”

“Why he would cease to be an imbecile.”

 

“No my dear fellow; you may believe me, because as a matter of fact, I am that very imbecile.

The Counterfeiters is a complex, character-driven story with no central plot but several interconnected subplots, including a group of schoolboys passing counterfeit coins to collect change in real currency—a literal and allegorical nod to the title. Gide uses numerous unreliable narrators, shifting perspectives, and even metafiction: one character, Édouard, is writing a novel also called The Counterfeiters, possibly as Gide’s alter ego. A chapter titled “The Author reviews His Characters” left me wondering who was speaking, Édouard or Gide.

 

Updike’s third rule:

• Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy précis.

Consider a line from the character Sophroniska:

“Yes, yes; I’m beginning to see,” said Sophroniska politely, though Laura’s laugh was very near conquering her. “But you know it’s always dangerous to represent intellectuals in novels. The public is bored by them; one only manages to make them say absurdities and they give an air of distraction to everything they touch.”

I quite agree with the Sophroniska. All the brilliant intellectuals and their absurd navel-gazing left me bored and distracted.

 

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 

 

This novel fulfills the “Crime” category for the What’s in a Name? 2025 challenge, as the title features the crime of counterfeiting.

 

The rest of Updike’s rules for literary criticism can be found HERE 

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The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge: a Sherlock Holmes short story

"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge” is a Sherlock Holmes short story from The Sherlock Holmes collection His Last Bow. According to The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, it was Holmes’ 28th case chronologically.

A respectable British gentleman, Mr. Eccles, employs Holmes to discover the meaning of an unusual encounter. Eccles was visiting the home of a new acquaintance and as arranged in advance spent the night. In the morning the house was abandoned without a trace by the master and all servants. Shortly after Eccles begins to recount the evening, the police arrive to question him. His acquaintance was found dead that morning and a note on the deceased revealed the previous evening’s plans, leading them to Holmes’ client.

From there, the police follow one theory, while Holmes follows his own. In spite of this divergence, Holmes notes, with rare admiration, the powers of observation of Inspector Baynes, a new Holmes character.

 

And for once, the police are not utterly inept. Baynes is surreptitiously on the same scent as Holmes, but uses a false public investigation as misdirection to lull the real culprit into a false sense of security.

 

And the game is afoot.

 

Dr. Watson is not very enthusiastic about the case.

But there was something in the ice-cold reasoning of Holmes which made it impossible to shrink from any adventure which he might recommend. One knew that thus, and only thus, could a solution be found. I clasped his hand in silence, and the die was cast. 

And for those of you counting, that makes two allusions to Shakespeare! 

 

It is a fun adventure with creepy specters, bizarre clues, and still more misdirection. And as I’ve hinted, a very rare occurrence in the Sherlock Holmes canon: a police detective very nearly the equal of the great Sherlock Holmes.

 

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The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (novel #247)

Arthur Machen’s novella The Great God Pan (1894) is set in England and Wales at the turn of the 19th century. It is commonly categorized as horror. I would add sci-fi and fantasy.

It opens in the laboratory of the mad scientist, Dr. Raymond, though some might say I’m being unfair. I don’t believe Machen intended to portray him as absolutely mad, just a bit obsessed. Dr. Raymond intends lift the veil between the physical world and the spiritual, an occurrence the ancients called “seeing the god Pan”. No problem thus far, but it is Raymond’s method that condemns him. He will perform brain surgery on a young woman, a sort of lobotomy, that he is absolutely convinced will allow the subject to witness the spiritual realm. He claims it is completely safe, and that…

I rescued Mary from the gutter, and from almost certain starvation, when she was a child; I think her life is mine, to use as I see fit.

Mad says I. He reminds me of Dr. Frankenstein.

Mary does not come through the operation unharmed. Dr. Raymond calmly observes…

…it is a great pity; she is a hopeless idiot. However, it could not be helped; and after all, she has seen the Great God Pan.

In other words, not a total loss.

Mad!

By the way, he has not one bit of evidence that his conclusion is fact…he just knows it 

Ugh!

And indeed it did lift the veil briefly. Raymond’s reckless experiment unleashes an unholy terror on the world, setting the stage for the bulk of the tale. The entity’s terrifying menace on humanity and the suspenseful pursuit by investigators are compelling, but the story stumbles at the start and is ridiculous in the end. Such an opinion begs justification; be warned:

SPOILER ALERT

Just the high points: two amateur sleuths track down the otherworldly menace and threaten to call the police unless it hangs itself. Yes, a supernatural being with mind-bending powers commits suicide out of fear of the cops.

Ugh!

My rating 2.5 of 5 stars

 

This novel fulfills the “Deity” category for the What’s in a Name? 2025 challenge, as the title features deity.

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (novel #246)

Smiley feared…the secret fear that follows every professional to his grave. Namely, that one day, out of a past so complex that he himself could not remember all the enemies he might have made, one of them would find him and demand the reckoning.

 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a gripping tale of espionage set within the British intelligence apparatus during the Cold War of the 1970s. George Smiley, the recurring protagonist of John le Carré’s spy novels, is recalled from forced retirement to uncover a “mole” in MI6, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, affectionately known as the Circus.

 

This dizzying saga brims with duplicitous characters, esoteric jargon, clandestine encounters, and treacherous relationships. Smiley must discover facts buried in the memories or encrypted records of master spies, each uniquely trained in the art of deception.

 

I initially called this a tale of espionage, but as a word-nerd and former member of the American intelligence community, I must clarify: it’s more precisely a tale of counterespionage—efforts to thwart espionage. This is Smiley’s fearful mission.

 

He feared…

…the secret fear that follows every professional to his grave. Namely, that one day, out of a past so complex that he himself could not remember all the enemies he might have made, one of them would find him and demand the reckoning.

The novel immerses readers in an uncomfortable world of deception, loyalty, betrayal, ambition, ego, and paranoia—or perhaps justified suspicion. The suspicion centers on one of five top Circus officials, codenamed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Poor Man, and Beggarman. Smiley himself, once a suspect, was Beggarman.

 

This is a fascinating read, though it may challenge some readers. The large cast of characters can be confusing. Additionally, the British intelligence jargon is unfamiliar. I inferred some meanings, but others required a jargon guide from the novel’s Wikipedia article. Unlike typical spy novels, Tinker, Tailor isn’t action packed and Smiley is no action hero. Instead he wields his wits and decades of experience in a profession half spent concealing truth and half spent discovering it. It’s not quite a psychological thriller or suspense novel but rather a work of cerebral suspense—My occupational hazard.

 

My rating 4 of 5 stars

 

 

 

This novel fulfills the “Alliteration” category for the What’s in a Name? 2025 challenge, as the title features alliteration.

 

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