My favourite Christmas time moments: Books

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We are well into December now, so naturally I am all about the ice skating, mulled wine-drinking, Christmas-pudding-eating experience. But before I head into yet another Christmas market, I thought it would be a good idea to look into some of my favourite books and find festive inspiration in them. So, here I am browsing in my library for those special little chapters dedicated to Christmas or at least to some fun winter activity, re-reading the stories  that have the ultimate festive effect on me. Here are my favourites... (Spoiler alert: there isn't any evidence of a crazy, jazzy, champagne-filled Christmas party at Gatsby's on the pages of Fitzgerald's novel...) 

"Little Women" - Christmas time is all about the once you love most. About playing in the snow and being happy with what you've got

Not intending to copy Rachel Green, but Little Women is definitely a book I can keep re-reading and I won't get tired from it. Come Christmas and I suddenly find myself in the mood to watch the film again, too (well, that might have something to do with a certain Christian Bale). Personally, I think this is one of the best Christmas movies - not only is it based on a classic, but it is also so beautiful and full of good performances. 

Now, there are whole chapters dedicated to winter festivities involving the March sisters, but here is just a little bit of it - a passage showing a girl's excitement in a Christmas' morning; the joy of opening your presents however small they are, and the warmness of genuine sisterly love .

"Jo was the first to wake in the gray dawn of Christmas morning. No stockings hung at the fireplace, and for a moment she felt as much disappointed as she did long ago, when her little sock fell down because it was crammed so full of goodies. Then she remembered her mother's promise and, slipping her hand under her pillow, drew out a little crimson-covered book. She knew it very well, for it was that beautiful old story of the best life ever lived, and Jo felt that it was a true guidebook for any pilgrim going on a long journey. She woke Meg with a Merry Christmas, and bade her see what was under her pillow. A green-covered book appeared, with the same picture inside, and a few words written by their mother, which made their one present very precious in their eyes. Presently Beth and Amy woke to rummage and find their little books also, one dove-colored, the other blue, and all sat looking at and talking about them, while the east grew rosy with the coming day.

In spite of her small vanities, Margaret had a sweet and pious nature, which unconsciously influenced her sisters, especially Jo, who loved her very tenderly, and obeyed her because her advice was so gently given."

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" - the one my generation grew up with. About true magic, true friendship and true invisibility cloaks. 

Is there any need to explain this one? As a person in their early twenties, I am one of the people who grew up with Harry Potter. Naturally, Harry's first special Christmas has a place in my heart - this was just the beginning of the adventure, and the books were getting better and better, but the Philosopher's Stone first gave us a glimpse into Hogwarts' festivities (and with that to ALL THE FOOD).

So, from there on, I would always look forward to chapters, dedicated to Christmas times in Hogwarts - the ultimate dream! Wouldn't you love to be a part of the Christmas Ball from the Goblet of Fire,? Wouldn't you love it to have a festive trip to Hogsmeade, eat all the candy in Honeydukes and then run quickly to warm up at The Three Broomsticks Inn? We both know you would lie, if you say no to that!

“Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.” 

"After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge."

"A Moveable Feast" - the one when you grow up. About everything. About life. About Paris. Just Hemingway...

Maybe this one is not very festive. Maybe it is just very honest - just like Hemingway himself. In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway writes a very poignant, very real and honest description of one winter in Schruns, with his first wife Hadley and their little boy, Bumby. A marriage that is coming to its end. A winter resort that possess of beauty which cannot help mend something that is already destroyed. "When there is three of us instead of just the two, it was the cold and the weather that finally drove us out of Paris in the winter time." 

The whole wine and dine experience at the Taube Hotel might be lovely, the snow might be the crispiest, the skiing might be gorgeous, the writing might be going just fine - the perfect place does not always come at the perfect time. This happy winter story is the last one for Ernest and Hadley.

"I remember the smell of the pines and the sleeping on the mattresses of beech leaves in the woodcutters' hats and the skiing through the forest following the tracks of hares and of foxes. In the high mountains above the tree line I remember following the track of a fox until I came in sight of him and watching him stand with his forefoot raised and then go on carefully to stop and then pounce, and the whiteness and the clutter of a ptarmigan bursting out of the snow ad flying away and over the ridge."

Hope you enjoyed this post, I definitely feel a bit more festive!

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Five quotes to inspire the writer in you

1. "Literature remembers what we have forgotten: to write is to read within oneself. Writing reawakens memory; it is possible to write as one might exhume a body. Every writer is a ghost-buster, a phantom-hunter."
- A French Novel, Frédéric Beigbeder

2. '“If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it.” 
- Anaïs Nin

3. “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” 

- The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

4. “Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.” 

- Rainer Maria Rilke

5. And finally the straight-to-the-point-advice one:

The best way is to read it all every day from the start, correcting as you go along, then go on from where you stopped the day before. When it gets so long that you can’t do this every day read back two or three chapters each day; then each week read it all from the start. That’s how you make it all of one piece.

           - Ernest Hemingway for Esquire, 1935

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Five Perfect Summer Reads

As it is almost the middle of July and with that, it is time to hit the beach (or at least enjoy the sunshine in the park), bookshops everywhere put old classics behind, and push light-hearted summer reads to the front. To be honest, I have to agree that when you are relaxing in the boiling weather outside, reading the likes of Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Dante’s Divine Comedy might be a bit overwhelming.  However, that does not mean you should completely abandon your better judgement and jump into a poorly written book, sporting a glittery-colourful cover (and usually exclusively targeting women, promising them the ultimate romantic story of a cute but shy girl running into the perfect, yet grumpy, man, while she is having a coffee in her favourite charming café).

Fear not, here are five light, yet well-written novels that you can enjoy during your summer vacation.

For the ones who want something short but meaningful:

1.     Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

This little novel, written in 1958, is most well-known for its film adaptation (personally, I think one of the best book adaptations). Audrey Hepburn is the perfect Holly Golightly, combining in her performance girly charm and delightful absent mindedness, making us believe she is Holly. However, to fully appreciate this effect you definitely need to read the book. Truman Capote is a literary genius and Breakfast at Tiffany’s is no exception – offering quite strange and intriguing characters, the book is as fast read as it is fast paced. It never drags, it never goes off in long descriptive narratives, yet it is as alluring as Miss Golightly, and being such a short novel – it inevitably leaves you wanting for more. Also, if you have already seen the film, you will be interested to see how different the original story is. Really, you have no idea what the book is all about just yet, and sure as hell I am not going to spoil it.

For the ones who want to travel by a book:

2.     A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

… For summer reads can be written by Hemingway, too. A Moveable Feast is for the days when you want to imagine you are in Paris in the twenties and you can casually run into Hemingway, or Fitzgerald, or Pound, at some of their favourite cafés, up in Montmartre or down in the Latin Quarters. A book full of brilliant quotes, for Hemingway had quite a brilliant way with words: “We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other.” It is the simple stuff that made his style – long sentences are a must, but no one writes them quite as Hemingway did, and his style is refreshing, and it is warm, and captivating, and it makes you want to keep reading. Anyway, if you are interested in Scott Fitzgerald’s manhood, or the saucy lives of the famous artists of the time, this one is a must.

For the ones who want to stick to period classics:

3.     Emma by Jane Austen

If you want to stick to the classics, Emma (or any other Austen novel for that matter) should be the perfect choice. England in the 1800s, charming women and charismatic gentlemen – this a dream for the period drama lovers. I would say that Emma comes up as the most appropriate summer read as it is one of the most light-hearted novels of the period (even by Jane Austen’s standards, whose books are quite happy-go-lucky). Indeed, compared to the Bronte sisters, or Marry Shelley, Jane Austen’s work is a bit more fitting when it comes to a read for the beach. Her well-written, sarcastic story about Emma Woodhouse is the perfect summer read. As she herself points out: "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." Well, you can see for yourself.

For the ones who want to stick to the chick-lit:

4.     Food of Love Cookery School by Nicky Pellegrino

Something more modern, and definitely something you can actually find in the summer books section, The Food of Love Cookery School might not be a masterpiece, but is a quite enjoyable read nonetheless. I have to point out the style needs to be polished and there is nothing literary striking about the book. However, the story is just delicious! The characters are quite engaging: starting from four very different women, who have enrolled on a cooking course in Sicily, to the charming Sicilian chef who teaches them, to all the other lovely Sicilians who make an appearance on the pages: you can tell Nicky Pellegrino loves Sicily with all its food and colourful individuals! Plus, when an author knows well the place they are writing about, you can feel it from the book - Pellegrino can easily take you on a walk around the island and make you want to spend your next holiday there. A very easy read, this is the ultimate book for the working woman, who finally has found some time off to enjoy a delightful read.

The Gender neutral:

5.     The Innocent by Ian McEwan

Now, this is another modern author, but his books could easily be regarded as classics one day (ahem talking about Atonement over here). The Innocent, unlike some of the previous suggestions, can be easily alluring to both male and female readers. Situated in Berlin in 1955-56, this is the story of young Leonard Marnham, who is assigned to a British-American surveillance team. That is, he wants to escape from his ordinary life and unwanted innocence – indeed, he soon meets Maria, a beautiful German woman. As you might have guessed things are never that cheerful in McEwan’s novels and this one will not disappoint the reader seeking for drama and twists. A light-read it might not be, but an enjoyable drama for the summer evenings it sure is.  

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