'Tis the season to be reading: what to read during Christmastime

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  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.
  • Posts: 15,124
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.

    Which AB group are you a member of?

    Oh and here's another suggestion, from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's suggestion: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. But it IS the perfect Yuletide read. Firstly because a lot of the Christmas imagery and symbols we have come from Norse mythology. Secondly because many of the events of the saga are set during Yule (Christmas' ancestor), from the supernatural visits of elvish women to the attack of a monster who plunders the cattles of king Hrolf. Oh and it has berserkers. And it is about time we bring berserkers back to the season. Oh yes and Bödvar Bjarki is a really cool hero that deserves to be better known. I actually preferred this saga to Beowulf and maybe even The Saga of the Volsungs.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.

    Which AB group are you a member of?

    Oh and here's another suggestion, from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's suggestion: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. But it IS the perfect Yuletide read. Firstly because a lot of the Christmas imagery and symbols we have come from Norse mythology. Secondly because many of the events of the saga are set during Yule (Christmas' ancestor), from the supernatural visits of elvish women to the attack of a monster who plunders the cattles of king Hrolf. Oh and it has berserkers. And it is about time we bring berserkers back to the season. Oh yes and Bödvar Bjarki is a really cool hero that deserves to be better known. I actually preferred this saga to Beowulf and maybe even The Saga of the Volsungs.

    I'm a member of The International Anthony Burgess Foundation Facebook Group, run by Burgess biographer Andrew Biswell who I think is also the director of the foundation.

  • Posts: 15,124
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.

    Which AB group are you a member of?

    Oh and here's another suggestion, from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's suggestion: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. But it IS the perfect Yuletide read. Firstly because a lot of the Christmas imagery and symbols we have come from Norse mythology. Secondly because many of the events of the saga are set during Yule (Christmas' ancestor), from the supernatural visits of elvish women to the attack of a monster who plunders the cattles of king Hrolf. Oh and it has berserkers. And it is about time we bring berserkers back to the season. Oh yes and Bödvar Bjarki is a really cool hero that deserves to be better known. I actually preferred this saga to Beowulf and maybe even The Saga of the Volsungs.

    I'm a member of The International Anthony Burgess Foundation Facebook Group, run by Burgess biographer Andrew Biswell who I think is also the director of the foundation.

    I'm a member of that one too. In fact I know Andrew Biswell.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.

    Which AB group are you a member of?

    Oh and here's another suggestion, from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's suggestion: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. But it IS the perfect Yuletide read. Firstly because a lot of the Christmas imagery and symbols we have come from Norse mythology. Secondly because many of the events of the saga are set during Yule (Christmas' ancestor), from the supernatural visits of elvish women to the attack of a monster who plunders the cattles of king Hrolf. Oh and it has berserkers. And it is about time we bring berserkers back to the season. Oh yes and Bödvar Bjarki is a really cool hero that deserves to be better known. I actually preferred this saga to Beowulf and maybe even The Saga of the Volsungs.

    I'm a member of The International Anthony Burgess Foundation Facebook Group, run by Burgess biographer Andrew Biswell who I think is also the director of the foundation.

    I'm a member of that one too. In fact I know Andrew Biswell.

    Yes, I think I spotted you on there a while ago somehow, possibly through your blog. That's great you know Andrew Biswell. He's the leading expert on the life and works of Anthony Burgess.
  • edited December 2023 Posts: 15,124
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I'm familiar with the title from the Anthony Burgess Facebook group I'm a member of. I think I might have a copy of that one somewhere too. There is also a follow-up article on Anthony Burgess and the TSWLM script I want to write in the coming year too.

    Which AB group are you a member of?

    Oh and here's another suggestion, from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's suggestion: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. But it IS the perfect Yuletide read. Firstly because a lot of the Christmas imagery and symbols we have come from Norse mythology. Secondly because many of the events of the saga are set during Yule (Christmas' ancestor), from the supernatural visits of elvish women to the attack of a monster who plunders the cattles of king Hrolf. Oh and it has berserkers. And it is about time we bring berserkers back to the season. Oh yes and Bödvar Bjarki is a really cool hero that deserves to be better known. I actually preferred this saga to Beowulf and maybe even The Saga of the Volsungs.

    I'm a member of The International Anthony Burgess Foundation Facebook Group, run by Burgess biographer Andrew Biswell who I think is also the director of the foundation.

    I'm a member of that one too. In fact I know Andrew Biswell.

    Yes, I think I spotted you on there a while ago somehow, possibly through your blog. That's great you know Andrew Biswell. He's the leading expert on the life and works of Anthony Burgess.

    Yes I know. His biography was really great and an eye opener.

    Anyway, another reading suggestion, taken from my blog:

    'Tis the season to be reading. And here comes my very first new Christmas reading suggestion this year. A Scandinavian Christmas: Festive Tales for a Nordic Noël. An anthology of Christmas stories by Scandinavian writers, old and contemporary, famous and less famous. There's so much to love in there. Classic tales, some with tragic endings (you know the ones), you also take a detour via Ancient Rome with the Nativity as seen by Emperor Augustus in a mystical experience (Selma Lagerlof's The Emperor's Vision). But my favourite Vigdis Hjorth's Christmas Eve, about a alcoholic mother trying to satisfy her addiction and hide it at the same time. Showing the dark side of the season in all its bleak simplicity, it is a haunting piece. Anyway, the Scandinavians pretty much invented Yuletide, so you can't go wrong with this one.
  • Posts: 15,124
    And here's another one:

    'Tis the season to be reading (fa lala, lala..) For today's Christmastime reading suggestion, Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds. Apparently, it is a very freely adapted adaptation of Dicken's Christmas Carol. I must confess, while I did see a good bit of Scrooge in the main character, the parallels between the two works are not that obvious. This graphic novel (with emphasis on the novel bit, as there is a lot of text) stands on its own and the Dickensian source material is more easily identifiable when you read it a second time. But I digress. The action is set from one Christmas season to another. Title characer Cassandra Darke is an elderly art dealer, mean, ugly, selfish, arrogant, wealthy, utterly despicable. She loses her reputation and part of her fortune when she is recognised guilty of fraud. A year later, things go from bad to worse when she finds a gun in the basement where her ex lodger Nicki (who is also the daughter of Cassandra's stepsister and her ex-husband) used to live. This is a thriller with brains and heart, it is also a moral tale and a bit of a tragedy, with a protagonist who is not devoid of redeeming qualities... which might not be enough to save her soul, or her life.
  • Posts: 15,124
    New reading suggestion for Christmas:

    A Scandinavian Christmas: Festive Tales for a Nordic Noël. An anthology of Christmas stories by Scandinavian writers, old and contemporary, famous and less famous. There's so much to love in there. Classic tales, some with tragic endings (you know the ones), you also take a detour via Ancient Rome with the Nativity as seen by Emperor Augustus in a mystical experience (Selma Lagerlof's The Emperor's Vision). But my favourite Vigdis Hjorth's Christmas Eve, about a alcoholic mother trying to satisfy her addiction and hide it at the same time. Showing the dark side of the season in all its bleak simplicity, it is a haunting piece. Anyway, the Scandinavians pretty much invented Yuletide, so you can't go wrong with this one.
  • Posts: 15,124
    'Tis the season to be reading. Tonight's reading suggestion is Advent Street, by Carol Ann Duffy. Illustrations by Yelena Bryksenkova. Duffy write a poem like this every year for Christmas. I seldom read poetry, but reading her work has become a new Christmas tradition for me. This one is particular as the protagonist is actually the reader, as it is written using the second person. So whoever reads this is renting on Advent Street after a break up and explores the street and its inhabitants one December night. It's a lovely melancholic piece, where a lingering pain is treated but never fully cured by moments of festive happiness. It might sound dreary, but it is actually quite sweet.
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