Hi All--I know you won't all read Christmas stuff this month, but that's what I'm going to read for our book club and I wanted to announce my choices now just in case somebody else would be reading the same things. President Monson said he reads The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke, and Dickens's A Christmas Carol, every Christmas. I decided to read both of them this year, and also Dickens's The Life of Our Lord. One good thing about these choices during the busy holiday season is that all of them are quite short. In fact, I've already read A Christmas Carol this past week.
I love A Christmas Carol! And Dickens. I hadn't read it since we lived in Preston, when I was probably 11. I remember finding some stories on the bookshelf that must have been a collection of classics, although I think I had no idea at the time that they were classics, or what a classic was--that people all over the world had read and loved these stories. Since I didn't know this, I didn't mention to anyone that I was reading A Christmas Carol (in the summertime, I think) till afterwards, when I remember thinking it was so cool that I had to tell Mom and Dad about. (The Lady or the Tiger was the only other story I remember from the collection. That one haunted me, being sort of an unresolved dilemma.) It's to Mom and Dad's great credit that we could pick up any old thing in the house and read it, and that a lot of stuff was mighty good for us.
Anyway, if you've been watching the various Scrooge movies over the years, you probably remember this line from Scrooge regarding the poor, who would rather die than go to debtors' prison: "If they had rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." That's one of my favorite lines. But I brought so much more to my reading, after 40+ years, and it was fun to realize that this was a reference to Thomas Malthus who perpetuated the idea of that era that there wasn't enough food on the earth for the too-rapidly increasing population, and I learned about Malthus while I finished my recent BYU degree. Of course there are a zillion other things I understand better about Dickens's England now too. And about the things he was documenting. I love his characterizations.
The Life of Our Lord won't be the same kind of a read, not having fictitious characters, but so far I like it well enough. President Hinckley had some complimentary things to say about it, as well as some reservations (I'm going to look up his comments). It was written for his children, to teach them about Jesus, and he expressly forbid that they should publish it. Publication would've spoiled his purposes, I think. His children did not publish it. Those of a later generation did. That made me think of the oath of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies never to take up weapons again, and how their children didn't make that oath so they were free to do what was relevant for their time period.
The Mansion is a short story that's hard to find in print. We found it a couple of years ago in a library and photocopied it to read as a family (because of President Monson's references to it). We did read it at Christmas time, but it'll be like a new story to me. Unlike the person who wrote Lyness's little poem about reading, I can't say that the stories I read aren't in the books but are in my head. Sadly, I forget too much of what I read! And it was worse with this story because I happened to be very sleepy on some of the evenings we read together, and I dozed off too much! I hope it wasn't boring. I kind of wonder why it's out of print . . . I'll report back. May you all have at least one cozy evening at home with a book. Wish I had a fireplace, but at least I have a soft warm kitty. Love, Mim
I love A Christmas Carol! And Dickens. I hadn't read it since we lived in Preston, when I was probably 11. I remember finding some stories on the bookshelf that must have been a collection of classics, although I think I had no idea at the time that they were classics, or what a classic was--that people all over the world had read and loved these stories. Since I didn't know this, I didn't mention to anyone that I was reading A Christmas Carol (in the summertime, I think) till afterwards, when I remember thinking it was so cool that I had to tell Mom and Dad about. (The Lady or the Tiger was the only other story I remember from the collection. That one haunted me, being sort of an unresolved dilemma.) It's to Mom and Dad's great credit that we could pick up any old thing in the house and read it, and that a lot of stuff was mighty good for us.
Anyway, if you've been watching the various Scrooge movies over the years, you probably remember this line from Scrooge regarding the poor, who would rather die than go to debtors' prison: "If they had rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." That's one of my favorite lines. But I brought so much more to my reading, after 40+ years, and it was fun to realize that this was a reference to Thomas Malthus who perpetuated the idea of that era that there wasn't enough food on the earth for the too-rapidly increasing population, and I learned about Malthus while I finished my recent BYU degree. Of course there are a zillion other things I understand better about Dickens's England now too. And about the things he was documenting. I love his characterizations.
The Life of Our Lord won't be the same kind of a read, not having fictitious characters, but so far I like it well enough. President Hinckley had some complimentary things to say about it, as well as some reservations (I'm going to look up his comments). It was written for his children, to teach them about Jesus, and he expressly forbid that they should publish it. Publication would've spoiled his purposes, I think. His children did not publish it. Those of a later generation did. That made me think of the oath of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies never to take up weapons again, and how their children didn't make that oath so they were free to do what was relevant for their time period.
The Mansion is a short story that's hard to find in print. We found it a couple of years ago in a library and photocopied it to read as a family (because of President Monson's references to it). We did read it at Christmas time, but it'll be like a new story to me. Unlike the person who wrote Lyness's little poem about reading, I can't say that the stories I read aren't in the books but are in my head. Sadly, I forget too much of what I read! And it was worse with this story because I happened to be very sleepy on some of the evenings we read together, and I dozed off too much! I hope it wasn't boring. I kind of wonder why it's out of print . . . I'll report back. May you all have at least one cozy evening at home with a book. Wish I had a fireplace, but at least I have a soft warm kitty. Love, Mim
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