A Christmas Carol by G.K. Chesterton

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap,

His hair was like a light.

(O weary, weary were the world,

But here is all aright.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast,

His hair was like a star.

(O stern and cunning are the kings,

But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart,

His hair was like a fire.

(O weary, weary is the world,

But here the world’s desire.)

The Christ-child stood on Mary’s knee,

His hair was like a crown,

And all the flowers looked up at Him,

And all the stars looked down.

(the poem has been set to music)

Blessings,

N or M? by Agatha Christie

In book three of the Tommy and Tuppence series, N or M?, the Beresfords are feeling sidelined by their age. It’s spring of 1940. World War II is raging and Tommy is too old for anything but government paper-shuffling jobs. As the story begins, he and Tuppence are reviewing past escapades and wishing they weren’t so “useless” for their country’s present needs. Happily, the opportunity arises for the two of them to become involved in a hunt for fifth columnists.

Aside from giving us a top-notch mystery, Christie also deals with deeper questions such as patriotism and prejudice.  Some of the characters wonder if loyalty to one’s country is worth dying for. Is ANYTHING worth dying for?, they wonder. Others discuss their hatred of the Germans and how it is easy to hate them as a whole, but harder when you think of them as individual mothers and shopkeepers, etc. The story was written in 1941 so I find it interesting that any sympathy for the Germans was expressed at all. 

I loved all the literary and biblical references. One woman is described as having a fiercely determined look like Jael as she drove the stake through Sisera’s brain (Judges 4:21). One of the key plot points is based on the story of King Solomon.

The spy was caught about 2/3 of the way into the book and I wondered how Christie would fill up the rest of it. I needn't have worried! I spent most of my Sunday afternoon listening to the last two and a half hours because I couldn't wait to see what happened. Those final chapters were full of surprises and the closing paragraphs were warm and funny. 

This is another remarkably clever book by Christie. I highly recommend the audio books in this series if you can find them. (They are on YouTube if your library doesn’t have them.) Be forewarned. There is more swearing in this book than in the rest of the series. You can skim over it in print, but not the audio. I linked to the single Kindle volume above, which is $5.99. Unfortunately, I can no longer find the deal of all five books for $1.99. 

Blessings,

Cozy Christmas Suggestions

Most of us will be having quieter Christmas celebrations this year. And that's okay. It's a good thing that we'll focus less on shopping frenzies and over-full calendars and have more time to pay attention to the real meaning of the season.

I am reading some Christmas-themed books (A Christmas Carol, Shepherds Abiding and Letters from Father Christmas). I also plan to listen to Hercule Poirot's Christmas on YouTube, narrated by Hugh Fraser. In my early days of blogging I wrote about two free audiobooks that you might enjoy.

We are getting ready for our annual viewing of the movie, The Nativity Story, reviewed here. I also have some suggestions for lesser-known holiday films here. Last of all, I'm enjoying quiet, worshipful music in addition to the peppier tunes. Another blog post from yesteryear highlights some of those songs. 

May you have a peaceful and blessed Christmas,  

Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James

I read to relax so gritty, modern books don’t appeal to me. Occasionally I will read detective writers of 100 years ago because they were able to spin a good yarn without all the gory details. So I was prepared to relish P.D. James' observations on the golden age of this genre in her book Talking About Detective Fiction.

Since I’m reading the Tommy and Tuppence series at the moment, I appreciated her insight into Agatha Christie’s skills: Above all she is a literary conjuror who places her pasteboard characters face downwards and shuffles them with practiced cunning. Game after game we are confident that this time we will turn up the card with the face of the true murderer, and time after time she defeats us. With a Christie mystery no suspect can safely be eliminated. Her clues are brilliantly designed to confuse. The butler goes over to peer closely at the calendar. She has planted in our mind the suspicion that a crucial clue relates to dates and times, but the clue is, in fact, that the butler is shortsighted. (p. 98)

James credits Edgar Allen Poe (his detective Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the great influencers of the detective novel. She mentions authors with whom I am familiar (G.K. Chesterton, Ronald Knox, Margery Allingham, etc.) but also lists many I’ve never heard of such as Nicholas Blake, Cyril Hare, G.D.H Cole, H.C. Bailey, Gladys Mitchell, and Michael Innes.

What I appreciated most was James’ explanation as to why detective fiction continues to endure: It confirms our belief that we live in a rational, comprehensible and moral universe.

A good detective story possesses certain qualities of harmony, internal organization and balance, which respond to certain needs of the spirit, needs which some modern literature, priding itself on being superior, very often neglects…. It confirms our hope that despite some evidence to the contrary, we live in a beneficent and moral universe in which problems can be solved by rational means and peace and order restored from communal or personal disruption and chaos. And if it is true, as the evidence suggests, that the detective story flourishes best in the most difficult of times, we may well be at the beginning of a new Golden Age. (p. 175)

I'll be investigating some of these new-to-me authors. Anyone have a favorite writer in this genre?

 Blessings,