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Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
The winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Connie Willis captures the timeless essence of generosity and goodwill in this magical collection if Christmas stories. These eight tales — two of which have never before been published — boldly reimagine the stories of Christmas while celebrating the power of love and compassion. This enchanting treasury includes:
"Miracle," in which a young woman's carefully devised plans to find romance go awry when her guardian angel shows her the true meaning of love.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop," where a jaded narcissist finds himself trapped in a crowded toy store at Christmastime.
"Epiphany," in which three modern-day wisemen embark on a quest unlike any they've ever experienced.
"Inn," where a choir singer gives shelter to a homeless man and his pregnant wife — only to learn later that there's much more to the couple than meets the eye.
Also includes:
"The Pony"
"Adaptation"
"Cat's Paw"
"Newsletter"
"Miracle," in which a young woman's carefully devised plans to find romance go awry when her guardian angel shows her the true meaning of love.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop," where a jaded narcissist finds himself trapped in a crowded toy store at Christmastime.
"Epiphany," in which three modern-day wisemen embark on a quest unlike any they've ever experienced.
"Inn," where a choir singer gives shelter to a homeless man and his pregnant wife — only to learn later that there's much more to the couple than meets the eye.
Also includes:
"The Pony"
"Adaptation"
"Cat's Paw"
"Newsletter"
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Connie Willis
261 books4,463 followersConstance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
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December 24, 2018
Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories is a collection of eight short science fiction and fantasies by Connie Willis, plus an introduction and an afterword. It was on sale for $1.99 in early December 2016 ― a great value. It combines Willis’ heartfelt love for Christmas with a clear-eyed but sympathetic view of humanity and its foibles. In the introduction, Willis talks about how she has tried to walk the fine line between cynicism and “mawkish sappiness.” I think she’s done a fine job of it.
“Miracle:” 4 stars. In this story, as sometimes in real life, office Christmas party planning and politics threaten to sideline the true meaning of Christmas. Lauren is looking for the perfect Christmas dress to catch the attention of office hottie Scott, while enjoying her platonic friendship with overweight co-worker Fred. She and Fred share the same preference for the movie Miracle on 34th Street over It’s a Wonderful Life (as does Willis herself, as she confesses in the introduction). Things go off the rails for Lauren when the Spirit of Christmas Present ― as in the gift type of present, not the here-and-now ― shows up in Lauren’s apartment as a long-haired blond surfer dude who’s environmentally aware. The Spirit starts messing up all of Lauren’s plans, from her perfect party dress to her gifts for others to her romantic plans. It’s a cute romantic comedy and Willis uses one her favorite plot devices in which harried characters frantically and ineffectually race around and communication between them breaks down. I’m not as fond of it as she is, but it works well here in the short story format.
“Inn:” 4.5 stars. The church congregation rehearses their Christmas program while the choir director stresses out over the program coming together, the aged Reverend Wall practices the same Christmas sermon that he always gives, word for word, and the assistant minister worries about homeless people sneaking into the church and stealing the collection money or the Communion silver.
“In Coppelius’s Toyshop:” 3 stars. A jerk of a guy, trying (with mixed success, because he’s such a tool) to act nice for the girl he’s dating, gets stuck with his date’s young son at a toyshop, extravagantly decorated for Christmas. Coppelius’ toyshop is a child’s dream and an adult’s nightmare. I was torn between hoping that this guy, the narrator, would see the light and catch the true spirit of Christmas, and wishing that he would get the punishment he richly deserves.
“The Pony:” 2.5 stars. Barbara, her sister and her niece open their Christmas presents and talk about what they’ve always REALLY wanted for Christmas. There’s a bit of an interesting twist to it, hinting at the ominous aspect of getting what you wish for. This story is very short and didn’t make much of an impact on me.
“Adaptation:” 4 stars. Edwin Grey, a rather pitiful but sympathetic divorced man, is working in the book department of a busy department store at Christmas time. He struggles with his manipulative ex-wife to get time with his daughter Gemma for Christmas, and with organizing a special holiday signing event for the author of Making Money Hand Over Fist. Then someone dressed as the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come is assigned to be Mr. Grey’s assistant. Like the real Spirit, he doesn’t talk, but he’s quite a competent assistant. The plot thickens when Grey’s assistant takes him to a small place for lunch, where they meet up with a man dressed as the Spirit of Christmas Present … and others. “Adaptation” contains some lovely and heartfelt tributes to traditional Christmas stories and books generally.
“Newsletter:” 3.5 stars. What if Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Puppet Masters actually happened … but the main apparent effect was that it made people nicer? While dealing with the annual headache of writing and receiving Christmas newsletters, Nan and her co-worker try to figure out if something’s really wrong with people, whether the fact that so many people are wearing hats (or wigs) has something to do with it … and what can be done? Or if anything actually should be done? It’s an amusing tale, with a rueful look at how the holiday rush often brings out the worst in people.
“Epiphany:” 4 stars. In the middle of his Sunday sermon, Mel, a Presbyterian minister, suddenly has a personal epiphany: he suddenly and mystically is aware that Christ has returned to Earth, and that he needs to go find him … somewhere in the western U.S. That’s all he knows. But he exercises his faith and takes off in his car, knowing his congregation and friends will think he’s crazy. He meets a retired English teacher, Cassie, who’s had a similar epiphany, except her messages come through Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Mel’s good friend B.T., an atheistic black man, tracks him down and, rather reluctantly, joins Mel on his quest.
“Epiphany” takes the traditional story of the three kings, Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar, transposes it to a modern-day setting, and applies it to the Second Coming of Christ. It draws some rather quirky lines between the original story and modern times, and has an unresolved ending, where I was hoping for something more wrapped up and tied with a (Christmas) bow, but it’s a thought-provoking story.
In the afterword, Willis offers two lists of her Christmas favorites: “Twelve Terrific Things to Read at Christmas,” ranging from the original Biblical Christmas story to Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Star,” and “Twelve to Watch,” a list of great Christmas movies, including A Christmas Story and, of course, Miracle on 34th Street.
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories is a collection of eight short science fiction and fantasies by Connie Willis, plus an introduction and an afterword. It was on sale for $1.99 in early December 2016 ― a great value. It combines Willis’ heartfelt love for Christmas with a clear-eyed but sympathetic view of humanity and its foibles. In the introduction, Willis talks about how she has tried to walk the fine line between cynicism and “mawkish sappiness.” I think she’s done a fine job of it.
“Miracle:” 4 stars. In this story, as sometimes in real life, office Christmas party planning and politics threaten to sideline the true meaning of Christmas. Lauren is looking for the perfect Christmas dress to catch the attention of office hottie Scott, while enjoying her platonic friendship with overweight co-worker Fred. She and Fred share the same preference for the movie Miracle on 34th Street over It’s a Wonderful Life (as does Willis herself, as she confesses in the introduction). Things go off the rails for Lauren when the Spirit of Christmas Present ― as in the gift type of present, not the here-and-now ― shows up in Lauren’s apartment as a long-haired blond surfer dude who’s environmentally aware. The Spirit starts messing up all of Lauren’s plans, from her perfect party dress to her gifts for others to her romantic plans. It’s a cute romantic comedy and Willis uses one her favorite plot devices in which harried characters frantically and ineffectually race around and communication between them breaks down. I’m not as fond of it as she is, but it works well here in the short story format.
“Inn:” 4.5 stars. The church congregation rehearses their Christmas program while the choir director stresses out over the program coming together, the aged Reverend Wall practices the same Christmas sermon that he always gives, word for word, and the assistant minister worries about homeless people sneaking into the church and stealing the collection money or the Communion silver.
“Reverend Wall let a homeless man wait inside last week, and he relieved himself on the carpet in the adult Sunday School room. We had to have it cleaned.” She looked reprovingly at Sharon. “With these people, you can’t let your compassion get the better of you.”But when a couple wearing robes and sandals, not speaking any English, knocks on the doorsteps of the church on the cold and snowing night, Sharon can’t resist letting them in. The very young wife is pregnant, after all, and they’re obviously lost. Extremely lost. “Inn” is an excellent reminder of the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, as well as the need for compassion for those less fortunate.
No, Sharon thought. Jesus did, and look what happened to him.
“In Coppelius’s Toyshop:” 3 stars. A jerk of a guy, trying (with mixed success, because he’s such a tool) to act nice for the girl he’s dating, gets stuck with his date’s young son at a toyshop, extravagantly decorated for Christmas. Coppelius’ toyshop is a child’s dream and an adult’s nightmare. I was torn between hoping that this guy, the narrator, would see the light and catch the true spirit of Christmas, and wishing that he would get the punishment he richly deserves.
“The Pony:” 2.5 stars. Barbara, her sister and her niece open their Christmas presents and talk about what they’ve always REALLY wanted for Christmas. There’s a bit of an interesting twist to it, hinting at the ominous aspect of getting what you wish for. This story is very short and didn’t make much of an impact on me.
“Adaptation:” 4 stars. Edwin Grey, a rather pitiful but sympathetic divorced man, is working in the book department of a busy department store at Christmas time. He struggles with his manipulative ex-wife to get time with his daughter Gemma for Christmas, and with organizing a special holiday signing event for the author of Making Money Hand Over Fist. Then someone dressed as the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come is assigned to be Mr. Grey’s assistant. Like the real Spirit, he doesn’t talk, but he’s quite a competent assistant. The plot thickens when Grey’s assistant takes him to a small place for lunch, where they meet up with a man dressed as the Spirit of Christmas Present … and others. “Adaptation” contains some lovely and heartfelt tributes to traditional Christmas stories and books generally.
He put down the book and raised his teacup in a toast. “To Sir Walter Scott, who knew how to keep Christmas!”“Cat’s Paw:” 3.5 stars. The great detective Touffét and his faithful assistant, Mr. Bridlings, are invited to Lady Charlotte Valaday’s Suffolk home at Christmas to solve a mystery. Bridlings reluctantly gives up his country holiday with his sister’s family to join Touffét at Lady Charlotte’s manor. Lady Charlotte, it turns out, isn’t much into Christmas, but she is into animal rights, particularly with respect to great apes. She has, in fact, several apes at her home, acting as servants, who have had laryngeal implants, enabling them to talk in a simple way. Lady Charlotte’s “mystery” is of interest primarily to herself, but her concerns are supplanted when a murder takes place, giving Touffét a true mystery to solve. “Cat’s Paw” is an interesting mashup of a Sherlock Holmes-type of detective murder mystery and a science fictional animal rights plot.
“And to Mr. Dickens,” Marley said, “the founder of the feast.”
“To books!” I said, thinking of Gemma and A Little Princess, “which instruct and sustain us through hard times.”
“Newsletter:” 3.5 stars. What if Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Puppet Masters actually happened … but the main apparent effect was that it made people nicer? While dealing with the annual headache of writing and receiving Christmas newsletters, Nan and her co-worker try to figure out if something’s really wrong with people, whether the fact that so many people are wearing hats (or wigs) has something to do with it … and what can be done? Or if anything actually should be done? It’s an amusing tale, with a rueful look at how the holiday rush often brings out the worst in people.
“Epiphany:” 4 stars. In the middle of his Sunday sermon, Mel, a Presbyterian minister, suddenly has a personal epiphany: he suddenly and mystically is aware that Christ has returned to Earth, and that he needs to go find him … somewhere in the western U.S. That’s all he knows. But he exercises his faith and takes off in his car, knowing his congregation and friends will think he’s crazy. He meets a retired English teacher, Cassie, who’s had a similar epiphany, except her messages come through Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Mel’s good friend B.T., an atheistic black man, tracks him down and, rather reluctantly, joins Mel on his quest.
“Epiphany” takes the traditional story of the three kings, Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar, transposes it to a modern-day setting, and applies it to the Second Coming of Christ. It draws some rather quirky lines between the original story and modern times, and has an unresolved ending, where I was hoping for something more wrapped up and tied with a (Christmas) bow, but it’s a thought-provoking story.
In the afterword, Willis offers two lists of her Christmas favorites: “Twelve Terrific Things to Read at Christmas,” ranging from the original Biblical Christmas story to Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Star,” and “Twelve to Watch,” a list of great Christmas movies, including A Christmas Story and, of course, Miracle on 34th Street.
December 26, 2018
🎄 Ho Ho Ho the MacHalos are Feeling Christmassy as Fish Buddy Read. With the MacHalos. Duh. 🎄
➽ Super Quick Rating Recap of Doom:
① Introduction: 4 stars.
② Miracle: 4 stars.
③ Inn: 3 stars.
④ In Coppelius’ Toy Shop: 3.5 stars.
⑤ The Pony: 2.5 stars? I-have-no-bloody-shrimping-idea stars?
⑥ Adaptation: 3.87458 stars. And a half.
⑦ Cat’s Paw: 4.5 stars.
⑧ Newsletter: 5 stars.
⑨ Epiphany: 2 stars.
So the very mathematically (and boldly) computed average rating for all the stories in this collection doesn’t technically really reach 4 stars, but this is Connie Willis and this is Christmas in all its Christmassy horror and I am as full of fish as can be, so there.
① Introduction: 4 stars.
Why 5 gloriously glorious stars for a silly introduction? Because I 💕lurves💕 it when Connie Willis disses Hans Christian Andersen, who was “apparently hell-bent on ruining everybody’s holidays, froze innocent children, melted loyal toys into lumps of lead, and chopped harmless fir trees who were just standing there in the forest, minding their own business, into kindling.” And I also 💕lurves💕 it when she recommends reading anything P.G. Wodehouse. So QED and stuff.
② Miracle: 4 stars.
The epic battle betweengood It’s a Wonderful Life and evil Miracle on 34th Street + Chris, the animal-rights activist/eco-warrior freak Spirit of Christmas Present (not the present you’re thinking of, methinks) + Sunscreen/Eastern Philosophy/Water/Vegetable of the Month subscriptions + Christmas cards-turned-Christmas tree + staplers and scissors and tape dispensers, oh my + pure 1990s goodness + quintessentially delicious and deliciously quintessential Willisian Willisness (because yes, that is a thing) + “I don’t think this guy is Santa Claus. He was wearing Birkenstocks” =
③ Inn: 3 stars.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know this is a most despicable rating for a Willis story, but me happen to be slightly allergic to Bible themes and stuff. Okay, so there was some Delightful Willis Quirkiness (DWQ™) to be had here, and quite the magical moment to be experienced, but the story was still biblical as fish. Ergo, 3 miserably pathetic stars it is. You are quite welcome.
④ In Coppelius’ Toy Shop: 3.5 stars.
And the Mostest Gloriousest Asshole of the Year Award goes to…this story’s nameless MC! He is selfish as shrimp! And insensitive as hell! He is wonderfully full of himself! And splendidly entitled! But it’s not all bad, oh no, of course not! He’s a heartless bastard, too. And, had this story been written in the 2010s, the guy would have gotten his harassing ass sued to hell and back in less time than it takes to say “unleash the crustaceans!” All in all, you might perhaps say that the guy is not entirely what you may call a nice person. I think.
Yeah, pretty sure the Nameless Asshole would approve of this one.
P.S. toy stores can be creepy as fish. Just so know.
⑤ The Pony: 2.5 stars? I-have-no-bloody-shrimping-idea stars?
I have no fishing clue what to say or think about this one(apart from meh and stuff, so I’ll just give you this:
You are quite welcome.
P.S. Ominous and anonymous, it’s all synonymous. (Yes, I’m a poet, I know.)
⑥ Adaptation: 3.87458 stars. And a half.
Well that was wonderfully depressing! Hahahahahaha. And a Very Dispiriting Christmas to you to, Connie Willis!
Damn right it is. Hahahahaha. Okay, let’s try to make a quick recap here:
1) You’re a divorced dad who works at a bookstore during the Christmas Holidaysand has a bitchy ex-wife? Your life sucks.
2) You’re a cute little girl who loves The Little Princess, whose dad works at a bookstore during the Christmas Holidaysand whose mom is a bitch? Your life sucks.
3) You’re the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Comedesperately trying to do your job to no avail? Your life sucks.
4) You’re the Spirit of Christmas Presentdesperately trying to do your job to no avail? Your life sucks.
Basically, if you’re a decent human being who deserves to be happy for a little while, or a well-intended ghost on a mission to do some good, YOU ARE FISHED. Might as well kill your little self dead and stuff. Now, if you’re a total bitch, a heartless store manager, a greedy, selfish author or a downright obnoxious restaurant owner, then a winner is you! Now that’s definitely my kind of moral! Ho-ho-ho and stuff!
⑦ Cat’s Paw: 4.5 stars
My favorite story in the collection so far. Why? Because:
Hercule Poirot's Christmas meets Sci-Fi meets AI meets Save the Primates! =
P.S. Thou shalt not underestimateHastings Bridlings, no, thou shalt not.
Now now,Hercule Touffét, don’t be like that. Hastings Bridlings might be a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but they can show unsuspected insight once in a while. A very long while maybe. You know, every other century or so.
⑧ Newsletter: 5 stars
Christmas newsletters + serial killer/neo-Nazi boyfriends (or lack thereof) + OTT politeness + lead snowflakes in The Nutcracker + hats + strangely heightened intelligence + mobs of donors + office Christmas shenanigans + horror movie extravaganza + everything going suspiciously well = best Christmas story ever. So ho ho ho and stuff.
⑨ Epiphany: 2 stars
This one was unfortunately as biblical as “Inn,” only without Willis’ trademark humor and quirkiness, and with a touch of boredom thrown in. Pretty sure Connie Willis didn’t write this story. Either she was abducted by some devious little green men from outer space, and replaced by a clone who can’t write for fish, or her evil twin took over. There can be no other explanation, methinks.
Why thank you, Spocky dear. How lovely of you to say so.
The End and Stuff.
[Supremely crappy original non-review]
I've never been a fan of short stories but this is irresistible, just like anything else written by Connie Willis!
➽ Super Quick Rating Recap of Doom:
① Introduction: 4 stars.
② Miracle: 4 stars.
③ Inn: 3 stars.
④ In Coppelius’ Toy Shop: 3.5 stars.
⑤ The Pony: 2.5 stars? I-have-no-bloody-shrimping-idea stars?
⑥ Adaptation: 3.87458 stars. And a half.
⑦ Cat’s Paw: 4.5 stars.
⑧ Newsletter: 5 stars.
⑨ Epiphany: 2 stars.
So the very mathematically (and boldly) computed average rating for all the stories in this collection doesn’t technically really reach 4 stars, but this is Connie Willis and this is Christmas in all its Christmassy horror and I am as full of fish as can be, so there.
① Introduction: 4 stars.
Why 5 gloriously glorious stars for a silly introduction? Because I 💕lurves💕 it when Connie Willis disses Hans Christian Andersen, who was “apparently hell-bent on ruining everybody’s holidays, froze innocent children, melted loyal toys into lumps of lead, and chopped harmless fir trees who were just standing there in the forest, minding their own business, into kindling.” And I also 💕lurves💕 it when she recommends reading anything P.G. Wodehouse. So QED and stuff.
② Miracle: 4 stars.
The epic battle between
③ Inn: 3 stars.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know this is a most despicable rating for a Willis story, but me happen to be slightly allergic to Bible themes and stuff. Okay, so there was some Delightful Willis Quirkiness (DWQ™) to be had here, and quite the magical moment to be experienced, but the story was still biblical as fish. Ergo, 3 miserably pathetic stars it is. You are quite welcome.
④ In Coppelius’ Toy Shop: 3.5 stars.
And the Mostest Gloriousest Asshole of the Year Award goes to…this story’s nameless MC! He is selfish as shrimp! And insensitive as hell! He is wonderfully full of himself! And splendidly entitled! But it’s not all bad, oh no, of course not! He’s a heartless bastard, too. And, had this story been written in the 2010s, the guy would have gotten his harassing ass sued to hell and back in less time than it takes to say “unleash the crustaceans!” All in all, you might perhaps say that the guy is not entirely what you may call a nice person. I think.
Yeah, pretty sure the Nameless Asshole would approve of this one.
P.S. toy stores can be creepy as fish. Just so know.
⑤ The Pony: 2.5 stars? I-have-no-bloody-shrimping-idea stars?
I have no fishing clue what to say or think about this one
You are quite welcome.
P.S. Ominous and anonymous, it’s all synonymous. (Yes, I’m a poet, I know.)
⑥ Adaptation: 3.87458 stars. And a half.
Well that was wonderfully depressing! Hahahahahaha. And a Very Dispiriting Christmas to you to, Connie Willis!
Damn right it is. Hahahahaha. Okay, let’s try to make a quick recap here:
1) You’re a divorced dad who works at a bookstore during the Christmas Holidays
2) You’re a cute little girl who loves The Little Princess, whose dad works at a bookstore during the Christmas Holidays
3) You’re the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
4) You’re the Spirit of Christmas Present
Basically, if you’re a decent human being who deserves to be happy for a little while, or a well-intended ghost on a mission to do some good, YOU ARE FISHED. Might as well kill your little self dead and stuff. Now, if you’re a total bitch, a heartless store manager, a greedy, selfish author or a downright obnoxious restaurant owner, then a winner is you! Now that’s definitely my kind of moral! Ho-ho-ho and stuff!
⑦ Cat’s Paw: 4.5 stars
My favorite story in the collection so far. Why? Because:
Hercule Poirot's Christmas meets Sci-Fi meets AI meets Save the Primates! =
P.S. Thou shalt not underestimate
Now now,
⑧ Newsletter: 5 stars
Christmas newsletters + serial killer/neo-Nazi boyfriends (or lack thereof) + OTT politeness + lead snowflakes in The Nutcracker + hats + strangely heightened intelligence + mobs of donors + office Christmas shenanigans + horror movie extravaganza + everything going suspiciously well = best Christmas story ever. So ho ho ho and stuff.
⑨ Epiphany: 2 stars
This one was unfortunately as biblical as “Inn,” only without Willis’ trademark humor and quirkiness, and with a touch of boredom thrown in. Pretty sure Connie Willis didn’t write this story. Either she was abducted by some devious little green men from outer space, and replaced by a clone who can’t write for fish, or her evil twin took over. There can be no other explanation, methinks.
Why thank you, Spocky dear. How lovely of you to say so.
The End and Stuff.
[Supremely crappy original non-review]
I've never been a fan of short stories but this is irresistible, just like anything else written by Connie Willis!
December 24, 2016
I am not a fan of short stories but Connie Willis is one of my favourite authors so these should be okay!
And that's what they were - okay . No more, no less. I'm not sure that this authors style actually lends itself to the short story. She tends to being a bit wordy which can work in a full novel. However I think short stories need to be tighter, just because they are short.
Some of the stories were better than others and many of them had excellent story lines. There was no overindulgence in the wonderfullmess of Christmas. It all should have worked beautifully and it nearly did.
And that's what they were - okay . No more, no less. I'm not sure that this authors style actually lends itself to the short story. She tends to being a bit wordy which can work in a full novel. However I think short stories need to be tighter, just because they are short.
Some of the stories were better than others and many of them had excellent story lines. There was no overindulgence in the wonderfullmess of Christmas. It all should have worked beautifully and it nearly did.
December 27, 2016
A Christmas favorite, I have just begun my annual re-read. A must for anyone looking for a good Christmas story. "Newsletter" and "Epiphany" are my favorites, with "Miracle" and "Inn" coming close behind, but all the stories are gems.
Reread 2012: Still so wonderful! Puts me right in the Christmas mood!
Reread 2013: This book continues to be a wonderful, mood-lifting intro to Christmas. I am making it a goal, however, to find the other stories and books that she recommends at the end. (At least, the ones I haven't read yet.)
Reread 2014: I feel like an idiot. Having read this book probably ten times or more, it suddenly struck me that the characters in Epiphany are named Mel, BT, and Cassie . . . like Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar. Took me long enough!
Reread 2015: Was feeling bored by my usual Christmas reads, and will probably not read several of them this year, but I had to read this one, and it did not disappoint. As usual it puts me right in the mood!
Reread 2016: Still the best!
Reread 2012: Still so wonderful! Puts me right in the Christmas mood!
Reread 2013: This book continues to be a wonderful, mood-lifting intro to Christmas. I am making it a goal, however, to find the other stories and books that she recommends at the end. (At least, the ones I haven't read yet.)
Reread 2014: I feel like an idiot. Having read this book probably ten times or more, it suddenly struck me that the characters in Epiphany are named Mel, BT, and Cassie . . . like Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar. Took me long enough!
Reread 2015: Was feeling bored by my usual Christmas reads, and will probably not read several of them this year, but I had to read this one, and it did not disappoint. As usual it puts me right in the mood!
Reread 2016: Still the best!
December 24, 2018
Thanks to the MacHalo Buddy Read for forcing me to read this! It gets 5 stars for squelching my Inner Grinch and actually giving me holiday spirit.
Like any short story collection, this covers a lot of variable ground, but it's by Connie Willis, so it's almost all super-quality ground, insightful, and simultaneously comic and touching. She captures the ridiculous bits of any situation without ever losing sight of the bigger message/picture.
I ended up reading A Lot Like Christmas, which contains additional, later stories, because I accidentally put a hold on it at the same time as this one and then didn't cancel it, and I'm glad I did.
"Miracle" kicks the collection off in proper comic Willis fashion, with an obnoxious Spirit of Christmas Present (don't you dare not recycle or re-use in front of him!), and a rollicking argument about whether "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's A Wonderful Life" is the better Christmas movie. (For the record, I'd rather watch "Miracle" too.)
"Inn" is intriguing, but felt both a little preachy to me in its illustration of the true faces of Christmas, and also a little pointless in the sense of not really tying up. Which I guess is the point of mystery -- it doesn't tie up neatly. But I still feel slightly dissatisfied with this story.
"In Coppelius's Toy Store" -- whoa, this is a mean little story, very clever and Twilight Zone-y, but I'm not sure the narrator was such a bad guy that he deserved what he got . Definitely the darkest story in the collection.
"The Pony" goes right on my "too literary for me" shelf. I'm not sure I got this story at all . It's been removed from the later collection, probably due to so much head-scratching from readers.
"Adaptation" is a modern tale of classic literature, with much nodding to "A Christmas Carol" and "A Little Princess," with a bleak and wistful tone as it also involves divorce and not being able to be with family at Christmas. I really admired it, but it's maybe better to read this one in July.
"Cat's Paw" is an homage to classic detective stories (think Holmes and Poirot, among others) with a Victorian English feel mixed with modern references. It brings up a lot of questions about animal rights and intelligence, where the line should be drawn between humans and our close ape relations, and whether the justice system really seeks the "truth" or just the "better story." It's absolutely brilliant.
"Newsletter" is a spoof of long annual newsletters and mind-takeover science fiction like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." This was the most laugh-out-loud story in the collection for me.
"Epiphany" is possibly the most directly Christian-inspired story, and I don't want to say too much about it as I really enjoyed wondering what was going on, and having an "aaahhh" moment at the end. It asks the question, "How nuts are you willing to be considered, and what difficulties are you willing to struggle through, to follow a Calling?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following stories are contained in A Lot Like Christmas:
"All About Emily" rivals "Cat's Paw" as far as bringing up ethical questions that will leave me thinking long into the future. This is a love letter to Broadway musicals and movies, entwined with reflections on artificial intelligence. Hard to describe, but a terrific read.
"All Seated on the Ground" is my favorite out of all the stories, by a hair, and probably because it features choirs. When aliens come to Earth, they sit silently and glare disapprovingly, despite all efforts to stimulate them or interest them. A holiday visit to a mall leads to a break in the glaring ... but why? I really enjoyed the scientific research aspect of this and the too-many-variables problem as well as the singing.
"deck.halls@boughs/holly" was a cute look at Christmas Yet to Come, but was also a little fluffy and not all that memorable.
"Now Showing" was long and boring. Lots of spoofing of movie franchises, but the humor just didn't save this story for me.
"Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" weaves a lot of vignette-type short stories together, and was a decent read, but I think "Epiphany" should have remained the last story in the collection. This ended the book with a "meh," not an "aaahhh."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
So thank you, MacHalos, for doing the Connie Willis BR and inspiring me to pick these books up! Merry Christmas!
Like any short story collection, this covers a lot of variable ground, but it's by Connie Willis, so it's almost all super-quality ground, insightful, and simultaneously comic and touching. She captures the ridiculous bits of any situation without ever losing sight of the bigger message/picture.
I ended up reading A Lot Like Christmas, which contains additional, later stories, because I accidentally put a hold on it at the same time as this one and then didn't cancel it, and I'm glad I did.
"Miracle" kicks the collection off in proper comic Willis fashion, with an obnoxious Spirit of Christmas Present (don't you dare not recycle or re-use in front of him!), and a rollicking argument about whether "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's A Wonderful Life" is the better Christmas movie. (For the record, I'd rather watch "Miracle" too.)
"Inn" is intriguing, but felt both a little preachy to me in its illustration of the true faces of Christmas, and also a little pointless in the sense of not really tying up. Which I guess is the point of mystery -- it doesn't tie up neatly. But I still feel slightly dissatisfied with this story.
"In Coppelius's Toy Store" -- whoa, this is a mean little story, very clever and Twilight Zone-y, but I'm not sure the narrator was such a bad guy that he deserved what he got . Definitely the darkest story in the collection.
"The Pony" goes right on my "too literary for me" shelf. I'm not sure I got this story at all . It's been removed from the later collection, probably due to so much head-scratching from readers.
"Adaptation" is a modern tale of classic literature, with much nodding to "A Christmas Carol" and "A Little Princess," with a bleak and wistful tone as it also involves divorce and not being able to be with family at Christmas. I really admired it, but it's maybe better to read this one in July.
"Cat's Paw" is an homage to classic detective stories (think Holmes and Poirot, among others) with a Victorian English feel mixed with modern references. It brings up a lot of questions about animal rights and intelligence, where the line should be drawn between humans and our close ape relations, and whether the justice system really seeks the "truth" or just the "better story." It's absolutely brilliant.
"Newsletter" is a spoof of long annual newsletters and mind-takeover science fiction like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." This was the most laugh-out-loud story in the collection for me.
"Epiphany" is possibly the most directly Christian-inspired story, and I don't want to say too much about it as I really enjoyed wondering what was going on, and having an "aaahhh" moment at the end. It asks the question, "How nuts are you willing to be considered, and what difficulties are you willing to struggle through, to follow a Calling?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following stories are contained in A Lot Like Christmas:
"All About Emily" rivals "Cat's Paw" as far as bringing up ethical questions that will leave me thinking long into the future. This is a love letter to Broadway musicals and movies, entwined with reflections on artificial intelligence. Hard to describe, but a terrific read.
"All Seated on the Ground" is my favorite out of all the stories, by a hair, and probably because it features choirs. When aliens come to Earth, they sit silently and glare disapprovingly, despite all efforts to stimulate them or interest them. A holiday visit to a mall leads to a break in the glaring ... but why? I really enjoyed the scientific research aspect of this and the too-many-variables problem as well as the singing.
"deck.halls@boughs/holly" was a cute look at Christmas Yet to Come, but was also a little fluffy and not all that memorable.
"Now Showing" was long and boring. Lots of spoofing of movie franchises, but the humor just didn't save this story for me.
"Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" weaves a lot of vignette-type short stories together, and was a decent read, but I think "Epiphany" should have remained the last story in the collection. This ended the book with a "meh," not an "aaahhh."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
So thank you, MacHalos, for doing the Connie Willis BR and inspiring me to pick these books up! Merry Christmas!
May 25, 2013
Rating: 2* of five
The Book Description: Connie Willis loves Christmas. "I even like the parts most people hate--shopping in crowded malls and reading Christmas newsletters and seeing relatives and standing in baggage check-in lines at the airport. Okay, I lied. Nobody likes standing in baggage check-in lines," she writes. Willis knows it's hard to write good Christmas stories: the subject matter is limited, the writer has to balance between sentiment and skepticism, and too many fall into the Victorian habit of killing off saintly children and poor people. Here she presents eight marvelous Christmas tales, two of which appear for the first time.
The stories range from "The Pony," about a psychotherapist who doesn't believe that Christmas gifts can answer our deepest longings, and "Inn," in which a choir member rehearsing for the Christmas pageant becomes part of the original Christmas story, to "Newsletter," where an invasion of parasitic creatures causes unusually good behavior in their hosts, and "Epiphany," a story of three unlikely Magi following signs through a North American winter toward the returned Jesus Christ. "Miracle" is a comic romance echoing Willis's favorite Yuletide movie, Miracle on 34th Street, and "Catspaw" is a homage to the traditional Christmas murder mystery with a sly, science-fictional twist. The collection also includes "In Coppelius' Toyshop," in which a bad guy is trapped in Toyland, and "Adaptation," a Dickensian story about what it means to keep Christmas in your heart.
My Review: How very handy! Another sales blurb that one-lines the stories, freeing me to offer my opinion of the collection.
Which is negative. Damn it all.
Yuletide is a favorite season of mine. I like cold weather, and fires in fireplaces, and decorating with all sorts of shiny, tacky thises and thatses all lit up by teensy white lights festooning the entirety of my living space. I like street lamps hung with snowflake-shaped flags, and wreaths on truck grilles, and peppermint ice cream. Especially peppermint ice cream.
Stories about Christmas aren't my usual atheist fodder, but I've heard so many good things about this collection...and I'm never willing to let a set opinion ossify without challenging it...so "try some more Willis" whispered the Personification of Evil, in a bid to render my holidays hideous. It worked. The humor here is forced, the wit is witless, and the shiny, tacky bright baubles that stories often are have been cracked by being dropped on the hard floor of ~meh~.
Connie Willis and I don't fit. I love her ideas, and I like some of her sentences, and I would deeply appreciate it if she stopped screwing things up by writing them half as well as they deserve. (This knock also goes for Neil Gaiman.) In fact, I would like some sort of legislative action to compel this sort of writer to generate ideas and then give them to others to execute.
As that is impracticable, I resign myself to the one course available to me that doesn't infringe on anyone's civil liberties: I'll avoid further contact with the irritant, in this case Willis's ~meh~ execution of wonderful ideas.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Book Description: Connie Willis loves Christmas. "I even like the parts most people hate--shopping in crowded malls and reading Christmas newsletters and seeing relatives and standing in baggage check-in lines at the airport. Okay, I lied. Nobody likes standing in baggage check-in lines," she writes. Willis knows it's hard to write good Christmas stories: the subject matter is limited, the writer has to balance between sentiment and skepticism, and too many fall into the Victorian habit of killing off saintly children and poor people. Here she presents eight marvelous Christmas tales, two of which appear for the first time.
The stories range from "The Pony," about a psychotherapist who doesn't believe that Christmas gifts can answer our deepest longings, and "Inn," in which a choir member rehearsing for the Christmas pageant becomes part of the original Christmas story, to "Newsletter," where an invasion of parasitic creatures causes unusually good behavior in their hosts, and "Epiphany," a story of three unlikely Magi following signs through a North American winter toward the returned Jesus Christ. "Miracle" is a comic romance echoing Willis's favorite Yuletide movie, Miracle on 34th Street, and "Catspaw" is a homage to the traditional Christmas murder mystery with a sly, science-fictional twist. The collection also includes "In Coppelius' Toyshop," in which a bad guy is trapped in Toyland, and "Adaptation," a Dickensian story about what it means to keep Christmas in your heart.
My Review: How very handy! Another sales blurb that one-lines the stories, freeing me to offer my opinion of the collection.
Which is negative. Damn it all.
Yuletide is a favorite season of mine. I like cold weather, and fires in fireplaces, and decorating with all sorts of shiny, tacky thises and thatses all lit up by teensy white lights festooning the entirety of my living space. I like street lamps hung with snowflake-shaped flags, and wreaths on truck grilles, and peppermint ice cream. Especially peppermint ice cream.
Stories about Christmas aren't my usual atheist fodder, but I've heard so many good things about this collection...and I'm never willing to let a set opinion ossify without challenging it...so "try some more Willis" whispered the Personification of Evil, in a bid to render my holidays hideous. It worked. The humor here is forced, the wit is witless, and the shiny, tacky bright baubles that stories often are have been cracked by being dropped on the hard floor of ~meh~.
Connie Willis and I don't fit. I love her ideas, and I like some of her sentences, and I would deeply appreciate it if she stopped screwing things up by writing them half as well as they deserve. (This knock also goes for Neil Gaiman.) In fact, I would like some sort of legislative action to compel this sort of writer to generate ideas and then give them to others to execute.
As that is impracticable, I resign myself to the one course available to me that doesn't infringe on anyone's civil liberties: I'll avoid further contact with the irritant, in this case Willis's ~meh~ execution of wonderful ideas.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
December 22, 2016
Los relatos de este libro sí son historias de Navidad y ambientadas totalmente en Navidad.
Son historias situadas todas en nuestro tiempo, con protagonistas normales y todos tienen su punto de magia, fantasia o ciencia ficción.
Me han entretenido y en general me han gustado todos, claro que a mí me encanta Connie Willis. Mis preferidos “Posada” , “Boletín de noticias”, “el Pony” y “Garra de gato”
Muy curioso el final donde la autora nos hace un “regalo” navideño, recomendándonos películas y novelas ambientados en Navidad. He tomado nota de más de uno de los libros que nombra .
Son historias situadas todas en nuestro tiempo, con protagonistas normales y todos tienen su punto de magia, fantasia o ciencia ficción.
Me han entretenido y en general me han gustado todos, claro que a mí me encanta Connie Willis. Mis preferidos “Posada” , “Boletín de noticias”, “el Pony” y “Garra de gato”
Muy curioso el final donde la autora nos hace un “regalo” navideño, recomendándonos películas y novelas ambientados en Navidad. He tomado nota de más de uno de los libros que nombra .
December 23, 2016
It's been seventeen years since I last read this story collection (the year it came out, actually), and this time, I figured out why I've never come back to it: despite my enjoyment of most of the stories, there were enough of them I didn't love that it left me feeling rather meh about the whole thing. It doesn't help that "Epiphany," my least favorite, is the last one in the collection and therefore the one that made the final impression on me. Possibly it's that the religious beliefs of the main character are enough different from mine that I just wanted to argue with him, but in general it just wasn't a good way for me to end the book.
Other stories, however, are favorites: "Miracle" happens to share an emotional/character arc with Crosstalk, which was an unexpected surprise; I love "Inn" so much; and "Adaptation," despite its rather odd ending, really grew on me. "Newsletter" struck a chord because I have to produce a Christmas newsletter every year and rather dread it, plus it was cute. I'm less sure about "Cat's Paw," mainly because I'm not used to mystery short stories, but really, as I look back over the collection, it's only "Epiphany" I don't like. I have to remember to put this in my annual Christmas reading, but I may give that last story a miss next time.
Other stories, however, are favorites: "Miracle" happens to share an emotional/character arc with Crosstalk, which was an unexpected surprise; I love "Inn" so much; and "Adaptation," despite its rather odd ending, really grew on me. "Newsletter" struck a chord because I have to produce a Christmas newsletter every year and rather dread it, plus it was cute. I'm less sure about "Cat's Paw," mainly because I'm not used to mystery short stories, but really, as I look back over the collection, it's only "Epiphany" I don't like. I have to remember to put this in my annual Christmas reading, but I may give that last story a miss next time.
December 17, 2022
01 January 1997
It may well be that no human possesses as much humanity as Willis. "Inn" is the single best use of the biblical nativity story in relation to modern life, but all of these stories capture some aspect of the spirit of goodwill and generosity toward other people that Dickens was on to.
***
24 January 2011
Weirdly I have no record of having read this ever again, which seems wildly improbable to me, but there it is.
Wrote too soon: I found when I put it on my beloved shelf.
Library copy
It may well be that no human possesses as much humanity as Willis. "Inn" is the single best use of the biblical nativity story in relation to modern life, but all of these stories capture some aspect of the spirit of goodwill and generosity toward other people that Dickens was on to.
***
24 January 2011
Weirdly I have no record of having read this ever again, which seems wildly improbable to me, but there it is.
Wrote too soon: I found when I put it on my beloved shelf.
Library copy
December 17, 2015
This is the kind of book that is very hard to rate, for a few reasons. Mostly, it's because while the writing was good, and the some of the stories were excellent, it was still a book about Christmas. And for some reason, while my head says "but there were so many great stories!", my heart just doesn't know how to justify giving 4-stars to something related to the most sentimental and, dare I say it, twee holidays of the year. But I will mark it 4-stars, because the whole point of this collection, as Willis makes clear in her introduction, is to move away from the traditional of sickly sweet Christmas stories that result in heart burn and tooth ache (or sensations indistinguishable from).
The first and the last story really made this collection, Miracle and Epiphany. Miracle was fairly predictable, but it was not about the ending, rather the journey of seasonal feelings, learning what is best, and seeing what is right in front of you, which is fitting with Christmas movie tradition. Epiphany was more unusual, involving a rational-minded minister having a sudden epiphany about Jesus having returned, and being to the West, driving desperately through snow storms and fogs. Along the way, his atheist friend joins him, as does another straggler, touching on other characters along the way. It's one of the stories where the plot doesn't seem like it should produce such good writing, but it does.
The other stories in between were hit and miss, though with many more hits. Inn was an unexpected take on the usual tales, Adaptation nearly fell into 'sentimental', but managed to narrowly avoid it and ended up being merely heartwarming. Cat's Paw was silly detective story in the vein of P.G. Woodehouse, with a very vein private detective. Newsletter was also fun - it's not very often you find a Christmas take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and while the themes explored where similar to that in Miracle, it still remained a good story in its own right. The characters really made it into something a bit more special, too.
The only real miss was In Coppelius's Toyshop, which just fell into the mediocre category, really. And the only other story, Pony felt a bit like filler.
Overall, it's gotten me into the Christmas spirit and all that. Connie Willis' characters are always enjoyable to spend time with, and the sci fi and fantasy elements were well thought out.
The first and the last story really made this collection, Miracle and Epiphany. Miracle was fairly predictable, but it was not about the ending, rather the journey of seasonal feelings, learning what is best, and seeing what is right in front of you, which is fitting with Christmas movie tradition. Epiphany was more unusual, involving a rational-minded minister having a sudden epiphany about Jesus having returned, and being to the West, driving desperately through snow storms and fogs. Along the way, his atheist friend joins him, as does another straggler, touching on other characters along the way. It's one of the stories where the plot doesn't seem like it should produce such good writing, but it does.
The other stories in between were hit and miss, though with many more hits. Inn was an unexpected take on the usual tales, Adaptation nearly fell into 'sentimental', but managed to narrowly avoid it and ended up being merely heartwarming. Cat's Paw was silly detective story in the vein of P.G. Woodehouse, with a very vein private detective. Newsletter was also fun - it's not very often you find a Christmas take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and while the themes explored where similar to that in Miracle, it still remained a good story in its own right. The characters really made it into something a bit more special, too.
The only real miss was In Coppelius's Toyshop, which just fell into the mediocre category, really. And the only other story, Pony felt a bit like filler.
Overall, it's gotten me into the Christmas spirit and all that. Connie Willis' characters are always enjoyable to spend time with, and the sci fi and fantasy elements were well thought out.
December 19, 2014
In this book of short stories, Connie Willis does what she does so well and takes a well known story and reinvents it in her own style. Of the eight Christmas stories in this collection, I enjoyed "Inn" the most, a reworking of the nativity where a choral singer helps a homeless couple expecting a baby who have lost their way. The ending had a lovely magical fee to it. I also enjoyed "In Coppelius Toyshop" which turned into a horror story where a self-centred man gets lost forever in a toyshop."Adaptation" was quite a touching story where a young divorced man hopes to see his daughter over Christmas but his ex-wife keeps finding excuses for her not to be with him. "Newsletter" where people seem to be infected with niceness rather than Christmas grumpiness was amusing and I enjoyed the 'Ghost of Christmas Present' (as in gift), whose role is to give people what they really want, in "Miracle", although I found the story rather long. The final story "Epiphany" was also somewhat long and felt a bit forced to me. So overall a bit of a mixed bag but worth reading for the good bits.
November 12, 2015
So, I finished this a couple of days ago. Originally I was kind of disappointed and meh about this (despite loving the introduction). I liked all the stories, but didn't really love them. Then I thought about it more, and realized my expectations for Connie Willis are impossibly high. If I don't love it like Bellwether or become emotionally compromised like Doomsday Book, I'm disappointed.
And that is completely unreasonable. This is a perfectly enjoyable book by any standard. By Connie Willis standards it is a bit more average.
And I love the way she writes. Even when I wasn't loving the story, it was immediately obvious how easily I fall into her writing. Plus, it is pretty much the first non-book club book I've managed to finish in a month. so result?
2015 Reading Challenge - A book set during Christmas (so not completing this challenge... because I fail at life).
And that is completely unreasonable. This is a perfectly enjoyable book by any standard. By Connie Willis standards it is a bit more average.
And I love the way she writes. Even when I wasn't loving the story, it was immediately obvious how easily I fall into her writing. Plus, it is pretty much the first non-book club book I've managed to finish in a month. so result?
2015 Reading Challenge - A book set during Christmas (so not completing this challenge... because I fail at life).
August 20, 2009
Connie Willis offers readers an early holiday gift with this wonderful short story collection. I admit that I found this book in the sci-fi section, but I honestly think it transcends that. Yes, it's got some stories that deal with themes common to science-fiction and have sci-fi elements, but it's more than that. There is a holiday themed mystery, an examination of the original Christmas story and even a story that sets out to prove why Willis thinks "Miracle on 34th Street" is a superior holiday film to "It's A Wonderful Life." But what sets the collection apart from being just a collection of sci-fi stories with a Christmas theme is that Willis offers stories that must take place at Christmas. As she states in her introduction, it's hard to re-invent the wheel when it comes to holiday stories and she doesn't attempt to do so. Instead, she takes the convential stories and gives them her own unique twist making them entertaining and magical at the same time.
I sat down to read this collection not feeling very much in the spirit of the season. But in reading these engaging and intelligent stories, I soon found myself feeling a bit more Christmas-y. If you're feeling a bit burned out by the holiday season, pick up this collection and give any of the stories a try. I guarantee they'll have you whistling a Christmas tune in no time.
I sat down to read this collection not feeling very much in the spirit of the season. But in reading these engaging and intelligent stories, I soon found myself feeling a bit more Christmas-y. If you're feeling a bit burned out by the holiday season, pick up this collection and give any of the stories a try. I guarantee they'll have you whistling a Christmas tune in no time.
December 25, 2012
I'm so glad I decided to buy this collection for kindle this year as I've been wanting to read it for some time. These are really nice stories, full of the spirit of this time of the year, whether they involve an unsolved mystery or possible alien invasion. At the base of each is human emotion, searching, hope, sometimes love.
These stories remind me of the teleplays that used to be on tv in the "old days". They have soul and feeling that isn't found as often in modern tales of Christmas and Willis is not afraid to mix in some of the true Spirit and meaning of Christmas.
As an addendum, she includes recommendations for further reading with a list of 12 books for Christmas. While some are familiar, some are totally new. I now have more ideas for next year!
These stories remind me of the teleplays that used to be on tv in the "old days". They have soul and feeling that isn't found as often in modern tales of Christmas and Willis is not afraid to mix in some of the true Spirit and meaning of Christmas.
As an addendum, she includes recommendations for further reading with a list of 12 books for Christmas. While some are familiar, some are totally new. I now have more ideas for next year!
February 15, 2008
This book was recommended to me by T. I was a bit worried about trying it because I haven't been very fond of fantasy lately.
However it had a Christmas theme and I decided to follow her advice and start it. It was the best thing I did because I really enjoyed it.
I had never heard of Connie Willis but after browsing the WWW I discovered she is very well known in the Sci Fi community.
This is an anthology including 8 stories with a Christmas theme. I must say I also really enjoyed reading the introduction in which the author tells us what she likes about Christmas, it's nearly everything!
MIRACLE
This was is actually a romantic story about how sometimes what you really want is right in front of you and it's not what you thought it was. There's much discussion about 2 christmas movies: Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. I think I'll have to watch both and compare but according to Willis the first is the better one.
INN
This story has a time travel twist as Mary and Joseph get lost in the wrong century on the way to Bethlehem. It's a moving story as they are portrayed as a very young couple, not able to communicate, and lost in a foreign world.
IN COPPELIOUS'S TOY SHOP
This was one of the stories I liked less. The main character was really unpleasant and never changed during the course of the story. He is locked up in a toy story forever giving me the feel of a horror story but with no real closure.
THE PONY
Well not sure what to think of this one. Maybe if you secretly desire something for Christmas you will get it. I think I was left a bit in the air here and I really wanted to know what was in the package :-)
ADAPTATION
I liked this one and the Ghosts of Christmas having a bad time in the modern world. The main character is a divorced father whose plans to spend Christmas with is daughter are sabotaged at the last minute by his ex-wife.
CAT'S PAW
I love mysteries so this one was right up my alley as the say. I was a bit worried at first because of the monkeys behaving like humans, it seemed unnatural to me. But in the end it was a good story with an interesting final twist.
NEWSLETTER
Are people ruder and pushier at Christmas? Why does the sight of them being nice come as a susprise? Using the example of some Sci Fi movies it's the invasion of an alien species!
Whatever you do don't wear a hat! Unless you want to be nice that is :-)
This was a fun story to read as the main characters were attempting to decided wether to save the world from the aliens and make everyone rude again or if to just let it happen.
EPIPHANY
2 travellers have an epiphany and join forces with a third one on a journey of discovery.
I really liked Willis' writing, I think it was really interesting that she wrote all these stories with a common theme but they all feel so different from each other and really hold your attention.
She even leaves us with a gift. In the end she lists what she considers to be the best 12 Christmas reads and the best 12 Christmas movies!
I haven't read or seen the majority of them so I'll have to start looking for some available copies :-)
Highly recommended! Thanks T. :-)
However it had a Christmas theme and I decided to follow her advice and start it. It was the best thing I did because I really enjoyed it.
I had never heard of Connie Willis but after browsing the WWW I discovered she is very well known in the Sci Fi community.
This is an anthology including 8 stories with a Christmas theme. I must say I also really enjoyed reading the introduction in which the author tells us what she likes about Christmas, it's nearly everything!
MIRACLE
This was is actually a romantic story about how sometimes what you really want is right in front of you and it's not what you thought it was. There's much discussion about 2 christmas movies: Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. I think I'll have to watch both and compare but according to Willis the first is the better one.
INN
This story has a time travel twist as Mary and Joseph get lost in the wrong century on the way to Bethlehem. It's a moving story as they are portrayed as a very young couple, not able to communicate, and lost in a foreign world.
IN COPPELIOUS'S TOY SHOP
This was one of the stories I liked less. The main character was really unpleasant and never changed during the course of the story. He is locked up in a toy story forever giving me the feel of a horror story but with no real closure.
THE PONY
Well not sure what to think of this one. Maybe if you secretly desire something for Christmas you will get it. I think I was left a bit in the air here and I really wanted to know what was in the package :-)
ADAPTATION
I liked this one and the Ghosts of Christmas having a bad time in the modern world. The main character is a divorced father whose plans to spend Christmas with is daughter are sabotaged at the last minute by his ex-wife.
CAT'S PAW
I love mysteries so this one was right up my alley as the say. I was a bit worried at first because of the monkeys behaving like humans, it seemed unnatural to me. But in the end it was a good story with an interesting final twist.
NEWSLETTER
Are people ruder and pushier at Christmas? Why does the sight of them being nice come as a susprise? Using the example of some Sci Fi movies it's the invasion of an alien species!
Whatever you do don't wear a hat! Unless you want to be nice that is :-)
This was a fun story to read as the main characters were attempting to decided wether to save the world from the aliens and make everyone rude again or if to just let it happen.
EPIPHANY
2 travellers have an epiphany and join forces with a third one on a journey of discovery.
I really liked Willis' writing, I think it was really interesting that she wrote all these stories with a common theme but they all feel so different from each other and really hold your attention.
She even leaves us with a gift. In the end she lists what she considers to be the best 12 Christmas reads and the best 12 Christmas movies!
I haven't read or seen the majority of them so I'll have to start looking for some available copies :-)
Highly recommended! Thanks T. :-)
January 7, 2016
I had a moment of pure happiness when I realized that it was the holiday season, and that meant I got to read this book again. My yearly tradition is to start around Thanksgiving with the introduction - just as wonderful as the stories - and work my way through slowly. "Epiphany" I save for the new year, when things are gray and going back to humdrum, and it brings Christmas back into my heart. I "honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year," but this book, and each story, are nuggets of purest Christmas, buoying my spirit and filling my heart, again and again.
From this year on I'll be reading All Seated on the Ground along with this, a bonus Connie Willis Christmas tale.
From this year on I'll be reading All Seated on the Ground along with this, a bonus Connie Willis Christmas tale.
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September 29, 2017En general mis relatos favoritos son los que ya me había leído y están incluídos en The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories, pero el relato "Garra de gato" me ha gustado mucho, sobre todo porque retoma un tema presente en algún relato de la citada antología y me ha sorprendido ver que la autora retoma el tema.
December 27, 2008
Perfection!
There is a Christmas story in this book for everyone, whether you're a soppy sentimentalist, a B-movie lover or a fan of the disturbing. Brilliant. My only complaint is that I got the book from the library, and now I have to find a copy so I can own it!
There is a Christmas story in this book for everyone, whether you're a soppy sentimentalist, a B-movie lover or a fan of the disturbing. Brilliant. My only complaint is that I got the book from the library, and now I have to find a copy so I can own it!
December 4, 2019
This was a fun book filled with truly unique Christmas stories - which as the author pointed out - is very hard to do! Over 2000 years of Christmas story retellings makes it truly hard to be original! But somehow this author manages to do it.
I also loved her list of Christmas books and readings to enjoy that she includes at the back of her book! Lovely touch!
Writing GOOD short stories is difficult - you need to cram so many key elements into a small piece - I was impressed with the author's skill. Enough so that I'm going to check out her other pieces of writing.
I also loved her list of Christmas books and readings to enjoy that she includes at the back of her book! Lovely touch!
Writing GOOD short stories is difficult - you need to cram so many key elements into a small piece - I was impressed with the author's skill. Enough so that I'm going to check out her other pieces of writing.
Shelved as 'on-the-back-burner'
December 13, 2018Read:
"Miracle" (12/18) 4/5
"Miracle" (12/18) 4/5
December 5, 2014
My first Christmas read of the season wasn't a success, but this one really hit the spot. I read it for my book club, where we have a tradition of reading something Christmas-related for our December meeting.
This collection had a nice variety of stories.
The first story is Miracle, where we get the crazy preparations for a completely over-the-top office party. This one is about how you sometimes don't know what you want, even when what you need is right in front of you. It's themed around the contrast between It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (liking the latter over the former is a sign of being a great person). The crazy office politics reminded me quite a bit of Bellwhether, and there are other stories in the collection where Willis' satirical view of office life plays a part. I enjoyed that, but on the whole the story was just ok, not very subtle and a bit predictable. Also, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I'd watched the two movies in question!
In Inn, a choir singer sneaks around her priest to shelter a young, foreign homeless couple who are clearly about to become parents (it might be snowing outside, but homeless people steal stuff, and it's more important to get the Christmas service just right than to help them). Obviously, there's more to the homeless couple than meets the eye. This one wasn't my favourite. The message was a bit heavy-handed, and the farce element (lots of going out one door right before someone comes in the other) was a bit much.
In Coppelius's Toy Shop features a selfish young man who grudgingly agrees to do a favour for a young mum (he wants to get into her pants), and ends up in a crowded toy shop right before Christmas. This one was really well done, and pretty creepy. I think I might have identified with the (objectively pretty horrid) protagonist more than I was intended to, because this toy shop felt like my version of hell as well. Maybe it's because I had to go into Hamley's when I was in London last week. I really, really couldn't wait to get out!
The Pony is the shortest one in the book and one of my favourites. On the surface it's quite a mundane situation: a young girl opening presents with her mum and aunt, and a present unexpectedly arriving for the aunt. There's nothing overtly wrong, but the sense of threat and creepiness grows and grows until it was really screaming at me in the end. I'm not sure how Willis did it, but it was great.
The main character in Adaptation is a bookshop employee whose ex-wife is determined to sabotage his plans for Christmas with their daughter. Into the mix come the Ghosts of Christmas, who are not as effective these days as in the 19th century. I was underwhelmed by this one, particularly because I found the ex-wife character much too cartoonish.
Cat's Paw was probably my favourite. It's a Golden Age-type mystery, with a Poirot-like detective and his Hastings-equivalent narrator, but set in the near future. Touffét is invited by an aristocrat to solve a mystery in her manor right before Christmas-time. Before long it becomes clear there's no mystery: she's an apes' rights activist who was just looking for some publicity, but an unforeseen event means there's a mystery to solve after all. I had lots of fun with this one. It's a knowing and funny parody of Agatha Christie's mysteries (complete with the big reveal scene, in which the detective points out in turn how every single character had a motive), made surreal by the setting and the talking, intelligent apes. And then there's the neat little twist at the end. I loved it.
Newsletter was my second favourite, very closely behind Cat's Paw. It's a hilarious story featuring a protagonist who suspects people are being taken over by aliens who make them unfeasibly polite and nice (which, this being set right before Christmas, is NOT the usual behaviour). Again, there's a really good twist at the end.
Finally, Epiphany follows a priest who has an epiphany and feels compelled to drive east for the second coming. He's joined on the road by others, and the reader suspects that the Bible story he thinks he's in is not the one that's actually being reenacted. It was an interesting story, but the ending felt a bit abrupt.
All in all, this was a good collection. No real duds here at all, and some really good stories.
MY GRADE: A B.
This collection had a nice variety of stories.
The first story is Miracle, where we get the crazy preparations for a completely over-the-top office party. This one is about how you sometimes don't know what you want, even when what you need is right in front of you. It's themed around the contrast between It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (liking the latter over the former is a sign of being a great person). The crazy office politics reminded me quite a bit of Bellwhether, and there are other stories in the collection where Willis' satirical view of office life plays a part. I enjoyed that, but on the whole the story was just ok, not very subtle and a bit predictable. Also, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I'd watched the two movies in question!
In Inn, a choir singer sneaks around her priest to shelter a young, foreign homeless couple who are clearly about to become parents (it might be snowing outside, but homeless people steal stuff, and it's more important to get the Christmas service just right than to help them). Obviously, there's more to the homeless couple than meets the eye. This one wasn't my favourite. The message was a bit heavy-handed, and the farce element (lots of going out one door right before someone comes in the other) was a bit much.
In Coppelius's Toy Shop features a selfish young man who grudgingly agrees to do a favour for a young mum (he wants to get into her pants), and ends up in a crowded toy shop right before Christmas. This one was really well done, and pretty creepy. I think I might have identified with the (objectively pretty horrid) protagonist more than I was intended to, because this toy shop felt like my version of hell as well. Maybe it's because I had to go into Hamley's when I was in London last week. I really, really couldn't wait to get out!
The Pony is the shortest one in the book and one of my favourites. On the surface it's quite a mundane situation: a young girl opening presents with her mum and aunt, and a present unexpectedly arriving for the aunt. There's nothing overtly wrong, but the sense of threat and creepiness grows and grows until it was really screaming at me in the end. I'm not sure how Willis did it, but it was great.
The main character in Adaptation is a bookshop employee whose ex-wife is determined to sabotage his plans for Christmas with their daughter. Into the mix come the Ghosts of Christmas, who are not as effective these days as in the 19th century. I was underwhelmed by this one, particularly because I found the ex-wife character much too cartoonish.
Cat's Paw was probably my favourite. It's a Golden Age-type mystery, with a Poirot-like detective and his Hastings-equivalent narrator, but set in the near future. Touffét is invited by an aristocrat to solve a mystery in her manor right before Christmas-time. Before long it becomes clear there's no mystery: she's an apes' rights activist who was just looking for some publicity, but an unforeseen event means there's a mystery to solve after all. I had lots of fun with this one. It's a knowing and funny parody of Agatha Christie's mysteries (complete with the big reveal scene, in which the detective points out in turn how every single character had a motive), made surreal by the setting and the talking, intelligent apes. And then there's the neat little twist at the end. I loved it.
Newsletter was my second favourite, very closely behind Cat's Paw. It's a hilarious story featuring a protagonist who suspects people are being taken over by aliens who make them unfeasibly polite and nice (which, this being set right before Christmas, is NOT the usual behaviour). Again, there's a really good twist at the end.
Finally, Epiphany follows a priest who has an epiphany and feels compelled to drive east for the second coming. He's joined on the road by others, and the reader suspects that the Bible story he thinks he's in is not the one that's actually being reenacted. It was an interesting story, but the ending felt a bit abrupt.
All in all, this was a good collection. No real duds here at all, and some really good stories.
MY GRADE: A B.
September 28, 2013
I'm getting into the holiday spirit and thought I'd read this thematic collection. I have to admit to a bit of trepidation, but this was actually a pretty good collection.
• Miracle. 1991
I'm guessing this one was Willis' favorite, as it's first, longest, and the title story, but I thought it was the worst in the book (although it's not bad). This is probably because I have never seen EITHER "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's a Wonderful Life," and the story is really all about said movies, and the contrasts between them (in the context of a harried office worker finding the love that's right in front of her rather than the one she's been chasing after, with the help of an annoying hippie Christmas spirit.
• Inn. 1993
Very non-subtle, but effective story. I cried. A church is busy getting ready for their Christmas Pageant, simultaneously, however, they are all too ready to leave needy homeless people out in the cold in the name of safety. One woman takes pity on the young couple outside - who are, of course, actually Mary & Joseph, lost on their way to Bethlehem.
• In Coppelius's Toyshop. 1996
A horror story. A real jerk of a guy gets stuck in a toy shop (that strongly resembles FAO Schwartz) forever!
• The Pony. 1985
Excellent, very short story. Ominous presents! Ha!
• Adaptation. 1994
A recently divorced man is having a hard time with his ex-wife, who is seeking to separate him from his little girl at Christmas time. The management at the bookstore where he works aren't easy to deal with either, and demanding author-signings are the icing on the cake. But the spirits from Dickens' Christmas Carol may help him get through the season...
• Cat's Paw. 1999
An homage to the classic Holmsian murder-mystery-at-the-manor tale, only with some twists. This manor is inhabited by a woman who's a premier researcher into primate intelligence... Starts out seeming fairly typical... but it gets pretty good!
• Newsletter. 1997
This one's a take-off on the whole Invasion of the Body Snatchers theme. This season, people are actually seeming to get NICER around Christmas time. But they also seem to all be wearing hats... or wigs. What are they hiding? Very funny.
• Epiphany. 1999
A liberal reverend, a black atheist and a retired English teacher all find themselves traveling down a snowy road, following a mysterious compulsion to head West, in this story of the Second Coming, paralleling the original tale of the Three Wise Men. Why should the Second Coming be full of wrath, blood and disaster? Why shouldn't it occur in the form of... a carnival?
• Miracle. 1991
I'm guessing this one was Willis' favorite, as it's first, longest, and the title story, but I thought it was the worst in the book (although it's not bad). This is probably because I have never seen EITHER "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's a Wonderful Life," and the story is really all about said movies, and the contrasts between them (in the context of a harried office worker finding the love that's right in front of her rather than the one she's been chasing after, with the help of an annoying hippie Christmas spirit.
• Inn. 1993
Very non-subtle, but effective story. I cried. A church is busy getting ready for their Christmas Pageant, simultaneously, however, they are all too ready to leave needy homeless people out in the cold in the name of safety. One woman takes pity on the young couple outside - who are, of course, actually Mary & Joseph, lost on their way to Bethlehem.
• In Coppelius's Toyshop. 1996
A horror story. A real jerk of a guy gets stuck in a toy shop (that strongly resembles FAO Schwartz) forever!
• The Pony. 1985
Excellent, very short story. Ominous presents! Ha!
• Adaptation. 1994
A recently divorced man is having a hard time with his ex-wife, who is seeking to separate him from his little girl at Christmas time. The management at the bookstore where he works aren't easy to deal with either, and demanding author-signings are the icing on the cake. But the spirits from Dickens' Christmas Carol may help him get through the season...
• Cat's Paw. 1999
An homage to the classic Holmsian murder-mystery-at-the-manor tale, only with some twists. This manor is inhabited by a woman who's a premier researcher into primate intelligence... Starts out seeming fairly typical... but it gets pretty good!
• Newsletter. 1997
This one's a take-off on the whole Invasion of the Body Snatchers theme. This season, people are actually seeming to get NICER around Christmas time. But they also seem to all be wearing hats... or wigs. What are they hiding? Very funny.
• Epiphany. 1999
A liberal reverend, a black atheist and a retired English teacher all find themselves traveling down a snowy road, following a mysterious compulsion to head West, in this story of the Second Coming, paralleling the original tale of the Three Wise Men. Why should the Second Coming be full of wrath, blood and disaster? Why shouldn't it occur in the form of... a carnival?
January 9, 2022
I got this collection because I loved the last thing I read by Willis (The Bellwether), and we were looking for Christmas read-alouds this year. There are eight short stories in this collection, and here’s the rundown:
“Miracle” 4 stars
This was the one I read out loud, and I liked it more than my husband did. Having read the introduction, I knew going in that Willis thinks Miracle on 34th Street is a better movie than It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s a running gag in this story. I enjoyed it. There was humor, romance, and a touch of the supernatural. It felt a little dated, particularly with the corporate Christmas present choice, but not enough to distract too much from the story and humorous social commentary.
“Inn” 3.5 stars
A little too cynical and on the nose for me, but still good commentary and a decent story. Knowing that Willis sang (sings?) in a church choir (which I found out later) legitimized the tone and mood for me.
“In Coppelius’s Toyshop” 4.5 stars
Short and extremely creepy. Yikes, I’m still shuddering a little.
“The Pony” 3 stars
Meh, this one didn’t feel fully developed, but since it’s Willis, maybe I just missed something. Ended on a very ominous note.
“Adaptation” 3.5 stars
I liked the setting and the bookseller main character, who I definitely related to from my Borders days. His daughter was precious, and his ex-wife was over-the-top bitchy. There are a couple of those horrible ex-wife types in this collection, and I’m wondering if there’s some personal experience thrown in like the movie preferences and church choir stuff. Neat idea, but I found the ending a bit abrupt.
“Cat’s Paw” 4 stars
This was a fun one, a play on Sherlock Holmes and Watson with some animal rights commentary thrown in, and a twist I didn’t see coming. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was quite wrong. The ending was dark enough, but not as dark as the one I had imagined.
“Newsletter” 5 stars
This was my favorite of the collection and the one I thought had the most clever twist. It’s a happy sci-fi lark, and a funny commentary on the ubiquitous Christmas letter.
“Epiphany” 4 stars
I had to go back and reread a little bit to get this one, but once I did, it upped my opinion of the ending. Again, a little dated with the search for phones, but still a nice, unique Christmas story.
The author included her recommendations for favorite Christmas reads and movies at the end of the collection, which was a nice touch.
“Miracle” 4 stars
This was the one I read out loud, and I liked it more than my husband did. Having read the introduction, I knew going in that Willis thinks Miracle on 34th Street is a better movie than It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s a running gag in this story. I enjoyed it. There was humor, romance, and a touch of the supernatural. It felt a little dated, particularly with the corporate Christmas present choice, but not enough to distract too much from the story and humorous social commentary.
“Inn” 3.5 stars
A little too cynical and on the nose for me, but still good commentary and a decent story. Knowing that Willis sang (sings?) in a church choir (which I found out later) legitimized the tone and mood for me.
“In Coppelius’s Toyshop” 4.5 stars
Short and extremely creepy. Yikes, I’m still shuddering a little.
“The Pony” 3 stars
Meh, this one didn’t feel fully developed, but since it’s Willis, maybe I just missed something. Ended on a very ominous note.
“Adaptation” 3.5 stars
I liked the setting and the bookseller main character, who I definitely related to from my Borders days. His daughter was precious, and his ex-wife was over-the-top bitchy. There are a couple of those horrible ex-wife types in this collection, and I’m wondering if there’s some personal experience thrown in like the movie preferences and church choir stuff. Neat idea, but I found the ending a bit abrupt.
“Cat’s Paw” 4 stars
This was a fun one, a play on Sherlock Holmes and Watson with some animal rights commentary thrown in, and a twist I didn’t see coming. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was quite wrong. The ending was dark enough, but not as dark as the one I had imagined.
“Newsletter” 5 stars
This was my favorite of the collection and the one I thought had the most clever twist. It’s a happy sci-fi lark, and a funny commentary on the ubiquitous Christmas letter.
“Epiphany” 4 stars
I had to go back and reread a little bit to get this one, but once I did, it upped my opinion of the ending. Again, a little dated with the search for phones, but still a nice, unique Christmas story.
The author included her recommendations for favorite Christmas reads and movies at the end of the collection, which was a nice touch.
February 3, 2017
This is a collection of 8 Christmas-themed stories. My favorite is "Newsletter."
The title story, "Miracle," is a romantic comedy.
In "Inn," a choir member rehearsing for the Christmas pageant becomes part of the original Christmas story when Mary and Joseph show up, displaced in time.
"In Coppelius’s Toyshop" is a "what goes around comes around" kind of story with a nasty narrator who gets trapped in a children’s toy store at Christmastime.
"The Pony" is a cautionary tale about a psychotherapist who finds out that gifts can answer our deepest desires.
"Cat’s Paw" is a well constructed mystery story with a science twist. The great detective Touffét and his assistant, Mr. Bridlings (the narrator) are invited to Lady Charlotte Valaday’s country home at Christmas to solve a mystery.
"Newsletter" is probably the highlight of this collection, a Christmas take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While dealing with the hassle of writing Christmas newsletters for relatives, Nan and her coworker try to figure out what seems so off about everyone around them, whether it has anything to do with all the hats people are wearing, and whether they should do anything about it. After all, the main effect of the alien takeover is that people are acting nicer than usual.
The title story, "Miracle," is a romantic comedy.
In "Inn," a choir member rehearsing for the Christmas pageant becomes part of the original Christmas story when Mary and Joseph show up, displaced in time.
"In Coppelius’s Toyshop" is a "what goes around comes around" kind of story with a nasty narrator who gets trapped in a children’s toy store at Christmastime.
"The Pony" is a cautionary tale about a psychotherapist who finds out that gifts can answer our deepest desires.
"Cat’s Paw" is a well constructed mystery story with a science twist. The great detective Touffét and his assistant, Mr. Bridlings (the narrator) are invited to Lady Charlotte Valaday’s country home at Christmas to solve a mystery.
"Newsletter" is probably the highlight of this collection, a Christmas take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While dealing with the hassle of writing Christmas newsletters for relatives, Nan and her coworker try to figure out what seems so off about everyone around them, whether it has anything to do with all the hats people are wearing, and whether they should do anything about it. After all, the main effect of the alien takeover is that people are acting nicer than usual.
December 13, 2017
This is the one Christmas book I read every year, unfailingly.
Connie Willis is a science fiction writer, and so all of these stories have a gleam of the fantastical. My favorite are:
Miracle
The Pony
Newsletter
Epiphany
Connie Willis is a science fiction writer, and so all of these stories have a gleam of the fantastical. My favorite are:
Miracle
The Pony
Newsletter
Epiphany
December 26, 2022
Titulo: El Espiritu de la Navidad y otras historias navideñas
Autor: Connie Willis
Año publicado: 1999
Motivo de lectura: #NavidadInfernal
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Idioma: Español
Puntuacion: 2.5/5
Veamos..
Milagro: sin dudas inspirado entre Scrooge y la pelicula "just like heaven" (2005), un fusion rara, nada por destacar realmente (2.5/5).
Posada: me encanto la originalidad, y los viajes en el tiempo es una tematica que me fascina, ojala ete cuento hubiera sido mas extenso (5/5).
En la tienda de juguetes de Coppelius: y el premio al imbecil mas grande va para..(2.5/5).
El poni: de final muy abrupto, llenos de cabos sueltos, una pene (1/5).
Adaptacion: una pena que este cuento no capto mi atencion, no podria decir cual es la falla, ya que tiene muchos elementos que no me gustan (2/5).
La garra de gato: nota mental: no todo lo que incluya en el titulo la palabra gato trata sobre gatos (3.5/5).
Boletin de noticias: una buena idea que le falto fuerza, sobre todo al final (3/5).
Epifania: por demas aburrido, no conecte (2/5).
Autor: Connie Willis
Año publicado: 1999
Motivo de lectura: #NavidadInfernal
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Idioma: Español
Puntuacion: 2.5/5
Veamos..
Milagro: sin dudas inspirado entre Scrooge y la pelicula "just like heaven" (2005), un fusion rara, nada por destacar realmente (2.5/5).
Posada: me encanto la originalidad, y los viajes en el tiempo es una tematica que me fascina, ojala ete cuento hubiera sido mas extenso (5/5).
En la tienda de juguetes de Coppelius: y el premio al imbecil mas grande va para..(2.5/5).
El poni: de final muy abrupto, llenos de cabos sueltos, una pene (1/5).
Adaptacion: una pena que este cuento no capto mi atencion, no podria decir cual es la falla, ya que tiene muchos elementos que no me gustan (2/5).
La garra de gato: nota mental: no todo lo que incluya en el titulo la palabra gato trata sobre gatos (3.5/5).
Boletin de noticias: una buena idea que le falto fuerza, sobre todo al final (3/5).
Epifania: por demas aburrido, no conecte (2/5).
December 23, 2018
I’m not a big fan of sci-fi so people who are fans of that genre will appreciate this book more than I did, I’m sure. I just wanted to read something by Connie Willis for reasons that a couple of my Goodreads friends will understand.
I truly loved two things about the book: the dedication (To Charles Dickens and George Seaton, who knew how to keep Christmas) and the author’s introduction. In the introduction, Willis talks about her love for all things Christmas and various holiday books, stories, and movies.
I absolutely agree with her that “It’s a Wonderful Life” is NOT the Best Christmas Movie Ever! Her choice for that is “Miracle on 34th Street”, the original 1947 version, script by George Seaton. Definitely a great movie although I would probably lean towards “The Bishop’s Wife”, the original 1947 version, of course.
The first story in the book, “Miracle”, was definitely my favorite and it made much of the argument about whether or not “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” is the better movie.
I truly loved two things about the book: the dedication (To Charles Dickens and George Seaton, who knew how to keep Christmas) and the author’s introduction. In the introduction, Willis talks about her love for all things Christmas and various holiday books, stories, and movies.
I absolutely agree with her that “It’s a Wonderful Life” is NOT the Best Christmas Movie Ever! Her choice for that is “Miracle on 34th Street”, the original 1947 version, script by George Seaton. Definitely a great movie although I would probably lean towards “The Bishop’s Wife”, the original 1947 version, of course.
The first story in the book, “Miracle”, was definitely my favorite and it made much of the argument about whether or not “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” is the better movie.
November 20, 2019
This is a mix, which is a way of padding out a few good stories, or of selling unsellable poor stories, depending on your point of view.
The story where a possible alien invasion has all the office staff wearing hats and behaving politely, is great fun. The long slog drive through snowy fog on dark mountain roads while preachers warble about second comings on the radio is dire. The story where all the characters keep obsessing about one or other of two American films - neither of which I have seen - is not nearly so interesting as the author imagines. The one with a possible time travelling Mary and Joseph (but why is Joseph young? He was a lot older than Mary) is great, apart from the huge amount of space and rooms in a town community centre. And I don't see why the main character decided to hide the young couple... I just don't. The story with the shopping mall worker who never gets to have Christmas with his daughter as his estranged ex wife wants her is just depressing.
Decide for yourself; if this is your first time reading Willis, you really need to read Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of The Dog.
This is an unbiased review.
The story where a possible alien invasion has all the office staff wearing hats and behaving politely, is great fun. The long slog drive through snowy fog on dark mountain roads while preachers warble about second comings on the radio is dire. The story where all the characters keep obsessing about one or other of two American films - neither of which I have seen - is not nearly so interesting as the author imagines. The one with a possible time travelling Mary and Joseph (but why is Joseph young? He was a lot older than Mary) is great, apart from the huge amount of space and rooms in a town community centre. And I don't see why the main character decided to hide the young couple... I just don't. The story with the shopping mall worker who never gets to have Christmas with his daughter as his estranged ex wife wants her is just depressing.
Decide for yourself; if this is your first time reading Willis, you really need to read Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of The Dog.
This is an unbiased review.
December 10, 2017
I just finished my annual reread of Connie Willis' Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. I really enjoy short stories and the finality of them. She has a few other works that I really like. This book has a lot of magical realism/speculative fiction in it which I enjoy. I like them all but it is not a book that I would say that I love. I do reread it every year but mostly out of reading habits at Christmas.
December 23, 2018
I often have a tough time with short stories (because they need to be really good for me to enjoy a collection). This collection was fine, but not overly exciting - there was one story I really enjoyed (Newsletter) but the others did not make me overly invested in them, so three stars it is.
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