Advent Calendar of Stories: Days 22-24

Here we are in the home stretch of the Advent Calendar of Stories project. And while I'm at it, I would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Day 22: "Crisp New Bills for Mr. Teagle" by Frank Sullivan
When Mr. Clement Teagle leaves his apartment on Christmas Eve, ostensibly to do his Christmas shopping for his wife, he remembers that he hasn't gotten any money to give the doorman and the elevator operator of his apartment building. So he requests some additional new crisp bills while at the bank to give them, and he is shocked when the teller tears up his check after handing him the cash. It seems that Mr. Teagle has been the ideal depositor, and the bank wants to show its admiration for him with a gift of $100 (the amount of his check). Of course, Mr. Teagle is flabbergasted, but it only gets worse, as everyone he meets the rest of the day wants to give him a gift, just out of the blue. Although this is an absurd little story, I found it enjoyable.

Day 23: "What Love Can Do" by Louisa May Alcott
Dolly and Grace are two young girls who live in a boarding house with their mother and younger siblings. Their father is dead, so they and their mother have to work at menial jobs just to make ends barely meet. Even so, the two sisters have saved up enough money to buy a tiny tree and a few presents for their siblings, but of course there is nothing left over for them, and they expect nothing from their mother. So on Christmas Eve they lie in bed and talk longingly about the Christmas they would like to have. They are overheard by one of the other residents of the boarding house, and soon the love and good deeds start to spread, culminating in a Christmas beyond the girls' wildest dreams.

This is a sweet little story (as one might expect, given the author) that was previously unknown to me. However, I think that it's now one of my favorite new Christmas stories. I read this story out of a special edition of Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott, published this year by Penguin Books as part of their "Christmas Classics" series. These are beautiful, small books that are a joy to hold in the hand. I recommend them AND this story highly!

Day 24: "The Other Wise Man" by Henry Van Dyke
A classic and wonderful story about Artaban, the fourth wise man (in Van Dyke's mythology) who sets out to find the newborn King, along with his better-known colleagues, but who can never catch up with them or find the King. Owing to a series of "chance" encounters with individuals who need his help, he's always a day late and a dollar short as far as his quest for Jesus is concerned. But in the end, he finds out that he has been seeing Him all along, and his quest ends unexpectedly but successfully. You can find this story online, and it's well worth reading.

Advent Calendar of Stories: Days 13-21

I'm still marching along with my Advent Calendar of Stories project. I am truly enjoying this! I will say, however, that writing short blurbs about stories like I am doing is ALMOST as involved as writing full reviews. Still, it is a fun process.

Day 13: “Old Folks’ Christmas” by Ring Lardner
I have one word for this story: DEPRESSING. Tom and Grace Carter have two children, Tom Junior and Grace. But the children have changed their names to Ted and Caroline and this is what they insist on being called. This information is related in the first paragraphs of the story, and it’s an indicator of what is to come. Ted and Caroline are ungrateful wretches, and they manage to make Christmas miserable for their parents. I hope Mr. Lardner did not mean this story to be humorous, because it just made me sad. And mad. As Shakespeare wisely said via King Lear, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!”

Day 14: "Mr. K*A*P*L*A*N and the Magi" by Leo Rosten
Mr. Hyman Kaplan is an immigrant and a member of a ESL class in New York, and in this story he is also part of a committee to buy a Christmas present for their teacher, Mr. Parkhill. Parkhill has been on the receiving end of many of these presents from his students, and the presentation of the gift is one he always dreads. But Mr. Kaplan’s involvement makes this year’s presentation a little different. This is a genuinely funny story, and I was glad to discover that Rosten wrote a whole series of Mr. Kaplan stories, all of which were originally published under a pseudonym in The New Yorker. I’ll be looking for some more of these.

Day 15: "The Burglar's Christmas" by Willa Cather
Willie is a shabby, down-and-out man who is led towards theft on Christmas Eve. He enters a house, intending to make off with some jewelry or anything else he can steal, and it turns out that he has stumbled into the house where his mother and father live. (It’s not the house he grew up in, so that’s how Cather can get away with this little bit of contrivance in the plot.) Willie is the long-lost lamb returned to the fold, and his mother and father end up forgiving him all his youthful indiscretions that led him away from them in the first place. I’m afraid I have made this story sound tremendously trite and maudlin, but I promise you it’s well worth the reading, especially if you like Cather. It’s available online if you’d like to read it.

An illustration from the original publication of Cather's story

Day 16: "I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus" by George Baxt
Oscar Leigh is the son of Desiree Leigh, the owner of the Desiree cosmetics empire. She supposedly received the rights to the formula for the Desiree Rejuvenating Lotion as a Christmas gift from her boss, one Professor Tester. But Oscar doesn't remember it quite that way -- he remembers Professor Tester dressed up as Santa Claus, confronting his mother with her theft of his formula, and his mother shooting the professor with a gun which was never recovered. But the turkey and stuffing tasted really strange at the Christmas Day meal later on...

Day 17: "The Tree That Didn't Get Trimmed" by Christopher Morley
What is it about Christmas that makes us want to anthropomorphize everything, from nutcrackers and mice to candy and Christmas trees? I have no idea. But that’s what happens in this story -- a simple but affecting story about a scraggly tree that was cut down too early and then no one wanted it for a Christmas tree. Do you know what happens to the Christmas trees nobody wants? The answer presented in this story was interesting, and it turned what could have been an outrageously sappy story into a pretty good tale.

This scraggly tree got trimmed. Lucky, lucky tree...

Day 18: "Rumpole and the Spirit of Christmas" by John Mortimer
Rumpole is a British lawyer and probably the most famous of John Mortimer’s characters (along with Rumpole’s wife Hilda, AKA “She Who Must Be Obeyed”). I have never read any other Rumpole stories, but this one was good. Rumpole is given the task of defending Eddie Timson, of the Timson clan, who is charged with the murder of a man who belongs to the O’Dowd clan that lives in the same apartment building. (Think Hatfields and McCoys, and you’ll understand the relationship between these two families.) Rumpole pleads with the prosecutor, Wrigglesworth, to give him the Christmas present of not pursuing the prosecution of young Timson. This is a short, simple story, and not really much of a mystery, but highly entertaining nonetheless.

Day 19: "At Christmas Time" by Anton Chekhov
This was a pretty unsatisfying story, and it’s probably because I missed quite a bit of the underlying story behind the narrative. Peter and Vasilissa are elderly peasants whose daughter Efimia got married and moved away many years ago. They never hear from her, although they have written to her often. The story takes place as they are undertaking to write her another letter (using the talents of a local who is actually able to write) but this time we get to see what happens on the other end as Efimia receives the letter and “interprets” it. It’s available online if you’d like to puzzle it out for yourself.

Day 20: "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" by L. Frank Baum
Baum is, of course, best known as the author of The Wizard of Oz (and several other Oz books to boot). I was unfamiliar with this story but it was pretty good. Santa Claus is kidnapped by the five Demons of the Caves (the Demons of Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance) because his gifts and kindness keep people away from their caves and they are getting lonely. With Santa Claus gone, his helpers have to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve as best they can. This was an interesting story (albeit just a teensy bit reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas) and well worth the read. It’s available online as well.

Day 21: "The Plot Against Santa Claus" by James Powell
This story reminded me in many ways of the novel The Fat Man, which I read a few weeks ago. But it's nowhere near as entertaining or interesting as that novel. For one thing, it was so long that my interest in it petered out long before the end of the story. And there were way too many characters in the story -- so many that it got more and more irritating as new characters popped up, only to get a one- or two-sentence cutesy description. The whole story is supposed to be a hard-boiled take on disgruntled elves and plots to do away with Santa. But it just didn't work for me. I skimmed through to the ending to see if I would like it by then, and I didn't.

Advent Calendar of Stories: Days 6-12

Another report from the Advent Calendar of Stories project I am working my way through, between now and Christmas.

Day 6: "Christmas Party" by Martin Werner
Charlie Evanston works for French and Saunders, a New York advertising firm known for its high-dollar accounts and glitzy, lavish Christmas parties. Charlie is put in charge of this year's Christmas party, which is to be held in the unfinished office building to which the firm is moving after Christmas. Just before the party, however, the firm inexplicably loses several major accounts, and Charlie is laid off. The Christmas party is to go on as scheduled, however, so Charlie in revenge hatches a plot to stage an "accident" for his boss at the Christmas party. Of course, we all know about the best laid plans...

Day 7: “The Spy and the Christmas Cipher” by Edward D. Hoch
British Intelligence learns that Ivan St. Ives, a renowned spy, has been seen working as Father Christmas at a local department store. Is he down on his luck, just needing a job, as his ex-girlfriend claims? Or is there something more nefarious going on? The plot thickens when Rand, the head of the Concealed Communications department, observes St. Ives handing out some very suspicious packages to some very suspicious parents and children. When one of the packages is intercepted, it is found to contain something very disturbing, along with a cryptic message that is almost not decoded in time. This was a very entertaining story and definitely not your run-of-the-mill Christmas tale.

Day 8: “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I have read many Sherlock Holmes stories in my life, but I did not remember reading this one before. It is a Christmas story, of course, involving a Christmas goose and a famous, valuable, and stolen jewel (the “blue carbuncle” of the story’s title) found in the goose’s crop when it was cooked. I like Sherlock Holmes stories, but this one was not one of my favorites. It seemed rather contrived, and as if Sir Arthur had merely “phoned this one in.” If you’re like me, and the term “carbuncle” makes you think of inflamed, painful boils on the skin (which is the medical definition of the term), here’s a picture of what a blue carbuncle might look like -- as far as I can gather, the term essentially refers to a ruby that is blue instead of red, which understandably would be quite rare and valuable.

Day 9: "A Christmas Tragedy" by Agatha Christie
This is a Miss Marple short story that is part of a larger collection, The Thirteen Problems. It’s one of those kinds of books where the characters sit around and tell stories, which happen to be the stories in the collection. THIS story was particularly interesting, in which Miss Marple recounts her encounter with a couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, and from the very moment she met them, she says she knew that Mr. Sanders was going to kill Mrs. Sanders. Well thanks, Miss Marple, for saving me the work of reading your story. However, this story, while indeed short, is a masterpiece of plotting, red herrings, and twisty endings, just the very thing that Agatha Christie was known for, and I enjoyed it immensely. It’s available as a standalone story via Kindle, which is how I read it, but now I’m really thinking I need to get the entire book and read it.

Day 10: "The Tailor of Gloucester" by Beatrix Potter
I was underwhelmed by this story. The only Beatrix Potter I was familiar with before reading it was, of course, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” and it’s been quite some time since I read that one! This tale involves a tailor who is commissioned to make a coat for the Mayor of Gloucester in time for Christmas. But of course he runs into difficulties, gets sick, and cannot finish it in time. Mice that he just happened to rescue from his cat, Simpkin, come to his rescue in turn and finish the coat for him. I’m sure my opinion of this story was colored by the fact that this theme seems rather hackneyed by now, having been used by quite a few authors. But that certainly isn’t Ms Potter’s fault!

Day 11: "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
(Interestingly, the editor of the anthology from which I read this story notes that this story was originally entitled "Gifts of the Magi" when it was first published in the New York World. I'm not sure when the title got changed.)

What can I say about this story that has not already been said? Surely everyone has read this story. I will just say that it has been some years since I read it, but it has not lost its power to choke me up and make the world seem just a little bit kinder and more beautiful.

Day 12: "The Kid Hangs Up His Stocking" by Jacob Riis
I was unfamiliar with this story and author. I got the sense that this story and characters might be part of a larger work. But it's a great little story nonetheless. The residents of a boys' orphanage in New York notice that one of their newest and youngest members, a little boy they've dubbed "the Kid," has hung his stocking at the end of his bed in hopes of great things from Santa. The other, older boys can't stand to see the Kid disappointed on Christmas morning, so they conspire to do something about it.

Advent Calendar of Stories: Days 1-5

Here are my notes and thoughts on the stories I've read for the first five days of my Advent Calendar of Stories project.

Dec. 1: "Santa Claus Beat" by Rex Stout
A newly-promoted cop wants nothing more than to be called to the scene of a homicide on Christmas Eve. Instead, he gets called to a mail-order house where a ring has gone missing, potentially stolen. He solves the crime and gets to (reluctantly) play Santa Claus in the bargain. A very short but highly entertaining story.

Day 2: “The Bargain” by Richard Barre
This story is from a collection that caught my eye on Amazon: Christmas Stories in the Tradition of Rod Serling. How can you resist that, right? Well, I don’t know how much in the tradition of Rod Serling this story was, but it was good, and judging from some of the information in the book, Richard Barre is evidently one of those best-kept-secrets in the writing world that one stumbles across occasionally. The story revolves around Axel Maldonado, a Baltimore businessman who is jaded, cynical about Christmas, and, I thought, vaguely reminiscent of Scrooge. He contracts with the city’s Housing and Redevelopment office to house a sick, elderly woman in one of his apartment buildings which is just waiting to be demolished after the holidays. Along the way, what starts out as merely a business transaction turns into a life-altering (and heart-opening) episode for Axel. Throw in Axel’s encounter with a mysterious tall black Santa Claus on the sidewalk in front of the building, and you have the makings of a story that is well worth the read.

Day 3: “Merry Christmas” by James Thurber
This is not so much a short story as a humorous essay filled with Thurber’s thoughts and observations on the yearly ritual of sending Christmas cards. Written in his usual droll style, it seems a little dated now, since people don’t send Christmas cards like they once did. Still, it’s a wonderful piece filled with gems like:

Ninety per cent of women employ the annual greeting as a means of fending off a more frequent correspondence. One woman admitted to me that she holds at least a dozen friends at arm’s, or year’s, length by turning greeting cards into a kind of annual letter. The most a man will consent to write on a Christmas card is “Hi, boy!” or “Keep pitching,” but a wife often manages several hundred words. These words, in most instances, have a way of dwindling with the march of the decades, until they become highly concentrated and even cryptic, such as “Will you ever forget that ox bice cake?” or “George says to tell Jim to look out for the 36.”

Day 4: “Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor” by John Cheever
This is one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories, so I was excited to put it on the calendar. However, it’s not my favorite because it gives the reader a case of warm Christmas fuzzies -- far from it. The protagonist, an elevator operator named Charlie, is not the most likeable or admirable of characters. But the story itself provides a wry social commentary, and one which I think is as relevant today as it was back in 1949 when Cheever published this story in The New Yorker.

The protagonist, Charlie, wakes up on Christmas morning feeling sorry for himself, because he has to go work in his elevator, which is located in what seems to be a rather posh apartment building in Manhattan. His gloominess about his plight in life pervades even the language Cheever uses in the first part of the story. As the residents of the apartment building begin using the elevator and wishing Charlie a merry Christmas, he begins his litany of telling them he’s all alone, he has no family, and “Christmas is a sad season for the poor.” After a while he tires of this and begins to embellish it, adding children and a crippled wife to his litany, and of course this has predictable, humorous, and eventually disastrous consequences for Charlie as the residents of the building all begin to respond to his plight.

Day 5: "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote
This also is one of my favorite stories and I manage to reread it every year, so I knew it had to go on my list for this project. It’s such a simple story but so rich and timeless. A young boy and his elderly cousin gather the ingredients for their yearly baking of Christmas fruitcakes. That’s pretty much it, although the story also describes their preparations for Christmas, involving cutting a tree and making presents. Boring? Not a bit of it -- the language and imagery and themes of this story are moving and timeless. If you’ve never read it, you owe it to yourself to sweep everything off your list and read this story immediately. It’s short and wonderful.

An Advent Calendar of Stories

Since I was a child, and even to this day (when I just ACT like a child sometimes), I have always loved advent calendars. They come in many shapes and sizes (including the ones filled with chocolate, which of course are my absolute favorite kind), but they all share one thing in common: to help impatient children count down the days until Christmas, while making each day along the journey special with the surprise of a toy, trinket, piece of chocolate, or even just a thought for the day.

An advent calendar I bought today at the drugstore just for this post. And maybe the candy.

Now, the older I get, it seems the less impatient for Christmas I get. In fact, some years I wish Christmas could be skipped altogether -- at least the hectic, hurly-burly commercial side of it. But I still enjoy that time before Christmas, which seems to be one of the most magical times of the year, no matter how you feel about Christmas itself. The music, food, parties -- everything about the pre-Christmas season is special as we anticipate the big day.

So I have been thinking for some time about a special reading project to mark the days before Christmas, in the same way one might use an advent calendar. But what could serve the same purpose as candies (for example) hidden behind the tiny doors of a calendar? Yep, you guessed it: short stories!

An antique advent calendar that looks especially enticing.

I toyed with the idea of reading some Christmas-themed books in the 24 days before Christmas, but my adventure earlier in the year with The Christmas Train during the Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Readathon made me a little leery of that. If I "waste" my pre-Christmas season reading stuff I don't like, it won't turn out to be too festive. Granted, with a list of 24 short stories, there will also surely be some misses along with the hits, but hopefully there will be more hits than misses!

My only worry (worrywart that I am) is that I won't be able to keep up with the story a day. More importantly, I might not be able to blog about each story every day. I certainly won't have time to do a full review of each story. Plus, daily blogging is something I have never yet achieved. So right now I am thinking that I might just do a "progress report"/digest every few days or so, and keep up with my reading and blogging that way.

So here is the list I have crafted for my reading over the 24 days of December before Christmas:

1. Santa Claus Beat – Rex Stout
2. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3. A Kidnapped Santa Claus – L. Frank Baum
4. At Christmas Time – Anton Chekhov
5. The Other Wise Man – Henry Van Dyke
6. The Burglar’s Christmas – Willa Cather
7. What Love Can Do – Louisa May Alcott
8. Rumpole and the Spirit of Christmas – John Mortimer
9. The Spy and the Christmas Cipher – Edward D. Hoch
10. I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus – George Baxt
11. Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor – John Cheever
12. Old Folks’ Christmas – Ring Lardner
13. The Tree That Didn’t Get Trimmed – Christopher Morley
14. The Tailor of Gloucester – Beatrix Potter
15. The Kid Hangs Up His Stocking – Jacob Riis
16. Mr. K*A*P*L*A*N and the Magi – Leo Rosten
17. Crisp New Bills for Mr. Teagle – Frank Sullivan
18. Merry Christmas – James Thurber
19. The Plot Against Santa Claus – James Powell
20. Christmas Party – Martin Werner
21. The Bargain – Richard Barre
22. A Christmas Memory – Truman Capote
23. A Christmas Tragedy – Agatha Christie
24. The Gift of the Magi – O. Henry

Some of these stories can be found in the public domain on the Internet; others are from anthologies that I already had, such as Merry Murder and A Christmas Treasury.

I have numbered the stories for convenience (and to make sure I had 24!), but what I actually plan to do is to print out the list and cut the story titles into strips. Then I'm going to fold them up and put them in a container (maybe a Christmas stocking?), and each day I will draw a strip to see what story I will read that day. Just to make it more like the little spark of surprise you get when you open the door on an advent calendar.

So what do you think? Have you read any of the stories on my list? Some of them I have read before, but they were so good I am looking forward to reading them again (such as the Cheever, Capote, and the O. Henry) -- it will be like greeting old friends at a Christmas gathering.