Reviews

The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter by Jessica Harrison

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jaygabler's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was sheer folly to attempt this on audio; the stories vary widely in length, tone, and content, so if you're popping in and out it's a mental workout to keep track of what's going on. Also, heads up that this is quite a melancholy selection overall; a typical last line is, "After that morning, I think my childhood was at an end" (Frank O'Connor, "Christmas Morning"). That said, if you prefer a more literary approach to seasonal storytelling, go for it!

jcaju's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

wisecraic's review

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

mels_reading_log's review

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is such a cool collection of Christmas stories. It wasn’t any of the typical ones you know by heart, but some niche ones translated from all different languages. I really enjoyed them.

katiecatbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Short stories. Classics. Christmas.

Story: A collection of short stories from 1844 - 1993 featuring Christmas.

Language: A variety of authors and countries are represented. Most stories are short, only a few pages long. An author's section in the back gives a brief summary of each author.

Characters: Men, women and children, rich and poor, city and country.

A nice read for the Christmas holidays.