Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos
I hope you had a lovely Christmas break and may I wish you a very Happy New Year.
One of the things I love about the period between Christmas and New Year is having more time to catch up on reading. The rush of Christmas is over and there are a few blissful days before normal routines kick in again and I use that time to enjoy books. Winter is the perfect time for this, isn’t it?
But thinking about this led me to consider what I would call winter stories. As well as the Nativity, I would include A Christmas Carol, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (the line always winter but never Christmas always hits home for me), and possibly The Lord of The Rings. I see in my mind’s eye the Jackson film adaptations of the snow covered mountains here (though I admit by the time Frodo and Sam reached Mount Doom, they had warmed up considerably!).
Are there stories you only read during the winter months or does the season not matter? Or are there stories you associate with the colder time of the year even if the tales themselves aren’t based around that? Also, how long does it take you to get through your Christmas books?
Appreciating Reading
Back in 2017 (and doesn’t that seem a world away now given it was pre-Covid), I went to a medieval event held near the River Hamble and reported on this for Chandler’s Ford Today. I had family members with me and we were all struck with the stories of the apothecary, the fletcher (arrow maker) and so on.
But my cousin and I were well aware we would probably not have got to the age we were at the time of the visit had we lived back then. We would probably have died in childbirth and we would have been illiterate. We had no doubt we would both have been of peasant lineage!
The visits made me grateful, and I still am grateful, that despite all the problems going on in the world, some things have improved. I cannot imagine not being able to read and write. Nor do I wish to be able to imagine that. So my story then is being grateful for being born when I was and having access to a good education so I can enjoy all manner of books regardless of the season in which they are set.
I’ve also visited Winchester Cathedral on a number of occasions, partly to pay a kind of homage to Jane Austen who is buried there, but also to appreciate things like the beautiful Winchester Bible. The story of that marvellous “production” – the hard and long work behind it – is also well worth discovering, as is the amazing tale of the man who saved the Cathedral, William Walker.
Stories About Stories
Stories about stories come in various types. To name just two examples, there are biographies written about an author telling their writing story or books of letters written by an author themselves.
I have a couple of the books of letters written by P.G. Wodehouse and another written by Jane Austen mainly to her sister, Cassandra, both of which are fascinating reading. I love finding out what inspired an author and the books of letters can be enlightening here. I still say you can’t beat the one piece of writing advice Wodehouse did share – apply seat of pants to the seat of the chair. Hard to argue with that one.
Of course, stories inspire other stories, whether they are of ancient or more modern origin. I continue to be inspired by the classic fairytales, for example. There will always be “takes” to be had on the Cinderella story, to name just one example.
Good writing guides can also be enlightening as to what works in a good tale and how writers can do this with their own work. One of my favourite books is The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker. It takes an in-depth look at what makes stories work and is well worth a read, though it is a long one.
Stories – A Link to the Past and To The Future
Stories are as old as mankind. Okay, for a long time, these would have been shared orally, long before any could be committed to paper (or other material), but it is amazing how accurate oral transmission can be.
Having said that, I am so glad of the invention of writing, universal education (in general terms given there are so many places still where this isn’t the case), books being accessible (including via the libraries). Whenever we read a story (or take it in via audio/video), we automatically have a link with the past – our stories are inspired by those which came before.
We also have a link to the future because stories written now will inspire those of the future. You can also learn so much about a culture by looking at the stories which matter to them.
Conclusion
It’s no surprise then I consider stories to be one of the best things about humanity. (Music is another. Chocolate is also on my list here!). Winter may well be the perfect time for reading given the rest of the year with (usually) better weather means I’m going to be spending more time outside. So perhaps the best way to get through the winter months is to make the most of having to be indoors to catch up with reading.
A while ago, my sister arranged for our family tree to be traced on both the paternal and maternal lines. In both cases, the trace went back to about the 1760s. In amongst the records were confirmation some of our ancestors were boot makers, general labourers, agricultural labourers etc, and indeed some of them were here in Hampshire before moving up to London’s East End (where I come from originally. I’ve since made the reverse journey and returned to Hampshire!).
What struck me though was, even if there was basic literacy here, how much reading was done back then? Would books have been seen as an unnecessary purchase? (There is a good reason the penny dreadfuls were so popular. They were cheap enough literally for most people to buy).
So I guess then if we have the time and freedom to read, we should cherish that. It hasn’t always been the case, after all.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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