In her introduction to Miracle and Other Christmas Stories Co
nnie Willis claims to love EVERYTHING about Christmas (including the shopping, and the crowds, and all that blah, blah, blah, fa la la la la) It is a somewhat enjoyable little selection of stories. Some of them are a little longer than i prefer my short stories to be (eight stories in almost three hundred pages) and they feel a little a predictable (some more than others~and i must cut Willis some slack here because she is re-imagining familiar tales in all of these stories so it is a little difficult to completely surprise when working within a familiar theme). At least a couple fall prey to sentimentality~but they are Christmas tales after all. There definitely were some bright spots.
nnie Willis claims to love EVERYTHING about Christmas (including the shopping, and the crowds, and all that blah, blah, blah, fa la la la la) It is a somewhat enjoyable little selection of stories. Some of them are a little longer than i prefer my short stories to be (eight stories in almost three hundred pages) and they feel a little a predictable (some more than others~and i must cut Willis some slack here because she is re-imagining familiar tales in all of these stories so it is a little difficult to completely surprise when working within a familiar theme). At least a couple fall prey to sentimentality~but they are Christmas tales after all. There definitely were some bright spots.
Does it feel like i'm damning with faint praise here? I don't mean to~i just wouldn't give this collection my HIGHEST recommendation~however it was not a complete waste of time and it does make a pleasant little diversion for some holiday reading~or perhaps (as in my case) a December book group selection...
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