A German Christmas: Festive Tales From Berlin to Bavaria (Vintage Christmas Tales, 2)

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I enjoyed almost all and a couple were outstanding! Merry Christmas with some sad and happy endings.

never amounted to much. I’ve made some big mistakes, let me tell you.” He lectured his nephew with sober insistence, while Hanno looked up at him in curiosity. But then, after a pause, during which his bony, gaunt face brightened again as he examined the theater, he suddenly brought one of the figures forward on the stage and, in a hollow, croaking vibrato, began to sing, “Oh, what horrible offenses!” And then he pushed the harmonium stool over in front of the stage, sat down, and began putting on an opera, singing In this collection, classic works by the Brothers Grimm and Thomas Mann intertwine with more recent stories from writers like Peter Stamm and Martin Suter to bring together the greatest festive tales from Austria, Switzerland and Germany. From a child lost in a snowy, pine-scented forest meeting an unlikely saviour to old lovers reuniting during a last-minute dash across the city for presents, each story creates magical moments of reflection and rediscovery. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism. This is not my first foray into New Vessel Press' popular "Very Christmas" series, for I have read and enjoyed "A Very Russian Christmas" and "A Very Italian Christmas". So perhaps I was primed to like this edition, or perhaps I came in with high expectations; either way, I was not disappointed.THE LOAN Wolfdietrich Schnurre-A poor father and son borrow a Christmas tree from a park and return it soon after for it to grow. 1881 Very Good! greeting, but please give them to her for me. Anatol—Dear lady—you’re so kind. Gabrielle—You promise me? Anatol—With pleasure, why not? Gabrielle—So tell her... Anatol—Yes? Gabrielle—So tell her: “These flowers, my ... sweet girl, are sent to you by a woman, who can love just as well as you, but who didn’t have the courage...”

the others came and I was with none of them, they had all gone down into the forest and through the valley and up the other side to the high road, and in all directions. Even my mother had gone with them, and everywhere, all the time, had called out my name. ON CHRISTMAS EVE Helene Stökl- 1883 A lonely lady in search of some comfort from the past. Favorite, the best. Later, when the servants were all sitting at the evening meal, Moss-Maggie was with them at table. During the morning service she had been out in the churchyard, cowering on her husband’s grave; and after High Mass my father went and found her there and brought her with him to our house. They could get nothing out of her about the event of the night, save CHRISTMAS SHOPPING Arthur Schnitzler- A play about too old lovers meeting while Christmas shopping. Reminds me of Guy de Maupassant's writing, Very Good 1892nose wrinkled up, his face drawn and anxious. “You see, as usual I have to stop,” he said. “The same old punishment. I can never have a little fun without paying for it. It’s not a pain, really, it’s an ache, a vague ache, because all these nerves here are too short. They’re all simply too short.” But his relatives took his complaints no more seriously than his jokes and said little or nothing in reply. They casually drifted away again. Christian sat staring mutely at the theater for a while, blinking A master of poetry, drama, and the novel, German writer and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent 50 years on his two-part dramatic poem Faust, published in 1808 and 1832, also conducted scientific research in various fields, notably botany, and held several governmental positions. MARTIN’S CHRISTMAS WISH Erich Kästner- Parents are missing their young son, Martin who is away at school for Christmas, they are poor and are surprised when he shows up with presents. His schoolmaster gave him money so he could go home.

I quite enjoyed reading this collection of short stories and poems as part of this year's Christmas season celebration. I was familiar with The Brothers Grimm and E.T.A. Hoffmann contributions, and was also introduced to many other good authors. Some stories are just silly, like "Every Year Once Again--The Client Gift", while others are quite heart-wrenching, like "The Separation". Peter Rosegger's "Christmas Eve" is one of my favorites for how it envelopes readers in the spirit of the season, has some action set in the wintery wilderness, and concludes with a nuanced moral message (also features a very good dog). upon her husband’s grave; from which she could never more tear herself away to return to her own district— where, indeed, she would have been just as lonely and homeless as everywhere else. Of her circumstances we could learn nothing more definite: we could only conjecture that the woman had once been happy and certainly in her right mind; and that grief for the loss of her mate had robbed her of reason. We all loved her, for she lived peacefully and contentedly with all and caused nobody the least Eine fröhliche Weihnachten -- A Merry Christmas -- made all the more joyful with these literary treats redolent of candle-lit trees, St. Nikolaus, gingerbread, roast goose and red cabbage, tinsel and stollen cakes, accompanied by plenty of schnapps. Anatol—Dear ... lady!? [She gets into the taxi, it drives off as he watches it disappear. He stands still for a moment, looks at his watch and rushes off. Curtain] However, there are some production choices which confused me, taking me out of the reading experience, and thus preventing me from giving this a 5/5 star review. I was very confused as to why works from Austria and Switzerland are included in this "A Very German Christmas" collection, so an explanation or confirmation that these had originally been published in the German language would have helped. I defer judgement to Austrian and Swiss readers as to whether presenting their country's works in this way is offensive or not.CHRISTMAS EVE Peter Rosegger-A remembrance of a Christmas Eve when a young boy lost on a path after midnight mass and rescued by a mad widowed old lady. 1877, a favorite!! Loved it! and gesticulating, now waving his arms in imitation of the conductor, now playing the various roles. Several members of the family gathered behind him, laughing and shaking their heads in amusement. Hanno watched with genuine delight. After a while, however, to everyone’s surprise, Christian suddenly stopped. He fell silent and a restless, earnest look passed over his face; he rubbed his hand across his bald head and then down his whole left side. He turned around now to his audience Now and then relatives came over to little Johann, and laying an arm on his shoulder and stroking his sailor-suit collar, they would examine his presents and admire them with the ironic exaggeration adults typically show for the treasures of In the Outer Suburbs (Stamm) - 2 stars (not much to do with Christmas - or Germany for that matter - it takes place in Manhattan) In addition, I didn't like how the countries are listed in the Table of Contents but not at the end of the works themselves, and similarly I didn't like that the original publication dates weren't included in the Table of Contents but they are at the end of each work instead. Title, author, country, and date should have been included both with the Table of Contents and the works themselves. Separated out as they are, it is quite disorienting.