BOOKS list.co.uk/books
DICKENS CHRISTMAS Victorian festive spirit comes alive at Edinburgh Castle C ast your imagination back to London at
proper festive spirit, or you’re just curious about how Dickens helped to create Christmas as we know it, Edinburgh Castle has got the goods this December.
And to celebrate another classic Christmas tradition, the Scottish Storytelling Centre is offering Forgotten Carols, which promises an immersive and instructive evening of performance. Songwriter Ali Burns has been researching folk carols for over a decade, and she’ll present her finest discoveries with poet Tom Pow and soloist Kate Howard. Sit back and enjoy, or prepare your finest singing voice to join in. (Kirsty Logan) Dickens Christmas, Edinburgh Castle, Sat 21 Dec–Tue 24 Dec. Forgotten Carols, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sun 15 Dec.
the beginning of the 19th century: it’s smelly, it’s dirty, it’s smoggy, and there’s a begging urchin on every street. No wonder the world of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel A Christmas Carol was so appealing. It promised a feelgood season of overeating, overdrinking, candlelit feasts, massive family gatherings, and general shenanigans of the festive sort. This slim novel helped to kick-start the Victorian revival of Christmas as a holiday – before then, Christmas was barely celebrated, and most businesses did not consider it a holiday at all. Within a few decades we had the brand new traditions of decorating a tree, exchanging cards, pulling crackers, sweet mince pies (as opposed to ones containing meat), and feasting on a ridiculously large turkey. Whether you want to get yourself in the
HITLIST THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS
✽ Dive! Spoken word, live music, comedy and performance – all our favourite things, mixed together in the guise of an underground queer party. Make sure you hang around after for the disco. Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, Sun 22 Dec.
✽ Dickens Christmas If you wake up on Boxing Day overstuffed, hung over, and thoroughly sick of the green triangles in your Quality Street, blame Charles Dickens – his A Christmas Carol popularised many of our more gluttonous festive traditions. See preview, left. Edinburgh Castle, Sat 21–Tue 24 Dec.
✽ The Novel Cure Suffering from a
broken heart? Ennui? Or the more prosaic stomach flu? Whatever your ailment, bibliotherapists Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin believe they can cure you with the power of a good novel. Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 14 Dec.
✽ Dissident Gardens American author Jonathan Lethem’s new novel is mournful
but wryly funny. See review, page 64.
✽ Rally & Broad: The
December Issue We can’t get enough of badass performance poets Hollie McNish (pictured) and Michael Pedersen. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also a ceilidh afterparty to take you into the wee small hours. The Counting House, Edinburgh, Fri 20 Dec.
12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014 THE LIST 63