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. 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

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 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.ON CHRISTMAS EVE Helene Stökl- 1883 A lonely lady in search of some comfort from the past. Favorite, the best. A continuation of the very popular Very Christmas series conveying a festive spirit from the place where many Christmas traditions were invented. A delightful and unpredictable collection redolent of candle-lit trees, St. Nikolaus, gingerbread, the Christkindl, roast goose and red cabbage, Gugelhopf and stollen cakes, accompanied by plenty of schnapps. Finally, I have no idea why the works are organized in the sequence in which they are presented in this collection. While works span publication dates from 1806 to 1999, they are not presented chronologically but rather bounce all over the timeline. Similarly, we do not move geographically from country to country, but rather the Swiss and Austrian works are wedged in among their German counterparts. The poems are sprinkled throughout, so perhaps there was some thought to varying the length of the works throughout the collection, but who knows; there's no Editor's Note to explain the collection's presentation.

Then Friedrichshain park appeared before us and we fell silent. The blue spruce that Father had his eye on stood in the middle of a round flower bed of roses covered in straw. It was a good meter and a half tall and a model of regular growth. As the earth was frozen only just under the surface it didn’t take long at all before Father had exposed the roots. Then we carefully tipped the 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. 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 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. 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.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! Christmas with the Buddenbrooks - 3.75 stars (charming - hustle & bustle of Christmas Day from child's point of view ) Christmas Eve (Peter Rosegger) - 5 stars (wonderful, wonderful, wonderful - best in the book, worth alone the price I paid for it)

the dog howled by the hour together, so that my grandmother, herself very worn and weary by then, said, “You mark my words; there’ll soon be somebody dying in our neighborhood now, when the dog howls like that! God comfort the poor soul!” And a little while after that Moss-Maggie fell ill, and when winter came she died. In her last moments she held both my father and mother by the hand and uttered the words, “May God requite you a thousand and a thousandfold, 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] Now we did begin to feel sad. Not very sad; but at any rate it was enough for Frieda to furrow her brows even more than she usually did and ask us what was up. We had got used to keeping our troubles to ourselves, but not this time; and Father told her. Frieda listened carefully. “That’s it?” 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.

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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.

nose 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 Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense. 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! I enjoyed almost all and a couple were outstanding! Merry Christmas with some sad and happy endings. In the Outer Suburbs (Stamm) - 2 stars (not much to do with Christmas - or Germany for that matter - it takes place in Manhattan)CHRISTMAS IN COCHINCHINA Joseph Roth- remembering past and not being able to relive the joy. 1929 Good Anatol—Here you are, but there’s a cab. Gabrielle—Could you wave it down? Anatol—You’re in a hurry, all of a sudden?! Gabrielle—Please! [He waves down the taxi.] I thank you. But what are we doing to do about the gift ...? Anatol—Here, it’s stopped. Gabrielle—Here, please take these flowers, these simple flowers. They’re nothing more than a We nodded. “You’re funny,” Frieda said. “Why don’t you just go to the Grunewald forest and steal one?” I have seen Father outraged many times, but never as outraged as he was this evening. He went pale as chalk. “Are you serious?” he asked hoarsely. Frieda was very surprised. “Of course,” she said, “that’s what everyone does.” “Everyone!” Father echoed, “everyone!” He stood up stiffly and took my hand. “You’ll permit me,” he his eyes as if deep in thought. Then he got up again. “Well, my boy, have fun with it,” he said, stroking Hanno’s hair. “But not too much. And don’t neglect your schoolwork because of it, do you hear? I’ve made my share of mistakes.... But now I’m off to the Club. I’m going to the Club for a bit,” he called to the other adults. “They’re having a Christmas party, too. Until later.” And he left, walking down the columned hall on stiff, bowed legs.