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The Birds' Christmas Carol

Kate Douglas Wiggin

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Dec 13, 2020 Werner rated it liked it

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In contemporary literary criticism, much effort has been expended in recovering unjustly-neglected older works by women writers from obscurity. This 1886 novella, however, apparently hasn't been the beneficiary of similar attention. It's the sort of work contemporary establishment critics pride themselves on sneering at and despising, mostly for the same reasons that I solidly like it.

We should note at the outset that this is a very short writing --just 57 pages of actual text, and those are sha In contemporary literary criticism, much effort has been expended in recovering unjustly-neglected older works by women writers from obscurity. This 1886 novella, however, apparently hasn't been the beneficiary of similar attention. It's the sort of work contemporary establishment critics pride themselves on sneering at and despising, mostly for the same reasons that I solidly like it.

We should note at the outset that this is a very short writing --just 57 pages of actual text, and those are shared with eight well-done black-and-white drawings, two of which occupy a full page. (When I got the book last year, I wasn't aware of this; I bought it at a thrift store in an omnibus edition with its significantly longer --149 pages-- sequel, Polly Oliver's Problem: A Story For Girls, but that fact isn't indicated on the cover.) The titular "Birds" are not feathered avians; the well-to-do Bird family is one of two featured here, the other being the cash-strapped and numerous Ruggles family who are their adjacent neighbors. (That's realistic for the 1880s; in the U.S. of 2020, the "haves" can usually keep the "have-nots" at much more than arms-length away and don't live in any physical proximity to them, but in Wiggin's day much closer domiciles weren't unusual.) This book basically centers around two Christmases, ten years apart. The plot is a very simple and linear one, and the novella is a quick read (I read it easily in two sittings). Our setting is the U.S., but other than that it's never identified any more specifically.

Wiggins was a Realist, writing in Realism's heyday. She did not, however, subscribe to the fallacy that Realism entails a dogmatic absolute rejection of the possibility of human decency. Also, while Realism as a literary school doesn't have as its central goal the expression and evocation of human emotion, it does not follow 18th-century Neoclassicism in disparaging and totally rejecting emotion. Some Realist works can appeal to emotion as much as those of the Romantics do; and this tale is one that frankly does. Indeed, it's purposely crafted to pack an emotional wallop, though that aspect is impossible to discuss further without spoilers. I've recommended it for fans of "inspirational" stories, and it's definitely what's often disparaged as "sentimental;" the sentiments it appeals to are the critically-unpopular ones of compassion, pity and sorrow for somebody besides ourselves, and the attitudes/behavior it openly seeks to inspire are empathy and generosity towards have-nots (a direction in which many "haves" would prefer NOT to be inspired). The author also openly connects her message to the religious significance of Christmas as Jesus' birthday, rather than trying to disconnect it from that element as a great many writers do.

My rating reflects both the tale's positives, and the fact that I think that Wiggin's writing skills and literary vision matured significantly in the 17 years between the writing of this book and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (which got five stars from me). Both of the books that feature Rebecca also benefit greatly from the sense of place with which the author evokes rural Maine (though born in Philadelphia, she had a strong Maine connection); as a Realist, her strongest work was in the Regionalist branch of that tradition. That's necessarily absent here; and while one could validly argue that a sense of place is not necessary to the effect she's crafting in this work, its presence in the later books increased my enjoyment. But while this isn't her masterpiece, I found it definitely a worthy read. (While she clearly depicts the problem of income-based class division, she would doubtless be assailed by some because she doesn't depict any response to it besides private charity, and doesn't advance a coherent program for changing it. However, I would deem that criticism unfair; IMO, it's not a fiction author's responsibility to lay out a "10-point program" for the reconstruction of society. That sort of thing is the function of nonfiction treatises and tracts.)

Finally, a question that might arise (especially given that the sequel is apparently aimed at younger readers) is, is this a children's book? I have no information on Wiggin's own intention there, and the edition of the book I have doesn't present obvious clues. The protagonist and some other characters are children (though other important characters are adults); but neither that nor the presence of illustrations is a conclusive argument. From my own reading, I'd say that while I could have appreciated it as a kid, I think the story and message are more appropriate for adults, and the latter would be more apt to "get" the humor. (Related to this, the 19th-century diction would challenge some modern kids --and adults-- but wasn't a problem for me, nor would be for any other readers of any age who have decent reading skills, and who aren't intimidated by the very idea of older books.) ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Crystal marked it as under-consideration

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