The Book:
Source for ‘The Book’ section : From Goodreads
Luther and Nora Krank are a typical middle-aged American couple who are concerned when their daughter Blair flies off to Peru to work for the Peace Corps. This is the first time Blair is spending Christmas away from home and her parents are anxious. But Luther devises a plan to use this as an opportunity for some serious cost cutting during the holidays. The solution – skip Christmas for just one year and enjoy a 10 day Caribbean vacation.
Is skipping Christmas something you are even allowed to do without being socially outcast? Would they land up enjoying their vacation and missing out the Christmas spirit?
The View:
I have read a ton of John Grisham’s books and this one does not belong to his usual genre. There are no court cases or lawyers and initially I was not looking forward to reading this. But once I started it, the pages just flew through. A very quick, light, breezy read and an apt one for this holiday season.
I related to Luther when he handled the accounts determining the amount spent the last year for Christmas. The way he details the expenses and the unwanted gifts are hilarious. The stance he takes to skip Christmas altogether for a year is welcoming and must say even daring. The couple stand strong till the day before Christmas but finally give in. While I did want them to fulfill their wish of skipping Christmas for just a year, I found myself cheering when the Christmas tree was finally put up. The true spirit of Christmas was exhibited beautifully at the end of the book.
Luther and Nora are both lovable characters. The dilemma they face is very close to reality and I am sure that each of us would have discussed and gone back and forth just like they did. I also liked the fact that they finally caved in to celebrating Christmas for their daughter, proving that parental love wins over social needs. The neighbors however are the ones who truly made this story a success. Each of us have a love-hate relationship with our neighbors and Grisham has clearly documented that with this plot.
Rated a 4 on 5. Read it before this year-end for some holiday cheer and fun. Doesn’t it always help to remind ourselves of the spirit of Christmas.
Filed under: 100+ Reading Challenge, Challenges 2011, Reviews 2011 | Tagged: John Grisham, Skipping Christmas | Leave a comment »