Christmas Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to the previous post (click here to see the questions).

1. Favorite Christmas story openers:

a. From “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens – ghosts keep old Scrooge riled up all night long and Christmas morn he awakes jollier than Santa Claus

b. From “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote – a young boy and his elderly cousin make fruitcake and get drunk.

Best metaphors in a Christmas tale:

They were all from “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” Dylan Thomas

Click to hear Dylan Thomas read the poem. I think you’ll agree with me – stunning poetry.

3. Lines in a Christmas story I wish I’d written:

a. From “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – a stolen gem finds its way into a Christmas goose and Sherlock has to figure out how it got there.

b. Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory

c. Dylan Thomas, A Child’s Christmas in Wales

4. How I feel after last minute X-mas shopping

a. From “The Gift of the Magi,” by O’Henry – a young couple sacrifice their most precious possessions to make each other happy.

5. Best Endings in a Christmas story

a. From “The Dead” by James Joyce – a middle age man realizes he doesn’t really know his wife as all around him family members celebrate a most dysfunctional Feast of Epiphany

b. From “At Christmas Time” by Anton Chekhov – an insensitive man cares more about his military career than his homesick wife.

c. Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory

d. From “A letter from Santa” by Mark Twain – letter from Twain to his ailing daughter.

The Sobfest was, of course, from Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl.

If you haven’t read the above masterpieces, I strongly recommend them. It’s hard to pick a favorite but “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote is my number one. It’s funny, sad and elegant.

May you all survive the Holiday Season with a smile still in your heart and on your face!