Skipping Christmas is the title of a novel by John
Grisham, a writer who is mainly known for his legal thrillers. In this novel
the author departs from his usual themes in order to embark on the description
of the festive season from an American point of view. The story is about a
married couple who takes advantage of the fact that their grown-up daughter is
away from home and decides to skip Christmas by going on a cruise.
Unfortunately – or fortunately – their daughter returns home out of the blue
and the couple feels forced to have their usual Christmas party and all the
traditions associated with it. The story is entertaining and fun to read and it
enables you to learn a bit more about American society, the kind of society
that so many American films depict at Christmastime. The thing is that I
started thinking about the season and what it entails and I thought of all
those people who really wish to forget about Christmas for different reasons
and it dawned on me that one of the most effective ways of “skipping Christmas”
is by not immersing yourself in that atmosphere created by Christmas films and
Christmas songs or carols. You can roam around your town without
window-shopping or without paying attention to the Christmas lights and
decorations, you can even run away from crowded places that remind you of
friends or family gatherings but even at home, you need to switch off the
radio, the computer, your smartphone or your TV set if you really want to flee
from the festive season because news but above all, music, advertising and
films contribute to creating this special atmosphere. There are many ways of
celebrating Christmas and I think that we shouldn´t forget about the origin of
these festivities regardless of whether we are religious or not but watching films
has undoubtedly become another Christmas tradition which is part of our way of celebrating the
festive season. Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
The film Christmas
with the Kranks is based on Skipping
Christmas.
