Winter Is Coming

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I think of winter in books, I think of roaring, cosy firesides and Christmas dinners. I imagine Mr Cratchit finally enjoying Christmas Day with his family, and snow-lined streets with lamp posts and people wishing each other Merry Christmas wearing top hats. I see fur coats and Turkish delight and mythical creatures in abundance. At the same time, though, I also imagine snow-covered fields and dead bodies, creaking old houses and murder mysteries.

Literary winters, it seems, come in two extremes.

It is only because it is winter and therefore Christmas and the season of goodwill that Scrooge is able to finally realise how much of a party pooper he’s been

The first type is one that focuses on winter as the moral of the story. For example, it is only because it is winter and therefore Christmas and the season of goodwill that Scrooge is able to finally realise how much of a party pooper he’s been and understand just how great Christmas actually is. Similarly, in the world of Narnia, we find ourselves in a place where it is always winter and never Christmas, and it is only when the snow starts melting and Father Christmas finally makes an appearance that order is restored. In this extreme, then, the only good thing about winter is Christmas.

It is a time when we should stay indoors and tell ghost stories, like in The Woman in Black, and listen to the howling wind outside

On the other hand, winter is shown to be something that we should hide from at all costs. It is a time when we should stay indoors and tell ghost stories, like in The Woman in Black, and listen to the howling wind outside. The fact that it is Christmas Eve in this novel does not make the bleak winter any less scary. Perhaps the best example of winter being a season to be feared and anticipated is George R. R. Martin’s infamous quote: “Winter is coming”.

It’s clear that there is a common theme that winter is something that always needs to be fought against

Even though when I think of literary winters, I imagine scenes of domestic bliss straight out of a Dickens novel, it’s clear that there is a common theme that winter is something that always needs to be fought against.  Books that centre around winter either suggest that Christmas and the general season of goodwill is the only redeeming feature of the winter season, or that winter is just always bleak. Either way, if you’re looking for a feel-good read, I think you’d be better off looking for a book set in the summer!

Image Credits: Andrei Azanfirel / Flickr (Header)