Thomas’s poetic telling of his childhood
memories of Christmas in early twentieth-century Wales is one of the classics of the literature. Dylan Thomas’s writing, here, though not really a poem in form, is infused
with the same vivid, sensory imagery that makes him one of my favorite
poets. For instance, near the beginning of the book, he captures a
quintessential boyhood experience.
Thomas
leaves no sense unfurled here, and while some might dismiss his work as
nostalgic sentimentality, the beauty and wonder of his depiction of a
Christmas celebration that is not overshadowed by consumerism stirs up a
storm of possibilities in the imagination. May all of our Christmas
celebrations this year be full of the frivolity and child-like joy that
Thomas poignantly recalls here.
Like his poetry, 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' does not have a
narrative structure but contains several descriptive passages designed
to create an emotive sense of nostalgia.
The story is told from the viewpoint of the author recounting a festive
season as a young boy in a fictionalised autobiographical style. In the
first passage Thomas searches for a nostalgic Western belief in
Christmas past with the line, It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas.
He furthers the idyllic memory of childhood past by describing the snow
as being better and more exciting than the snow that is experienced as
an adult.
The prose is comedic with exaggerated characters, used either for
comedic effect or to show how childhood memories are enlarged due to
youthful interpretation.
