The winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. Such a night is especially suitable for reading with a book.
I have taught English and creative writing in snowy Binghamton, NY, teaching students reading, writing, literary criticism, and book reviews for over 40 years. So it’s never been difficult for me to have books to read. The hard part is which one to choose.
In order to save you from going through the same struggle, I have selected five excellent books for you to accompany you through the longest winter night of the year.
1. Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau, 1854
Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” is the most famous nature book in the United States. It is filled with the author’s observations, hearing and feelings of the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau’s account of Walden began in July, but it ushered in winter in some of the book’s most beautiful chapters.
“The north wind had begun to cool the lake,” Thoreau wrote, and he “entered into his winter lodgings.” But that’s not to say he’s always staying indoors.
Most of us won’t be lying “on ice only an inch thick” as Thoreau described it, but we can stay in a warm room and read about Thoreau doing it. Thoreau saw the frozen bubbles piled together “like a string of beads” or “silver coins pouring out of pockets.” He goes on enumerating—how he loves to enumerate!—the color of the pond, from “transparent” to dark green to “opaque, whitish-gray.” In winter, he burned pine, rotting stumps, hickory, dried leaves, and logs he hauled over the lake like ice skates. The fuel gave him warmth, well-cooked food, and company. “You can always see a face in the flames,” Thoreau wrote.
In winter, he also receives rare human visitors, such as author Louisa May Alcott’s father Bronson. But the ones he encountered most were foxes, squirrels, chickadees, jays, and a barred owl he dubbed his “brother cat with wings.” Thoreau loved the roar of melting ice and detailed moonlight rescues that escorted hikers back to the fringes of civilization.
The five wintry chapters of Walden paint a wintery sample for those who haven’t read the tome, and for those who want to reread it.
2. The Poetry of Robert Frost, Robert Frost
No poet has sung about winter like New England Poet Laureate Robert Frost. In his great book, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, he pays homage to the loneliness of winter:
“Between woods and frozen lakes/The darkest night of the year.”
The Poems of Robert Frost has more than 600 pages. “You Come Too,” a curated anthology of poetry for young adults, is under 100 pages long.
No matter which one, Frost’s most popular winter poems are collected. Even just the titles reveal a strong connection between the poet and winter: Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter, A Hillside Thaw (“Ten Million Birds Silver Lizard Swells Out of the Snow”), Good-by and Keep Cold, A Patch of Old Snow.
In the poem “Birches,” Frost writes that the branches turn raindrops into ice crystals that melt in the sun.
“Cracking and collapsing on the snow crust—”
“Hills of broken glass swept away”
“You’d think the dome of the sky had collapsed.”
Frost’s poems are easy to memorize, and no matter what the tempest is, reading his poems aloud will do us good.
3. A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Dylan Thomas, 1952
Frost’s poems are suitable for all ages, as is Dylan Thomas’ “A Welsh Child’s Christmas,” a winter poem to be sung. You can choose the original Tiffany blue paperback edition from New Directions, with beautiful illustrations by Alan Ruskin. We can even hear the poet singing the poem aloud on his 1952 recording.
No Welsh would have loved Thomas’ seaside childhood. Don’t even have to wait until Christmas.
“One Christmas is so similar to another,” the poem begins, “I can never remember if it snowed for 6 days and 6 nights when I was 12 / Or if it snowed for 12 days and 12 nights when I was 6 snow.”
4. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Italo Calvino, 1979
Italo Calvino combines magic, metafiction, philosophy, danger and love in If It’s Winter’s Night, A Traveler. This is Calvino’s most enigmatic work, shattering common perceptions of reading and storytelling.
It is not a real novel, but consists of the first chapters of 10 fictional novels by 10 fictional authors. Is it still winter? Readers may be curious. Or has winter ever come?
As Calvino admitted, “The only truth I can write is the moment I live.”
5. A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds, James Fenton, 2002
Some gardeners dream about it all winter. Others are busy planning.
“Growing a Garden from a Hundred Packs of Seeds” proposes a radical yet traditional approach—planting a garden entirely from seeds. Author James Fenton explains: “I was chasing a wild idea: Buy a bag of nasturtium seeds, sprinkle them in the soil, and grow tall sunflowers—that’s what gardening should be all about.”
A garden doesn’t need expensive seedlings, or even planning. The most important question in life is the same as building a garden: what do I want to grow?
Winter reveals what simplicity really means: it presents a landscape in unretouched black and white, revealing the original lines of the landscape. It encourages readers to follow suit, to make room for life by shedding irrelevant chores. As a well-known proverb goes: “If you don’t find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in life without changing the amount of snow.”
Beyond that, as December draws to a close, we turn the corner for the light. (Fortune Chinese website)
Liz Rosenberg is a professor of English, general literature, and rhetoric at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Translated by Agatha
Winter solstice brings the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a great night to spend reading.
I’ve taught English and creative writing in snowy Binghamton, NY, for more than 40 years—reading, writing, reviewing, and judging books all the while—so it’s never hard for me to find something to read. Only to choose.
To save you the same indecision, I’ve picked five books for the darkest time of the year.
Henry David Thoreau, “Walden Pond” (1854)
Thoreau’s Walden Pond is America’s most celebrated nature book, filled with the author’s observations of the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Mass. Walden begins in July, but Thoreau welcomes winter in some of the book’s most beautiful passages.
“The north wind had already begun to cool the pond,” Thoreau writes, when he “went into winter quarters.” Not that he stayed indoors much.
Most of us won’t stretch out face down “on ice only an inch thick,” as Thoreau reports doing, but we can read about him doing it while staying warm. Thoreau noticed frozen bubbles, stacked “like a string of beads” or “silvery coins poured from a bag.” He catalogs—how he loves cataloging!—the colors of the pond, from “transparent” to dark green to “opaque and whitish or gray.” In winter he burned pine, decaying stumps, hickory , dry leaves, and logs he had dragged home while skating across the pond. Fuel provided him warmth, cooked food, and company. “You can always see a face in the fire,” Thoreau wrote.
In winter he welcomed rare humans, such as fellow writer Louisa May Alcott’s father, Bronson. But mostly he encountered foxes, squirrels, chickadees, jays, and a barred owl that he described as the “winged brother of the cat.” Thoreau delights in the sound of the ice booming in a thaw and describes moonlit rescues of hikers he escaped back to the edge of civilization.
The five chilly chapters of Walden make up a winter sampler for those who haven’t read this mighty book—and for those returning to it.
Robert Frost, “The Poetry of Robert Frost”
No poet sang of winter like poet laureate and New Englander Robert Frost. In his great “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” he pays homage to winter’s solitude:
“Between the woods and frozen lake/The darkest evening of the year.”
The Poetry of Robert Frost weighs in at more than 600 pages. You Come Too, a beautifully curated edition of poems for the young, is less than 100.
Both books contain popular midwinter favorites. Even their titles suggest the poet’s strong connection to winter: “Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter”; “A Hillside Thaw” (“Ten million silver lizards out of snow!”); and Keep Cold”; “A Patch of Old Snow.”
In “Birches,” Frost writes of branches that turn raindrops into ice crystals melted by sunlight.
“Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust–”
“Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away”
“You’d think the inner dome of heaven has fallen.”
Frost’s poems are easily memorized and lovely to read aloud over any blustering gales.
Dylan Thomas, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” (1952)
As Frost wrote for all ages, so did Dylan Thomas in A Child’s Christmas in Wales—available in its original Tiffany blue New Directions paperback edition, decorated exquisitely with illustrations by Ellen Raskin—a winter’s poem made to be sung. We can even hear the poet chanting it aloud on his 1952 recording.
One need not be Welsh to love Thomas’s seaside childhood. One need not even celebrate Christmas.
“One Christmas was so much like another,” the poem opens, “that I can never remember whether it snowed/for six days and six nights when I was 12/or whether it snowed for 12 days and/12 nights when I was six .”
Italo Calvino, “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler” (1979)
Italo Calvino bundles magic, metafiction, philosophy, danger, and love into If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. It’s Calvino’s most mystifying work, challenging readers’ assumptions about reading and storytelling.
Not exactly a novel, it comprises the first chapter of 10 invented novels by 10 imaginary authors. Is it still winter? a reader may wonder. Was it ever winter?
As Calvino admits, “The only truth I can write is that of the instant I am living.”
James Fenton, “A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds” (2002)
Some gardeners spend all winter dreaming. Others spend it business planning.
A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds proposes a radically old-fashioned approach—to grow a garden simply sprung from seed. Author James Fenton explains, “[S]imple-mindedness was a part of what I was after: buy a packet of nasturtium seeds and plant them, grow some very tall sunflowers—this is what gardening should be all about.”
A garden doesn’t need expensive starter plants or even a plan. The great question in life, as well as with gardens, is: What do I want to grow?
Winter unearths simplicity: the stark black-and-white vista it presents, the bare-boned landscape. It encourages readers to follow suit by ridding themselves of the extraneous and making room for life. As the celebrated saying goes, “If you choose not To find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.”
Besides, as December ends, we turn the corner toward light.
Liz Rosenberg, professor of English, general literature and rhetoric, Binghamton University, State University of New York.
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