How Powerful Is Fiction?

So.

Just how powerful is fiction?

Is it powerful enough to change generations?

Have you heard of Washington Irving? Of course you have, he gave us The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. He also gave us The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, maybe you haven't heard of this series written about the celebration of Christmas.

Here's a couple of free e-books for you:

The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon

Old Christmas by Washington Irving


Then of course, we have Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol (free e-book)

This one really gets to me. We all know the story, right? Sure. What genre would this fit in today? It is a ghost story. A story about ghosts that ends with the infamous line of Tiny Tim, "God bless Us, Every One!" Oh could it be--a Christian ghost story? This "Christian horror" that so many balk at? You know I'm giggling as I type this, right? This story is so ingrained in our culture that I'm not even sure people realize how hypocritical they are of the genre that is who I am.

Both of these novelists wrote about Christmas when Christmas wasn't even celebrated. Now, almost two hundred years later we cling to these traditions as if they were always real.

Yet, they were invented by novelists.

Powerful?


I'd say.



Merry Christmas and "God bless us, every one."








~michelle
My thoughts grew hot within me and began to burn, igniting a fire of words
Psalm 39:3

Michelle Pendergrass is a coffee-lover who lives in Knox, Indiana where she homeschools her son, Zane. She blogs at Just A Minute. When you visit, please note that her son is most definitely weaned and has been for some time now. Some names just stick.

©2006 Michelle L. Pendergrass - All Rights Reserved