Skipping Christmas

Rating:
Summary: John Should Stick to Law Novels
Review: This is a horrible, horrible book. It might sound like a lighthearted, fun book to read over the holidays...but it isn't.
The basic premise of the story is about one couple that decides to "skip christmas" and not buy presents or hold the usual festivities. Instead they are going on a cruise. The book is basically abou tthem struggling to not "do" christmas and how others treat them because of it. Sample: "I think she might break," he thought. "I had better keep her away from the mall today." (regarding his wife)
So, they spend the whole book doing this, and at the end, it's all a waste. Their daughter comes home with her fiance and only tells them on christmas eve about how excited she is to show her boy how christmas is done in the US: parties, decorations, etc. So they end up blowing all of their money on getting it together. If it sounds good, it isn't. Trust me, do not buy this book. If you are otherwise a fan of John Grisham, this may make you hate him.

Rating:
Summary: A nice holiday diversion
Review: This story was well paced, light, and fun. The premise of the story is this: daughter is gone to Peru so parents decide to save the $6100 they normally spend, avoid all things Christmas, and go on a cruise. Of course, things can't be that simple. Neighborhood decorating warfare ensues, leading to a near arrest. Gossip and pettiness abounds. Grisham takes a total break from his lawyer thriller style to deliver a nice tale of Christmas that should make anyone think twice about both the money we spend on the holidays and skipping Christmas!

Rating:
Summary: Unreal
Review: Some years ago I read several Grisham books until I got tired of the lawyer as super hero motif. I decided to read this book because of the publisher's allusion to A Christmas Carol. This description is anything but apt.

I assume that the vast majority of us couldn't begin to identify with the main characters and their vast Christmas expenditures..., the nosiness of the neighbors, the expectations that one would buy trees delivered to one's door, the police and firemen selling items door-to-door, etc. The requirements to be good neighbors were satirically delivered by Grisham, but way over the top for any of us living in the real world.

So much of the book rang false, I can't say I learned any of what Grisham perhaps wanted us to learn. I truly was hoping the Kranks would succeed in skipping Christmas. The treadmill they were on is far more horrific than anything in my experience and they need all our support in getting off. Sure Christmas can be dreadful, but if Grisham's message was that the rest of us don't know how dreadful it really is and we should learn from the story of the Kranks, he missed by a mile. What I learned is that Grisham is still not worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Rivals "A Christmas Carol"
Review: The story is a keeper! The kind of story you want to read again. We will definitely see it again in the form of a Christmas movie for 2003 or 2004!

Rating:
Summary: This book will only take you about an hour to read...
Review: ...and you will never get that hour back, unfortunately. This book is flat-out awful, and the message it was apparently intended to convey is: you have to celebrate the holidays exactly the same (expensive) way your small-minded neighbors do, or they will mock and ridicule you. Blatant consumerism.

Rating:
Summary: Skipping "Skipping Christmas"
Review: I thought this book had such potential. It started out with the unique and unheard of idea of skipping Christmas because of the expenses, busy shopping malls, phonyness and shallowness that our culture has turned Christmas into. I was really enjoying the story until Luther and his wife buckled under the pressure of their daughter coming home for the holidays and succumbed to the very idea that they were so against previous to her phone call. This was a big disappointment!

Rating:
Summary: SKIPPING CHRISTMAS is a must-read book!
Review: This is a WONDERFUL Christmas story. I checked the book out of the library earlier this year. I bought the audio CD from Amazon for my CD library this holiday season. Like Dicken's "Scrooge" and Seuss's "Grinch," this story is destined to become a holiday classic! This is a great read ANY time of the year!!

JK

Rating:
Summary: Read it now or you¿ll have to wait for next year
Review: This was my first Grisham novel, and I'm happy that I find he can write not only about though lawyers. Skipping Christmas ends up being a light and funny read, perfect for this season of the year.

Luther Krunk has a very original idea, for this year, he and his wife will avoid all that crazyness -- a.k.a. Christmas-- that most of us have to face in December. Instead of sending cards, buying lots of food, inviting many people and having to prepare them a party, the Krunks will travel to a sunny and beautiful place. Well, sort of. Throughout the novel he will deny all the Christmas costumes, but later on... well, it is more or less what you are predicting from page one, but, in my opinion, that is where most charm of the novel is.

Grisham deliveries a Christmas story with all you expect from it. He can easily talk about all that expectation we have in the days before December 25, the feeling that waiting for the party and preparing it is more exciting than the real thing. Plus, between the lines you can read that Christmas has changed a lot through years. It is much more about buying gifts and food, and trying to show how rich you are, rather than the of Christ itself. One last thing, I think this is the best time to read this novel, I don't think it works in the same way if you read it in, say, June or September. In order to really have fun, we must be in Christmas mood.

Rating:
Summary: Read it now or you will have to wait for next year
Review: This was my first Grisham novel, and I'm happy that I find he can write not only about tough lawyers. Skipping Christmas ends up being a light and funny read, perfect for this season of the year.

Luther Krunk has a very original idea, for this year, he and his wife will avoid all that crazyness -- a.k.a. Christmas-- that most of us have to face in December. Instead of sending cards, buying lots of food, inviting many people and having to prepare them a party, the Krunks will travel to a sunny and beautiful place. Well, sort of. Throughout the novel he will deny all the Christmas costumes, but later on... well, it is more or less what you are predicting from page one, but, in my opinion, that is where most charm of the novel is.

Grisham deliveries a Christmas story with all you expect from it. He can easily talk about all that expectation we have in the days before December 25, the feeling that waiting for the party and preparing it is more exciting than the real thing. Plus, between the lines you can read that Christmas has changed a lot through years. It is much more about buying gifts and food, and trying to show how rich you are, rather than the birth of Christ itself. One last thing, I think this is the best time to read this novel, I don't think it works in the same way if you read it in, say, June or September. In order to really have fun, we must be in Christmas mood.

Rating:
Summary: Missed it's mark
Review: I was instantly [pulled] into the book when I sat down to read it. However, the more I read the more it seemed predictable, and at the same time lost it's way. I was hoping for a better ending, but instead got exactly what I thought would happen. It seemed Mr. Grisham couldn't think of any other way to end it, or forgot where he was originally headed with this book. It could have made such an impression on people if he had stuck with his idea, but instead he bent to what our culture deems normal....putting the Frosty up on the roof..God forbid we do anything else by our own free will. Too Bad.