5 Christmas scenes from Russian literature (PICS)
In these books, the holiday takes center stage or is described incredibly vividly and atmospherically. We strongly recommend adding these books to your winter reading list!
These days, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7 (according to the Julian calendar – you can read more about this here). But, before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, as with the entire Christian world, this date fell on December 25.
Christmas has always been considered a special night, full of miracles. Therefore, we can find many vivid descriptions of Christmas trees or parable-like stories about this night in the works of many Russian classic writers.
1. Nikolai Gogol. ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (1830)
In Gogol's works, evil forces often become something mundane, participating in life on equal terms. On one Christmas Eve, the devil decides to steal the moon and a pitch-black night and real commotion ensue in the village of Dikanka. The devil himself visits a local woman (who is also a witch) and casually drinks with her, as if nothing is amiss.
The only one who can stand up to the unclean force is a young blacksmith named Vakula. He saddles the devil and orders him to fly to St. Petersburg to the empress herself. Vakula asks the empress to give him her shoes as a gift for his capricious bride. And a Christmas miracle happens, as the empress agrees…
2. Leo Tolstoy. ‘War and Peace’ (1860s)
Christmas has always traditionally been a family celebration. And after that came Christmastide; for several days, people in masquerade costumes would go from house to house in frantic merriment. These days are described by Tolstoy in his epic novel’s second, most “peaceful” volume, where the Rostov family is at the center of the narrative.
In masquerade costumes, they get into sleighs and ride through the frost in the snowy winter to visit: “Hussars, ladies, witches, clowns, bears, coughing and wiping their frost-covered faces in the hallway, entered the ballroom, where candles were hurriedly being lit.” And then, Natasha Rostova tries to divine her future husband and, in the reflection of a mirror by the dim light of a candle, sees her Prince Andrei…
3. Fyodor Dostoevsky. ‘The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree’ (1876)
In this short story, very much in Dostoevsky's style, a grim winter St. Petersburg is described, where a destitute little boy and his mother are dying of hunger and cold right at Christmas. But, despite the blood-chilling beginning, the holiday spirit permeates this narrative, too: before dying, the boy imagines that Jesus himself invites him to a Christmas tree.
The writer vividly depicts a place where it’s warm and cozy, with many gifts and cheerful children, where the little boy meets his mother and feels truly happy.
4. Mikhail Zoshchenko. ‘The Last Christmas’ (1923)
Zoshchenko describes Christmas 1916, the last one in Tsarist Russia. World War I is raging and people traveling to their relatives for the holiday get stranded all night at a tiny wayside station. Together, they remember how good it is to celebrate the holiday with family, what dishes await them at home and they recall Christmas traditions.
5. Boris Pasternak. ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1945-1955)
The novel about the Revolution and the Civil War in Russia begins with a warm pre-revolutionary scene of Christmas celebrating. A Christmas tree, elegantly dressed guests, tangerines… At this party, Yuri Zhivago, the still carefree and young main character, first sees his future love, Lara.
