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The Melodeon

por Glendon Fred Swarthout

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A youngster relates how his grandparents donated a valuable family heirloom, their melodeon, to the church in an unselfish act of giving one Christmas during the Depression when they had nothing to give each other.
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I used half a box of Kleenex reading this Christmas story, written by the amazing Glendon Swarthout, an obviously versatile writer, who can put an unexpected twist on a story and wrench your heart.

A coming-of-age story, we meet James Chubb, a boy of fourteen, who is living on his grandparents’ farm during the depression because his father is unable to find work and feeding a family has become all but impossible. The story is told by a much older James, looking back on his boyhood and the events of one Christmas that changed his life.

I was convinced until Christmas that grandparents were gray and kind and frail and full of legend and soon to die, and that was all.

Do we, as children, not usually view our parents and grandparents in this way, unable to see the young men and women they used to be and taking for granted the wisdom that seems natural but that is hard earned?

To grow up is sometimes just to realize the depths of someone else’s losses and know they can rival your own.

I had not realized that loss could be so long lived. I had not known that tears, like flowers pressed between the pages of a book, could be indefinitely preserved.

Swarthout brings this world to life with description and detail that make it real. There is a description of a soapstone and its use in warming a bed that made me feel the cold of the sheets and the warmth of the stone. There are details regarding a 1928 Rumely Oil Pull Model W Tractor that are as good as a video playing in your mind. I’m lucky enough to have seen the real thing at the Farmer’s museum in Burgess, VA, but if I had never seen one, I’d still have an accurate picture of the machine in my mind from reading this.

As well as the physical detail, Swarthout captures the time and the people of a rural small town beautifully. I was put in mind of Wendell Berry, and as anyone who knows me well could attest, I consider that high praise.

Charity then, unlike that of the present, was for the most part individual and spontaneous rather than impersonal and systematic. It had nothing to do with taxes. It was an act of addition rather than deduction.

I cannot tell you anything really about the story without chancing spoiling it, and that I would never do. To anyone who reads it with a heart that leans toward Christmas sentiment, be prepared to laugh, to cry and to marvel.

****************
Postscript: Thanks to a GR friend, Wyndy, I thought I would share that [b:The Melodeon|3011433|The Melodeon|Glendon Swarthout|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402004019l/3011433._SX50_.jpg|3041965] was reissued under the title [b:A Christmas Gift|2129551|A Christmas Gift|Glendon Swarthout|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266567689l/2129551._SY75_.jpg|2042115] and is available on Kindle for $3.99.

It needs a Librarian to link the two differently named editions. I am not able to do that, but wanted others to know in case they were looking for the book. ( )
  mattorsara | Aug 11, 2022 |
Lovely Christmas story. Thanks to Connie Willis for bringing it to my attention. A real feel good story without being sappy. ( )
  njcur | Dec 26, 2019 |
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Nome do autorPapelTipo de autorObra?Estado
Glendon Fred Swarthoutautor principaltodas as ediçõescalculado
Turkle, BrintonIlustradorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
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A youngster relates how his grandparents donated a valuable family heirloom, their melodeon, to the church in an unselfish act of giving one Christmas during the Depression when they had nothing to give each other.

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