The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
Despite the fact that I have at least 20 books that will be overlapped into 2010 reviews, it just doesn’t make sense to review a Christmas book in January, so I wanted to squeeze one last 2009 review in. I read The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck for my book club. I liked it, I didn’t like it.
Twelve year-old Eddie only wants a bike for Christmas. He makes sure that his widowed mother knows it whenever she’s in earshot. He’s been working hard all year and knows that he deserves this bike. But his mother breaks his heart when instead of his shiny new read bike on Christmas morning, he receives an ugly, hand-knitted sweater. He is devastated and hurts his mom deeply when he crumples the sweater and throws it in the corner.
That day when returning from a Christmas dinner at his grandparents house and not yet reconciling, his mother falls asleep at the wheel. While he is unhurt, she dies. Now living with his grandparents and mad at the world, he further distances himself from the grandfather that he always adored. His journey through grief, healing, forgiveness, faith and redemption is just beginning and it will take a literal and figurative storm to bring him back from his wayward path.
What I liked: the overall idea of the story. I liked what Beck was trying to do. I like Christmas stories. I liked the message. It was heartwarming. I liked the characters. I LOVED the grandfather.
What I didn’t like: That is was SO obvious that you knew what he was trying to do. It’s like he is trying WAY too hard to tug at your heart strings. Just when he can’t plunge the knife into your heart any deeper, he twists it. I liked it until the storm came and then it was no longer a story but rather a hit-you-over-the-head with this message disguised as a story. And I even LIKED the message!! There was nothing wrong with the philosophy. I knew that this would be a message book going into it. But I just felt that less subtle would have been better. And the ending! I did not like the ending at all. *SPOILER ALERT* The whole thing is a dream! He wakes up and his mom is alive!! He’s given a second chance at making the right choices and being happy with his sweater, instead of mad. It was a real cope out ending. Surely, there could have been a better way to end it.
So, I would recommend this one based solely on who you are (well . . . isn’t that the case with all books – but I know some of you would like it, others I wouldn’t recommend it at all) . Some will love it, others might hate it. With the exception of another book clubber, everybody really liked it. So it might be worth trying to see where you fall. And while I liked much of it, personally, I felt that it was a book that was trying too hard and it showed.
The Christmas Sweater book trailer:
Links of interest: Glenn Beck website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, Holiday
Publisher: Threshold Editions. November 11, 2008
Hardcover, 284 pages. ISBN 141659485X
The Christmas Sweater is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
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Category: Adult, Book Reviews, Fiction
Tags: A-D Author, A-D Title, book club, Christmas, Fiction, holidays, IRL book club selection, LDS author, male author, published 2008
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I always feel a tad bit slimy when I read something that is obviously trying to manipulate me! This is how I feel when I read Nicholas Sparks.
on December 31st, 2009 at 8:23 amIf my book club wanted to read this…I would have quit the book club at that moment! I would never give that man a cent of my money or a count of withdrawals from a library!
on December 31st, 2009 at 8:34 amBooks like this are obvious, but for some odd reason, I enjoy books like that around Christmas.
on December 31st, 2009 at 11:07 amThank you for saving me from having to read the book. I was curious about it but hate tear jerker stories. Now that I know the “spoiler” I don’t have to read it. That’s a good thing by the way. You didn’t burst any bubbles.
on December 31st, 2009 at 11:22 amI must admit that I abandoned this book. It just couldnt get my attention. I read your spoiler and am glad that I didnt read it all. I would have been mad!
on December 31st, 2009 at 12:25 pmThis is actually pretty funny to me. My book club read this for our Christmas get together and 90% of the group felt exactly the way you do. Almost all of us were on the fence and mostly felt our lives would have been just fine had we not read it. I always have a hard time reading books by “celebrities”, you just never know how sincere they really are being. And with Glen Beck…well, the only reason I have to believe he’s an okay guy is that someone in my book club is his neighbor when they are living in Salt Lake and said he’s a pretty genuine guy. Who knows?
on January 1st, 2010 at 4:51 pm