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@Leaving_Marx@wyrmsign.org "if you are tchaikovsky pilled, read it. if no I got other books of his to recommend to you." lol

Don Walliams the self-proclaimed king of comedy was unsuccessful at getting me to laugh even once. I managed one smile at the idea of the major staying at home and yanking on his own Christmas cracker.

The story starts off well enough, a 1980s boy named Elvis wants nothing more than to see Santa, which apparently in England requires a very expensive ticket to stand in line at the department store. This santa ends up being his estranged father who isn't the busy rich businessnan mom said.

He goes back to the toy store on Christmas eve to see if it really was dad, and to buy mom a christmas present. He gets locked in the store and a group of thieves are trying to rob it like Home Alone 2. Three hours of bad Elvis Presley jokes later the real father Christmas saves the day, and several points that could have easily been wrapped up were not and specifically referenced to in case there was a sequel. The world would be better off without one.

The high full cast audio book is the only saving grace. I understand it's a middle grade reading level, but you can make good humor and good writing for 4th graders.

I liked this book, but it wasn't what I expected. The subtitles "three women that survived" was a bit of a misnomer for a number of reasons: One, it wasn't just about these three women, but about their whole family; Two, while each of the three sections was named after Grandma, Mom, and kid appropriately they all where from the same perspective and the same family; Three, the portions of the book that were most interesting where actually from the men's perspectives. It indicates that this is the story of the Mennonites that survived the Soviet holocaust against German farmers. However upon reading it I am convinced that calling the capture of the Mennonite property and the exploitation of their labor for the greater good, was no difference than that of others sacrificed for the Russian revolution.

It was different to read a book where the leftists, particularly the anarchists, where portrayed as the antagonists. Thesee simple mennonite farmers were welcomed by the Czarina to come to Ukraine to tame the Russian soil as she being of German heritage herself was aware of the Mennonite history of growing something out of nothing invited them with a promise to be free to worship and live as they please. Great until the Russian Revolution. Young menonites turned on their tradition to take up arms, particularly after the Nazis showed up.Women were regularly rapes by the red army. They came to Germany to sVe their lives, but eventually most of them died when the Russians took Berlin. They attempt to return to their simple ways but this was impossible in East Germany, they escaped to West Berlin and emmegraged to Paruaugy. Again these farmers take something for nothing but their youngest can't take her arranged marriage and bolts to town.

I had thought they were going to be turned on by the Nazis but as the entire European narrative was based on the evil communists that was disappointing. All in all fairy entertaining finished in just a week.