Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881

St Andrew's Church, Taunton

The Christmas Mystery

by Jostein Gaarder

Reviewed by Adrian Smith

“To Bethlehem!  To Bethlehem!”

A small toy lamb comes to life and runs away from the sound of cash registers in a large department store.

I know how it feels!

There are those who would try to sell us Christmas as just another product - glitzy, expensive, and festooned with designer labels - but ultimately, for those who buy into it,  proving to be disposable and unsatisfying.  Most Christians have come to know that the elusive ‘magic’ of Christmas cannot be found in a gift catalogue, but reveals itself only to those who will again follow the road to Bethlehem to welcome the Christ child. 

So travels young Elisabet Hansen, unwittingly at first as she runs down the escalator in hot pursuit of the lambkin, but with increasing excitement and wonder as she journeys back through time and across many lands to the birth of Christ.  On her pilgrimage she is befriended by a motley group of shepherds, wise men, angels, kings and an entire flock of sheep!  On the way she has many adventures, and learns much about the effect that Jesus has had upon the world in the centuries since his birth.

We discover this remarkable story through the eyes of a small boy called Joachim who lives in Norway.  Each morning he opens the door of a ‘magic’ advent calendar, given to him by a mysterious bookseller, and a tiny piece of paper falls out - another chapter of Elisabet’s great journey.  As Joachim does so, we too embark on another chapter of Jostein Gaarder’s seamlessly constructed book.  Thus, we are given the great gift of sharing the sense of anticipation that Joachim feels each day, and the almost unbearable excitement he experiences as Christmas draws near.

We are also kept guessing by a clever sub-plot:  Joachim discovers that there really was an Elisabet Hansen - a young girl who disappeared from Norway at Christmas in 1948.  What became of her?  And what of the mysterious John the flower seller who seems to know more than he is letting on?

The word ‘magic’ is a cliché when connected with Christmas, but as I re-read The Christmas Mystery for the fourth time this year I marvelled again at how effectively Jostein Gaarder has distilled it and captured its essence in this extraordinary book.  Many authors have tried to write books that will speak to both children and adults, but Gaarder is one of the few who has succeeded.  So when you have shopped till you’ve dropped this Christmas I strongly recommend that you pick up this book and allow yourself to be transported with Elisabet and Joachim far from the bleeping of cash registers,  to the awed and astonished silence of a stable in Bethlehem.

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