'Tis the season at SteynOnline: if you ignored all that stuff about "last posting dates", both our SteynOnline gift certificates and our Mark Steyn Club Gift Memberships can be digitally delivered in time for Christmas morning - and, if you really want to treat your beloved this Yuletide, there's always a stateroom on the Mark Steyn Iberian Cruise.
~Welcome to the conclusion of our Christmas Tale for Our Time - my own short story Plum Duff, prompted partly by the grim headlines from around Europe of a season under siege - and partly by two young women I spoke to a while back, from opposite ends of Germany, who told me they'd decided not to sing with their caroling groups at Christmas markets anymore because, as one put it, "Christmas is now a target".
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read the end of Plum Duff simply by clicking here and logging-in. Part One can be found here.
Thank you for your kind words about this Yuletide diversion. From Israel Pickholtz in Israel:
That was quite something!
I'll take that as a compliment - although it sounds a bit like the sort of thing you say after a chum's opened in a turkey but you have to go backstage and come up with something positive: Look at you!!! What have you done!!! Etc.
Less ambiguity from Margaret Hughes in Wales:
Hard to find the right words. Will 'Masterpiece' do?
Well done Mark.
And one more, from Diana Blackwell in California:
What a brilliant story! The way you have deftly interwoven the pudding recipe with news reports, the characters' memories, declining Christianity, and the whole absurd tapestry of castrated PC modernity, is poignant and very real. In recent weeks I have felt a little like the main character, struggling to preserve beloved Christmas traditions while all the currents of the culture threaten to sweep them away. Can't wait for Part Two.
For those who feel the same way, here it is.
I'll be back tomorrow with more seasonal programming, including what has become an annual tradition at this shingle: my presentation of Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols. The scripture doesn't change much but the musical performances are brand new, and by a wide range of stellar friends from the Steyn Show musical family.
~If you've yet to hear any of our near-seventy other Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For details on membership, see here - and, if you're seeking a Christmas present for a fellow fan of serialised audio fiction, don't forget our Steyn Club Gift Membership.
On the other hand, if you'd like a book in old-fashioned book form, over at the Steyn store, there are bargains galore among our Steynamite Specials - although you may have to wait till after Boxing Day to have them in your hands.
