Can Reindeer Fly? by Roger Highfield, Metro, 拢12.99, ISBN 1900512440
MOST magazines, 快猫短视频 included, produce special articles for their Christmas issues. They have articles on, for instance, contenders for the real star in the east, or the hunt for the real Good King Wenceslaus.
In Can Reindeer Fly? Roger Highfield sweeps all this tinkering magnificently aside and tackles the lot: everything about Christmas, from the smell of the pudding to the obviously diabetic Santa Claus, from the obligatory fall of snow to the equally obligatory post-Christmas blues.
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But because the book鈥檚 subtitle is 鈥淭he Science of Christmas鈥�, you know what you are in for. The index starts with 鈥渁bscission zone鈥� and ends with 鈥淶wier, Timothy鈥� (a researcher working on the bonds between water molecules). And this is about Christmas? It seems a fair distance from mangers, Wise Men, turkeys and Ebenezer Scrooge.
In fact, it isn鈥檛. Every one of the familiar ingredients of the festival is scrutinised and investigated-Highfield even puts in a good word for the much-reviled Brussels sprouts. It has plainly been a painstaking but enjoyable task for the writer and the reader can share the pleasure. What could have been a humourless, rather pointless dissection of Christmas legends, customs and myths turns out to be a marvellous story, not only of the achievements of scientific techniques but also of humanity鈥檚 imagination. There is a splendid account of theories about the Virgin Birth and a hilarious section explaining what system Santa Claus might use to whisk round the world and visit nearly 850 million households in one night. Highfield has found an ideal formula for explanation that is never in danger of appearing worthy. You find yourself reading at a breakneck pace.
Is the book the perfect Christmas present? Pretty nearly. There is a risk that it won鈥檛 reach the intended recipient if you open it yourself. Anyone receiving the book should save it for reading on Boxing Day. After all, you don鈥檛 want to be accused of being antisocial on the big day, do you?