The Fat Man a tale of the North Pole Noir is a interesting little tale that twists many of the stories, songs and tall tales we have grown to know about Christmas into its own original spin. Written by Ken Harmon, it features not only Santa himself but enters you into a world of his elves and their surroundings. It also adds a bit of mystery into creativity into what could have been quite a tired tale. It has been officially summarized:
"Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three inch 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He's one of Santa's original elves, inspired by the fat man's vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it's the conspiracy against Christmas that he's starting to sense down every chimney. Either way, North Pole disillusionment is nothing new: Some elves brood with a bottle of nog, trying to forget their own wish list. Some get better. Some get bitter. Gumdrop Coal wants revenge. Justice is the only thing he knows, and so he decides to give a serious wakeup call to parents who can't keep their vile offspring from landing on the Naughty List. But when one parent winds up dead, his eye shot out with a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model BB gun, Gumdrop Coal must learn who framed him and why. Along the way he'll escape the life-sucking plants of the Mistletoe Forrest, battle the infamous Tannenbomb Giant, and survive a close encounter with twelve very angry drummers and their violent friends. The horrible truth lurking behind the gingerbread doors of Kringle Town could spell the end of Christmas-and of the fat man himself. Holly Jolly!"
Personally there were a lot of things that I found to be quite interesting about this book and of course somethings could have been better explained.
Good
1) I really liked the idea of the main character in this story, Gumdrop Coal. He was in no way perfect. His flaws showed too, especially since the author decided to show Gumdrop's inner turmoil with not only what was going on but with fighting with the beliefs that he was taught from young and the things that he learnt though his own experiences.
2) The way the author choose to incorporate different elements of Christmas. I'm not to give too much away but I will just say he had a very realistic point of view of the magic of it all.
3) I really liked the originality of the story itself. Mysteries are my weaknesses but one of the best parts of this was how the main mystery was used to not only tell Gumdrop's story but also to build on the people around him.
4) Looking at something as black and white is too simple. There was a little child who appeared in this story for a moment who stuck with me.
5) I really liked how the author also incorporated the Who's from Whoville. it that chapter it turned just like a Dr. Seuss book and everything rhymed. That was really fun to read.
6) The descriptions in the book was very detailed which added too its story in so many ways. You could visualize being there without the illustrations that where included in the book.
Bad
1) I didn't really like Santa in this. I felt like his character left more to be desired. Some of the best portrayal of St. Nick to me occurs when you add a little mystery as too who he is. Part of the Magic of Santa lays in the fact that he is not unaware of how cruel the world is but accepts this and tries to change it for the better. He makes the good of the world stronger by spreading love. This Santa turned a blind eye to the bad. In fact he choose to give out toys to even the bad kids and when things went wrong he started to cry and .....Yeah this is not the version of Santa that I would want to remember.
2) The Treatment of the Misfit toys. From the moment they he went to the island where all the toys that weren't properly built went I had a problem. I totally understood and sympathized with them. The idea that they were cast aside and weren't considered to be good enough because they were different bothered me. I didn't like that idea at all. In fact throughout the story carried the theme that the town where Santa lived was the ideal place to be. Everywhere else was described with disdained.
3) One of my favorite parts of the story was also one of the most poorly explained. This contains a big spoiler. When Gumdrop was on the roof and realized that the way he was going about everything was part of the problem a little child appeared to show him the error of his ways. Again I really liked this part but it was so poorly explained, who was that kid? There are other parts with characters who I wished were better explained, which would have made me like them more. Especially for characters who held strong ties with the main plot of the story, for eg, Rosebud Jubilee and Zsa Zsa and Tiny Tim.
4) The Ending. The ending itself wasn't so bad but the way that everything was wrapped up in the end left much to be desired. It felt like quite a jumble and it wasn't done very smoothly. I did understand what they were trying to do but I think it wasn't properly executed and that took away from what could have been a more heartfelt message.
5) There were other things that bothered me and seemed to conflict the idea of story yet again. It wasn't things that I could let slide either.
Favorite Scene
The trip to Whovile.
Favorite Excerpts.....
"You don't pout, you don't cry. don't give up, give out until you're empty. That way you can be filled up when something good as Santa Claus comes to town."
"Because you get more done with mercy," the kid said, "See Gumdrop, when all you see is the bad, it is only natural to want to set things right, to make something just. But if you do that, what use then is the Child? We need the Child because none of us are worthy, none of us are really Nice, so there is his mercy. To need His mercy-and to get it-is the greatest gift we've ever been given. His mercy, His love is what makes things right, not justice. Love." (P.S. the child he is talking about is not Santa)
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