Tom’s Christmas Fish

My Czech father would tell me of his best Christmas, which featured (like this book) bread, fish, ice skates and a violin. From the delightful greys and ochres of the Prague streets and bridges, to its folk tale feel, this book had many resonances for me.

When buying the biggest carp for Christmas dinner, Tom becomes attached to the creature and saves it from the fisherman’s knife. There follows a Christmas of pleasure mixed with anxiety as the fate of the fish becomes in question.

Finally, the sensitive Tom decides to return his beloved fish to the river, an act of selflessness that is rewarded by the Carp’s ecstatic swim of freedom.

There is a sense of loss and longing underpinning this story of a grandfather who has recently lost his wife and a caring boy who shares life with him. There is also the sense that the boy must do what is right, hard as it is, and let the carp go. Is it an allegory for death and letting go, I wonder? There is also the realization that to love something you must put them first and though this is quite a leap for readers to grasp, I think they will make it. This is a thought provoking story which will yield much discussion. A tale bathed in history and tradition that is as timeless as Prague itself.