The Christmas Banquet

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Christmas Banquet by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a tantalising read. This book will keep you hooked till the very end. Every year the ten most miserable people in town are invited to a Christmas banquet. Their misery is shared alongside the holiday feast, and every year, an increasingly wretched Gervayse Hastings makes his appearance. Over time, all the other guests seem to have grown in character and risen above their sad condition, except of course, Mr. Hastings. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often centre on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce.

Genres: Christmas, Short Stories, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1846

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, XIV (January, 1844), “The Christmas Banquet” shares its subtitle—”from the unpublished “Allegories of the Heart”—with “Egotism; or the Bosom-Serpent,” another Hawthorne story of the period. In it the protagonist Roderick Elliston, long alienated from his wife Rosina, harbors an actual snake that lives within his heart. “The Christmas Banquet” is an allegory composed by Elliston and read aloud to his wife Rosina (and an old friend) after their reunion. The allegory presents the plight of the most unfortunate of men—more unfortunate even than the man with a bosom-serpent—the man who has no human connection to his own life, the man who can feel nothing at all.

The Christmas Banquet mentioned in the title is an annual feast, funded by an old misanthrope, in which the ten most miserable people who can be found are gathered together for the holiday. Year after year, the most unfortunate ones gather—a suffer from constant depression, a victim of heart disease, a hypochondriac, a woman whose children has died when she was far from home, etc.—to vie for the banquet prize: a wreath for the most miserable one of all. Each year the guests chosen are different, but Gervaise Hastings, a man unafflicted by any obvious misfortune, is included year after year.

At his final banquet, Gervaise Hastings, now a very old man, tells his fellow sufferers at the banquet why he is indeed the most unfortunate:

It is a chillness, a want of earnestness, a feeling as if what should be my heart were a thing of vapor, a haunting perception of unreality! Thus seeming to possess all that other men have, all that men aim at, I have really possessed nothing, neither joy nor griefs. All things, all persons,—as was truly said to me at this table long and long ago,—have been like shadows flickering on the wall. It was so with my wife and children, with those who seemed my friends: it is so with yourselves, whom I see now before one. Neither have I myself any real existence, but am a shadow like the rest.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good creeper to read around the winter holidays.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining relationship listening 👀😮

This kindle ebook novella is free from Amazon

An interesting story about a Christmas dinner hosted by a skeleton for a group of people with health issues.

I would recommend this novella and author to readers looking for something different but very interesting in a novel. 👒🙄 2025 🌜😯

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

assigned for horror lit course.

[Anna Wilkins]

An interesting premise. Reminds me of the lyric “There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago”

[Abe Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The wine, as it flowed freely from the sepulchral urn, seemed to come imbued with all gloomy inspirations; so that its influence was not to cheer, but either to sink the revellers into a deeper melancholy, or elevate their spirits to an enthusiasm of wretchedness.”

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's depressing, a little creepy, but also very intriguing and makes the reader want to discover the secret of the young man. It's also interesting to see the way that misery, and miserable people are examined and even, at times, laughed at (but not maliciously, it's kind of weird). There's real empathy with human misery, but sometimes some characters also feel like Eeyore. It's pretty great. The ending is okay, it's fairly easy to guess from a modern, or genre savvy, perspective but it's still satisfying enough. The creepy vibes, themes, and social commentary are the best parts. A nice, quick read.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not Hawthorne’s best, a nice little tale for Christmas.

[Marzia · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Il banchetto di Natale" N. Hawthorne: 2
Secondo l'autore la disgrazia peggiore è quella di non provare sentimenti. A mio modestissimo parere basato unicamente sul mio vissuto l'autore, quando ha scritto questo racconto, non sapeva assolutamente di cosa parlava. Buon per lui.
Inghilterra 1850 circa
Un ricco eccentrico stronzo lascia disposizione che con la sua eredità venga organizzato ogni anno un banchetto di Natale al quale viene invitata solo la top ten dei più sfigati dell'anno con il solo scopo di rimarcare ancora di più la mestizia della loro vita consueta in contrapposizione con lo sfarzo del convito. Ogni anno, per almeno una cinquantina di anni e fino alla sua morte, l'unica costante è un certo Gervayse Hastings. All'apparenza è un uomo fortunato, ha un buon capitale, una bella moglie e figli sani, infatti la sua presenza fa sempre incazzare gli altri convitati. Il suo posto è sempre assicurato a causa della sua totale mancanza di sentimenti e alla distanza emotiva alla quale tiene le persone. Dopo aver rivelato ciò, all'alba dei suoi ottanta anni suonati, sciopa al banchetto dopo aver ricevuto la ghirlanda del vincitore.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The purpose of the titular banquet is not to impart some Christmas cheer on these miserable people, but to give the misery its own space to unfold. That story was right up my alley. I had so much fun with this and there are several thoughtful insights into human misery.

The young man's conversation was of a colder and lighter kind, but lacking the powerful characteristics of a nature that had been developed by suffering.

There was a modern philanthropist, who had become so deeply sensible of the calamities of thousands and millions of his fellow-creatures, and of the impracticableness of any general measures for their relief, that he had no heart to do what little good lay immediately within his power.

[patry 🇵🇸🇨🇩🇸&#x1f · Rating 5 out of 5]

I MUST ATTEND IMMEDIATELY.

“None have understood it, not even those who experience the like. It is a chillness, a want of earnestness, a feeling as if what should be my heart were a thing of vapor, a haunting perception of unreality! Thus seeming to possess all that other men have, all that men aim at, I have really possessed nothing, neither joy nor griefs. All things, all persons,—as was truly said to me at this table long and long ago,—have been like shadows flickering on the wall. It was so with my wife and children, with those who seemed my friends: it is so with yourselves, whom I see now before one. Neither have I myself any real existence, but am a shadow like the rest.”

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars for the sheer beauty of the sentences. NH is a craftsman of words.
But the meandering and a gloomy ending caused me to lower the stars.

If I was an editor for this, I would tighten up the intro and then add an example of light and hope at the end.

[Scott Wild · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I didn't read this at Christmas this past year...woof.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hawthorne Hawks #8
Another well written, with great descriptive passages from Hawthorne, not my favourite story, but you can tell he is a great story teller.
The challenge has hit #8!

[Peg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, that was just weird.