Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, beautiful and timeless graphic novel, paints a very British image of Santa Claus as an elderly curmudgeon
Graphic novel's evocative images portray Santa Claus as an old man who grumbles about the business of Christmas
It's a very British image of Father Christmas far removed from the American image of him as a superhero of jollity
by Raymond Briggs, pub. Hamish Hamilton
If you feel a pang of guilt for being tired of Christmas before it's even happened, worry not - you're in good company. Father Christmas finds it all a bit of a drag too.
At least he does in Raymond Briggs' charming 1973 graphic novel Father Christmas, where Santa Claus is portrayed as an old curmudgeon who grumbles about his job in the matter-of-fact way of an ordinary elderly gentleman.
In one of his beautiful and timeless works, the British illustrator - probably best known for his book The Snowman - puts into warmly evocative images a very British view of Santa. Far from the mass-market Americanised representation of Saint Nick, which envisions Father Christmas as a near-superhero of boundless jollity, Briggs' character is down to earth and human.
Instead of living in a hidden retreat in Lapland, the North Pole or whichever snowy location the hero of Christmas is believed to be found, Briggs' character resides in a regular, apparently suburban, home with his cat and dog - simply named Cat and Dog - and two reindeer. He has a few friends with suitably old-fashioned names, such as Fred, and he likes a drink; the regulation glass of sherry left by children on his annual rounds is the highlight of his job on Christmas Eve.