Question About Christmas Tales

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Crystal Black

New Member
Jan 4, 2018
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Just got done reading The Breathing Method and something is bugging me. I thought the first “Christmas tale” David heard was by Andrews, about the thing that couldn’t be killed, as that was the year he first started visiting “the club”. But then a bit further on, he refers to Tozeman’s war story as the first “Christmas tale” he heard at 249. What am I missing here?

Also, am I just an idiot for not getting why the years end with dashes? What is that about?
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Just got done reading The Breathing Method and something is bugging me. I thought the first “Christmas tale” David heard was by Andrews, about the thing that couldn’t be killed, as that was the year he first started visiting “the club”. But then a bit further on, he refers to Tozeman’s war story as the first “Christmas tale” he heard at 249. What am I missing here?

Also, am I just an idiot for not getting why the years end with dashes? What is that about?
....first, welcome!!....second, I haven’t read the story in a long time so can’t honestly recall about the “tale”...could just be one of those things that fell under the radar...the dates like that?....it’s been used by other writers and King to purposely be ambiguous about specific dates....
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
The dashes are a way of hearkening back to the roots of this type of tale, with writers like Dickens. It was very common in Victorian, Georgian, Regency-era stories to leave out numbers in years, and even to 'dash out' the name of a particular shire: "The soldier was from was from __shire, I believe, Lord Herbert." :)
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
The dashes are a way of hearkening back to the roots of this type of tale, with writers like Dickens. It was very common in Victorian, Georgian, Regency-era stories to leave out numbers in years, and even to 'dash out' the name of a particular shire: "The soldier was from was from __shire, I believe, Lord Herbert." :)
...and that makes more sense than my mumblings.....