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The Sea at Christmas

Howard Jacobson reflects on why Christmas has always drawn him to the water's edge.

Howard Jacobson ponders why he's always associated Christmas with the sea.

Strange, he reckons, given he's not exactly maritime by temperament.

'Long ago at Blackpool,' he writes, 'I was lifted onto a donkey and afterwards told to make a sandcastle, but I fell off the donkey and wilder boys in Brillo-pad swimming trunks trampled over my battlements'.

He looks to Matthew Arnold for an explanation of this 'mysterious nexus of sea and Santa'.

Producer: Adele Armstrong

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9 minutes

Last on

Boxing Day 2021 21:48
91热爆 Radio 4

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  • Christmas Eve 2021 20:50
    91热爆 Radio 4
  • Boxing Day 2021 08:48
    91热爆 Radio 4
  • Boxing Day 2021 21:48
    91热爆 Radio 4

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