HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

I Saw Three Ships (1969)

by Elizabeth Goudge

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2396111,241 (3.96)12
In spite of the fact that Polly's two aunts will not leave the door unlocked on Christmas Eve, their cottage is still visited by three wise men, one of whom has come home to stay after a long absence.
  1. 00
    The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (Voracious_Reader)
    Voracious_Reader: Both stories have the same warm, Christmas tone and purpose.
  2. 00
    The Fox at the Manger by P. L. Travers (bmlg)
    bmlg: old-fashioned English stories about children and humble gifts at Christmas, with an undercurrent of sadness
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 12 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
It is Christmas Eve in an English seaport town, and orphaned young Polly Flowerdew longs to leave one of the doors of her Aunt Constantia and Aunt Dorcas' house unlocked, in case the Wise Men decide to visit. Her maiden aunts are shocked - with no man in the house (only THE HAT), who will protect them? Although they love their vivacious young niece, and are in many ways indulgent of her, they do not totally understand her, or know what to make of her arguments. In the end, sly Polly has her way, and three men do indeed visit in the night. The strange gentleman, who turns out to be her long-lost Uncle Tom; Polly's friend, the cat-loving Frenchman, who had recently lost his wife and daughter in the Terror of the French Revolution; and the old beggar "Rags-and-Bones," come to make his final call - this unlikely trio of Wise Men do indeed bring gifts. And when dawn comes, and Christmas Day arrives, three ships arrive in the harbor, one of them bringing a lady and child...

A beautiful, beautiful book, by turns poignant and amusing, with quirky but lovable characters, and a strong undercurrent of deeper meaning, I Saw Three Ships is a Christmas masterpiece! The classic Christmas carol, which gives the book its name, runs like a stream throughout the story, with various verses utilized at key moments, to draw out the themes of the tale. There is a sense of enchantment here, but not in any fantastical sense. It is the ineffable enchantment of the sacred, evoking that feeling of standing at once in two worlds - the world of an early 19th-century English seaside town, and the world of Christmas miracles, in which the Wise Men might indeed visit, and three ships might indeed come sailing in, bringing great blessing and joy with them. That sense of duality, of simultaneously inhabiting the physical world (marvelously and humorously described) and the world of the spirit (beautifully and poignantly evoked), makes this a truly outstanding work - one of Elizabeth Goudge's best!

This is a wonderfully written and descriptive book, with passages that made me stop and reread, sometimes chuckling, sometimes sighing with happy sadness. Consider this description of the Frenchman:

"When he was not kneeling in the old church by the harbor, saying Popish Latin prayers at the top of his high cracked voice and telling his Popish beads to the scandal of all good Protestants going in and out to polish the brass or beat the dust out of the hassocks, he was striding up and down the steep streets of the little town followed by all the cats of the neighborhood, who adored him not only for the fish heads he kept wrapped in newspaper in his pockets for them but for some quality in himself which appealed to their sense of breeding."

What flavor there is here! How one gets a sense of the little seaside town, with its parochial wariness of this outsider, with his "Popish" (AKA Catholic) ways. What a sense one gets of the outsider himself, deranged by his loss, and yet somehow still noble. And the cats! The cats who follow him - surely a sign of his good qualities!

I have had the pleasure of reading I Saw Three Ships on more than one occasion, although this is the first time I have reviewed it. My first reading was of the original British edition, illustrated by Richard Kennedy, whose artwork I found appealing, but not particularly memorable. This reading however, was of the American edition, with the artwork of Margot Tomes, and the visuals made the reading experience something extraordinary. I loved the story on both readings, but I greatly preferred the artwork here, which exactly fit the story, to my thinking. This is a book I would highly recommend, to anyone looking for beautifully written and beautifully illustrated Christmas stories. ( )
  AbigailAdams26 | Dec 21, 2019 |
This novella-length middle-grade Christmas story takes the carol "I Saw Three Ships" as inspiration and follows the Christmas wishes and fates of several connected members of a seaside town. Pleasant, with charming illustrations. ( )
  lycomayflower | Nov 28, 2018 |
Just got to this quote, which made me laugh out loud:

"Don't talk nonsense, child," said Dorcas impatiently. "And there are no wise men. I have never met a man yet who was not foolish."

Finished! What a sweet, sweet story. With a little wackiness Hello, men just go into the sitting room, although I know they are family/known to the family...

This is worth reading to young relatives, and then re-reading often. And beautifully illustrated. ( )
  Critterbee | Apr 16, 2018 |
A shame the cover artist isn't named so I can't credit them.
  PollyMoore3 | Oct 6, 2017 |
Je l'ai traduit, si ça vous intéresse... ( )
1 vote clinchamps | May 27, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Elizabeth Goudgeprimary authorall editionscalculated
Kennedy, RichardIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tomes, MargotIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

In spite of the fact that Polly's two aunts will not leave the door unlocked on Christmas Eve, their cottage is still visited by three wise men, one of whom has come home to stay after a long absence.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Little orphan Polly Flowerdew lives with her two elderly maiden aunts, Dorcas and Constantia. Christmas is coming and she is bursting with excitement. She is absolutely sure that something special is going to happen this year. What will she find in her stocking? Will the Three Wise Men visit as she has always hoped? Who knows what may happen at this special time of year? She leaves her bedroom window open on Christmas Eve, just in case the Wise Men decide to come visit. When she wakes up on Christmas morning, more than one miracle seems to have taken place. In the event, this Christmas isn't like any she has ever known, especially when three ships sail into the harbour.
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.96)
0.5
1
1.5
2 1
2.5
3 4
3.5 1
4 12
4.5 1
5 5

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,657,426 books! | Top bar: Always visible