All Comments on 'Christmas Truce'

I very much appreciated your story. It truly toughed my heart! As an ex-soldier you hit parts of Bang-On! Your description of persons, events and situations was extremely well done. It is a great Christmas story. It is a great story!

It would make an excellent Christmas Movie ! !

Don Shaw

Loved it. Very sweet and a different setting.

Very creative and interesting story, reflective of the true spirit of the season. Well done!!

This story brought tears to my old tired eyes. In terms of writing, perfectly paced. In terms of plot, poignant beyond belief (Mary got her wedding and her painting). I had to go to wikipedia to look up Passchendale - between 500,000 and 800,000 casualties in a single battle (versus the entire Iraq war less than 150,000, or Gettysburg, almost 50,000 casualties). Maybe I'm reading too much into the story, but I see another level in the story - the Major preserves the village from the flood just as he preserved as many soldiers as he could from the battle, but with the flood, he didn't lose any of them. An island of good in a sea of bad.

This would make a hell of a movie. Cast Liam Neeson as the Major and Julianne Moore as Mary.

Wish you had posted in Romance.

This deserves a broad audience. Written with a sensitive touch. Well paced. Characters so real we can all recognize having encountered their types before. A wonderful example of the tenacity of love and goodness in the face of so much difficulty.

Thank you.

O., I want to congratulate you for your "Christmas Truce" posting. It is heartwarming as well as legible. I commend you for your writing skills as well as for your historical accuracy.

I enjoy the efforts of many of the authors on this site but their lack of historical knowledge sometimes makes me cringe even in a well written story. I apologize to those writers, that I can be rather pedantic about confirmed facts. I am willing to dispute unconfirmed facts. I don't give a shit about opinions such as politics or Academic English rules.

I now regret that the only other Oggbashan story I have read is "Godiva". As time permits, I will rectify that oversight and work my way through the rest of your postings. Undoubtedly to my delight and education.

Thank you for this wonderful Christmas posting, for making me feel good.

it was a pleasure to read and the detail and all was well done. I think you defiantly should be in the top choices to win

Great local and historical detail!

This was such a nice story. So many good elements came together. This one might be my favorite one so far.

what a beautiful story. lovely plot, and excellent proofreading, which is rare here. i loved it.

This story was just amazing. Definitely top 5 I have read on this site. I can't wait to check out some of your other postings :)

was a pleasure to read your story. It is worthy of a greater audience than here. This is a great venue but the story deserves to be read by more people. Thanks for the story.

Of your story-telling talent. A truly heart-warming story, and with a gravitas that so many lack. Having recently visited Tyne Cot cemetery, and been at the Menin Gate in Ieper (Ypres as was) for the Last Post ceremony, the background to the tale resonated with me.

Very well done.

Alex

PS: Yes, it should have been in Romance!

Congratulations on winning the 2013 Holiday Contest.

You've done a superb job creating a warm and moving story of a time none of us remember. Even if it's fiction, you've made it seem realistic.

Thanks for posting.

I haven't given anyone 5 stars in a long time but you have earned them. Thank you so much for the well put together story.

Indeed this story embodies all that is Christmas and the need for all of us to forgive the sins that our Lord does with his death! I applaud your telling of the story and your endeavor to remind those of us who read Literotica that a great story can win without...

Merry Christmas

It's very nice to read a story which is not set in the 'modern era' (defined for this case as the late C20). You managed to bring out the sort of views that I grew up with (mostly from ancient Aunts to my young ears). That and "the traditions of the Service" make this story ring the bells good & loud.

And it's a damned well-told tale.

Thank you for a thoroughly entertaining 3 pages.

73

HP

Lovely story and a deserved winner of the competition. I really enjoyed reading this Ogg; well done.

The Earl

Very good! Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanks for sharing.

It's a sweet story, but it was too linear for me. It started with discussion of the flood and revelation of the field supplies and dry stable. It ended with the use of supplies and stable. Foreshadowing was as subtle as a club to the reader's head.

The village whore has a heart of gold. The story would be more interesting if she was a little more jaded and cynical after being used by half the village. In fact, her twisted sentiments about traditional sex might have made marrying a eunuch the perfect solution for her. I imagine she might be put off vaginal intercourse once her avocation has been soiled as a vocation. Her mind was never explored.

The wounded hero officer who is generous beyond belief and seemingly copasetic about being unmanned. His leg bothers him more than the undoubted trials of mangled genitalia. There is a limit to stoicism I think. The one woman who is expert at pleasing a man could be his sensual salvation. All details of his theoretical mental and sensual healing are skipped.

I suppose I'm perverse, but I want to know how their fumbles in bed satisfy each other's needs. He is presumably unskilled after never marrying. What is the sexual union of a eunuch and a whore? It could have been very interesting to explore his education in the art of pleasing her, and her experiments in the likely futile art of pleasing him.

How does a woman expert at pleasing men cope with the impossibility of giving her husband relief from the sexual tension undoubtedly kindled in a newlywed?

Shame on you for just mailing it in this time. You should not have won the contest.

This is a perfect composition and as such can be criticized as being too perfect.

Very enjoyable piece and a fascinating handling of dialogue. Thanks!

scorned people are the hardest to be accepted back TK U MLJ LV NV

I am happy to see that everyone agreed and u was the top winner of this contest. That was a great story and look forward to reading more of your work or of this story should you decide to take it on and let it grow. I am apart of the editors program so feel free to ask for any help you need if i can assist you.

I think the character development/romance was rushed to the point of barely existing. The main character was kind and of noble character, but the plot seemed lacking in that everything went way too smoothly and was too predictable.

Fits with the true spirit of the holiday I think. And I like that you kept the behavior true to the place/time and didn't give in to modern sensibilities about what a courtship should look like and how a man who had been wounded in such a way would react (as another reader critiqued.). Men were made of tougher stuff then and women married in large part for financial security.

Good on ya!

I enjoyed reading your story.

A very worthy winner of the competion

The most old times romance story about true love

This type of love doesn't come by in our society today and I hope one day I be able to find a good man who will love me for better and for worse, without judgement but compassion . Well done more stories like this one please.

This story made me cry

One of the very best stories I have read. Very compassionate and passionate narration fit for the occasion.

There is not a lot of eroticism in this piece, but it is one of the best I've ever read on liteotica.com. Please continue to write...

Ooh, dahlink, that was lovely (sniff sniff!).

I have written a review of it here: http://feministerotica.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/winter-heart-warmer.html.

(Slightly influenced by Sayers' The Nine Tailors?)

:heart:

Damned good story, Ogg.

Probably the best on the site.

73

HP

A very good tale, well written and thought out.

"tis sad that people are so judgmental

but wonderful when people rise above

one nicely, gently written tale

Well done, very well done indeed

What a shame that the most verbose commenter was not erudite enough to enjoy a wonderful story.

You swept me back to stories I had heard from so many old diggers gained during my young years playing in a returned soldiers association brass band.

Five.

Only my third favourited story. Quite beautifully written, I could imagine every scene as if the Major had painted them himself.

Very, very fine romantic tale of Christmas spirit and humanity at it's noblest and best!

Please keep writng

OGGBASHAN!!!

Oggbashan rocks!

Evebroughtanaxthistime

Surprised to find this here. Nicely done!

a beautiful story, well-written, and professionally rounded off.

I really enjoyed this, and will read more of your work.

Thank you.

Just an excellent read, and wonderful story. Thank you for it. Five Stars!

An enjoyable read.

jtaylor

It is nice to read one of such love, yet realism... the tide turned the water left the village.... resentment continued...... but, yes, I said but.... Alexander was wealthy by village standards, jobs were available when needed, Mary became known for charitable work... yep, the tide turned. The women of the village came to understand the demand of their husbands supported Mary.... Now that she retired.....

Enjoyed the read immensely.

Definitely a timeless story. Enjoyed it well.

Very poignant when it comes to describing human nature. It even reminded me the activities that I watched during the great snowfall in Chicago back in 1967. When there are people in need, all the superficial attitudes are dropped and hands and elbows are plied to help any and all.

Thanks for the "thumbs up" for real people.

Had to look up a few words, but it's a good story on the fallacies of the humankind. Glad that the Major and Mary got together and had a happy life, in spite of the Chief of the Mothers' Union.

touching. good people doing the right thing regardless