Renowned cartoonist Tom Gauld has once again captured a universal post-Christmas experience with his latest single-panel comic, published in The Guardian on Saturday 28 December 2024. The illustration, simply titled "27 December," offers a characteristically wry and observant commentary on the relationship between festive gift-giving and our personal reading ambitions.
The Quiet Humour of Post-Christmas Realities
Gauld's cartoon presents a scene familiar to many book lovers. The panel is divided into two distinct sections, visually narrating the journey of a Christmas book from hopeful gift to a item on a long-term mental list. On the left, under the heading "Book you were given for Christmas," we see an individual happily receiving a thoughtfully wrapped book from a relative. The recipient's smile suggests genuine appreciation for the gift in the moment of exchange.
The narrative then shifts to the right-hand side of the image, labelled "Book you will read," where the same book now resides. It is no longer in its festive wrapping, but sits patiently on a crowded shelf or in a pile, implicitly waiting its turn behind other volumes. The unspoken implication is clear: despite the best intentions, this new addition joins the ever-growing collection of books we mean to read but haven't quite started yet.
Gauld's Signature Style and Cultural Commentary
Tom Gauld is celebrated for his minimalist art style and his ability to distill complex human behaviours into deceptively simple cartoons. His work frequently appears in The Guardian's Review section and in publications like New Scientist, where he skewers literary and scientific cultures with equal affection. This particular cartoon continues his long-running exploration of bibliophile culture, readerly guilt, and the quiet comedy of modern life.
The genius of the "27 December" cartoon lies in its specificity and its universality. By pinpointing the date—the lull between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve—Gauld taps into a shared cultural moment. It is a time for reflection, for sorting through new possessions, and for making plans (or resolutions) for the year ahead. The book in the cartoon becomes a symbol of those aspirations, as well as the gentle gap between intention and action that defines so much of our relationship with literature.
Why This Resonates With Readers
This single-panel cartoon resonates because it reflects a truth many acknowledge but seldom voice so elegantly. The act of giving a book is laden with meaning—it represents a sharing of taste, an investment in someone's intellectual journey, or a hope to bring them joy. Receiving it, in turn, comes with a silent, self-imposed obligation to appreciate not just the object, but the content within.
Gauld highlights the benign fate of many such gifts: they are welcomed, they are valued, but they are also deferred. The cartoon is not cynical; it is empathetic. It suggests that the value of the gift isn't diminished by not being read immediately. Instead, it becomes part of the landscape of our reading lives, a potential source of future pleasure. The humour is warm, recognising ourselves in the predicament without judgement.
In an age of digital saturation, Tom Gauld's work remains a testament to the power of the printed cartoon and the enduring relevance of observational humour rooted in the physical world of books. His "27 December" offering is a small, perfect postscript to the Christmas season, a visual joke that book lovers across the UK will immediately understand and cherish. It serves as a gentle reminder of the quiet stories that unfold not just in books, but on our shelves and in our best-laid plans.
