A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
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First published in December 1843, A Christmas Carol, is beloved by many from then to now. By Christmas Eve, that first year, it sold almost 5,000 copies!
In an 1852 edition of the book, Dickens wrote a preface saying: “My purpose was, in a whimsical kind of masque with the good humour of the season justified, to awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts, never out of season in a Christian land.”
“Loving and forbearing thoughts” does sum up what Christmas Carol is about. It was, on this first read of mine (!), one of the aspects I picked loved. The humor and warning disposition the texts take balances to create both drama and humor. All in all, there’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said before, but this is what stuck out to me.
This is a funny, touching, and timeless story and after reading it, I can see why it’s so beloved. The book had more of an emotional impact on me than I expected. There’s a scene where Scrooge is looking at his past love, Belle, and her now husband and child. Scrooge imagines himself in the husband’s place and it’s this soft moment I don’t think I’ve seen adapted into any movies.
I love a good ghost story and this also delivers on that front, as well. I thought the descriptions of the ghosts were fascinating. The ghost of Christmas past is this almost ageless creature and yet as the night goes on so does its appearance change to be older. It also splinters in appearance, like a broken mirror, to reflect Scrooge and the characters in its face, strange and delightful. The ghost of Christmas yet to come is as scary as I’ve seen and at the end, when condensed it doesn’t disappear so much as transform into Scrooge’s bedpost, forever remaining in view of him as a reminder.
Lastly, Scrooge doesn’t change because he fears his fate in the afterlife, as I sometimes felt when watching a few adaptations. It is apparent from reading he changes before that. It is the bittersweet moments with his sister, the jolly memories with his old boss, and the rebellious joy of the present that show Scrooge the way, he saw how his decisions impacted people and how, in life’s twisted paths, he had veered down one he didn’t want to wander anymore.
This had all the qualities I liked from David Copperfield without the page length 😂 So it was perfect in that sense as well.
There are a ton of movie and stage adaptations. Here is a review I wrote for Scrooge (1970)!
Further reading:
If you like Dickens writing, I read David Copperfield and this is 700 more pages of it!
My dad says The Gift of the Magi is also another must read.
Quotes:
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
‘Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused”
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”