A Christmas Carol is the most famous, heart-warming and chilling festive story of them all.
Book blurb
In these pages we meet Ebenezer Scrooge, whose name is synonymous with greed and parsimony:
'Every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart'.
Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol
This attitude is soon challenged when the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley, returns from the grave to haunt him on Christmas Eve.
Scrooge is then visited in turn by three spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, each one revealing the error of his ways and gradually melting the frozen heart of this old miser, leading him towards his redemption.
On the journey we take with Scrooge we encounter a rich array of Dickensian characters including the poor Cratchit family with the ailing Tiny Tim and the generous and jolly Fezziwig. When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843 he fashioned an enduring gift to the world, capturing the essence of the love, kindness and generosity of the Christmas season.
It is a timeless classic and the story's uplifting magic remains as potent today as when it was first published.
A Christmas Carol via BBC Sounds: Released On: 09 Dec 2022: Available for over a year
I 'Re-read' or rather listened to the above on 12 November 2023.
Charles Dickens' classic ghostly tale has been a perennial Christmas favourite adapted many times for stage, screen and radio. The story of a Scrooge, the Christmas-hating miser visited by three spirits is in turn emotional, heart-warming and chilling. Here's a chance to hear a version first broadcast on Christmas Day 1965, starring theatrical titan Ralph Richardson.
Scrooge/Storyteller: Ralph Richardson | Bob Cratchit: Frederick Treves Mrs Cratchit: Mary Wimbush | Jacob Marley: John Ruddock | The Ghost of Christmas Past: Wilfred Carter | The Ghost of Christmas Present: Ralph Truman | Fred: Bruce Beeby | Tiny Tim: Shelia Grant | With Eric Anderson, Jo Manning Wilson and Rosalind Shanks | Music composed and conducted by Christopher Whelan Adapted | Produced by Charles Lefeaux
I have, as in the photo above, the Penguin Clothbound classic published 25 Nov. 2010 - A Christmas Carol and other Christmas writings. This version comes in at 336 pages with A Christmas Carol at 91 pages. (ISBN: 9780141195858).
My thoughts
This story is a favourite and I enjoy reading, listening or watching the various versions around this time of year.
A ghost story where Scrooge is visited by four spirits: his now dead business partner Jacob Marley, The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas yet to come (future).
Jacob has come back to warn Scrooge to mend his ways to stop being miserly and realise he is very fortunate and should not only enjoy life but payback, or perhaps forward, his wealth to those less fortunate.
Each of the ghosts takes Scrooge on a journey - to his youth, to his employee's home where he sees tiny Tim and finally to the future where he has died. This all happens in one night. The visits have the desired effect. Miraculously Scrooge has not missed any time and wakes up on Christmas Day morning ready to right his previous bad actions.
This is a heartwarming story of being given a second chance to live a life of goodwill towards your fellow humans and that being a good person, employer and charitable man brings a joy all of it's own.
Still relevant today from Scrooge's perspective that those who are wealthy should be mindful of their choices, be considerate of their employees ensuring a fair salary, that their wellbeing is valued and that those who are unable to work or who need support are not overlooked but helped. From the perspective of his nephew, Fred, that family is important; of Bob Crachitt that he is not only given a fair wage but also good working conditions; of Tiny Tim/the two men who asked Scrooge for donations to support the poor that consideration of wider social welfare of access to education, clean water, sanitation, health services and decent housing be provided.
In these times when we see that there is still a need for these things it is important that we remember not to take for granted what we have by way of the NHS, state education, welfare etc and ensure that it isn't lost.
#NovNov23
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A Christmas Carol is my first post but I've also finished reading: The Forester's Daughter by Claire Keegan | How to Read a Book by Virginia Woolf and will share my thoughts on them as soon as I can. I'm reading The Hermit by Louise Walters and hope to read more if I can fit them in around other commitments.
Information
Published: Penguin Clothbound classic published 25 Nov. 2010
Buy: Your local bookshop | Hive | AmazonSmileUK | Your local library
Author: Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist.
In 1833 he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of Pickwick Papers. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. Thereafter, Dickens published his major novels over the course of the next twenty years from Nicholas Nickleby to Little Dorrit. He also edited the journals Household Words and All the Year Round.
Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The Dickens Museum
Books
The Pickwick Papers | Oliver Twist | Nicholas Nickleby | The Old Curiosity Shop | Barnaby Rudge | Martin Chuzzlewit | Dombey and son | David Copperfield | Bleak House | Hard Times | Little Dorrit |A Tale of Two Cities | Great Expectations | Our Mutual Friend | The Mystery of Edwin Drood
A Christmas Carol because of its length, is classified as a novella.
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