Genre: Classic
Published: 1843
Pages: 88
First published in 1843, “A Christmas Carol” is arguably Dickens’s most popular and accessible work. An instant success ever since its original publication, it is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold, bitter, old miser who despises Christmas and everything about it. When the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him on Christmas Eve exactly seven years after his death, Scrooge is challenged to rethink his ways before it is too late. Over the course of the evening he is visited by three more spirits, the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. These visits help Scrooge to see the error in his ways transforming him by the end of the story into a kinder and gentler soul. Inspired by his experiences as a child, Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” highlights the plight of the lower class in 19th century England through an enduring and ultimately heart-warming tale. This edition includes an introduction by Hall Caine, a biographical afterword, and is illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
This was the December book for my Basecamp Books and Adventure bookclub. And although I've read the story before, and partake in many film adaptations, I've never reviewed this book. So this is my honest review.
I think pretty much everyone in the western world is familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge by now. Even if you've never read the book, you've probably seen at least one movie inspired by it. And I'm here to tell you, that this is one of those rare instances where the movies just might be better than the book, or at least close enough to the book that you won't be missing much opting to watch rather than read.
It has been a while since I read any classic English literature, so I'd kind of forgotten how archaic the language feels. And that definitely impacted my enjoyment of this story. I think if I'd been in a "classics" mood, it would have been a better experience. But it was a familiar story anyway, so the language wasn't a complete death knell for the book.
Overall I give A Christmas Carol 3.2849 out of 5 stars. - Katie
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. 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. Dickens died in June 1870.
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