A Christmas Carol

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Through the intervention of four ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge is shown the spirit of Christmas.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Christmas Carol submitted by SBNB on June 15, 2015, 8:04pm Good story. This book is obviously a classic. It’s a quick, easy read.

Classic submitted by sarai koster-mockeridge on August 19, 2015, 4:43pm Classic story about a Scrooge who is able to find kindness after being visited by three spirits- past, present, and future.

A Christmas Carol submitted by leighsprauer on December 7, 2020, 4:54pm I'm not sure how to review Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. We all know the story, we've all seen some sort of adaptation, even if it was just Scrooge McDuck. But still, read the book. I admit that I like Dickens more than most - his vivid descriptions of Victorian London, his beautiful prose, his ability to describe human nature so accurately and poignantly - but even if you don't, A Christmas Carol is short enough and familiar enough to be a pleasant taste of Dickens. Even better is to read it during Advent, and really reflect on your life and whether you've done enough to honor the spirits of Christmas. It's probably worth reading every Advent, and if I were a better person, I'd read it to my kids every year.

all-time classic submitted by graytabby on August 7, 2022, 8:07pm every person must have read this at one point in time during their childhood. A Christmas Carol is such a timeless read, perfect for a cozy December night.

Well, I Finally Read This submitted by Meginator on June 19, 2023, 11:44pm It’s a little odd to read this after a lifetime of seeing newer adaptations of its contents, but while the book itself feels dated and even a little thin, all of the elements that have made its story perennially popular are quite evident. Scrooge himself is surprisingly underdeveloped, a caricature both before and after his transformation, which makes the book’s emotional notes difficult to access; without knowing more about why Scrooge became the miser he is at the beginning (even after the journey into his Christmases past, this remains somewhat unclear), it’s difficult to fully appreciate how and why his journey changes him. In fact, some early scenes of Scrooge paint a rosy picture that is suddenly undone for reasons that remain entirely obscure to the reader (but not, presumably, to Scrooge himself); we witness the effects of the past changes within him, but not the moments that actually caused them. Scrooge became a miser, but why? Because of these obscure emotional origins, Scrooge’s turnaround ultimately falls a bit flat, and the story is more of a straightforward, preachy morality play than the character study it purports to be (and usually gives rise to in its countless derivatives).

Despite being painted in such broad strokes, the story remains compelling for its easily understandable structure and the totality of Scrooge’s ultimate reversal, which offer many opportunities for retellings that emphasize the character development that Dickens himself fails to capitalize on. The prose is dense and slightly difficult by contemporary standards, but most readers who are already familiar with the story’s broad strokes should be able to follow along even if some of the linguistic particulars are specific to the mid-Victorian period. The book is a bit of a letdown due to its fame, but it is still worth reading for anyone who enjoys the central conceit or who is interested in its origins; however, most modern readers will find any of a number of more recent versions much more engaging. I’m glad that I (finally) read “A Christmas Carol”, but its legacy is far more vibrant than the original book itself.