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For me Christmas is just not Christmas without some version of A Christmas Carol. I was raised on the Dickens classic, even though I didn't read it until I was in my late twenties. Whether it was George C. Scott or Mickey and the Disney gang I've never gone a year without seeing some version of it on the television and every year I put his A Christmas Carol on my book shopping list and I never, ever seem to buy it. It's always at this point, a few days before Christmas that I really start to kick myself in the butt. Nothing would be nicer on a cold, snowy day than to curl up under a blanket and receive visits from the ghosts of past, present and future along with Ebeneezer. Just ask the bloggers that have done that this year, 165 years after its initial publication.
Kailana, who writes at The Written World wrote a letter to dear old Mr. Dickens. Yes, we know he's deceased but as she points out, it is a ghost story.
When I sit down to enjoy this book and see the opening sentence: "Marley was dead, to begin with", I feel like I am coming home. It is like visiting with old friends. And, even though there are no longer any surprises, I still feel the emotions like I am reading it for the first time: outrage at Scrooge, sympathy for his over-worked clerk, a little creeped out by the ghost of Christmas yet to come, etc. It is truly a master that can make people feel for characters over and over again.
Clever Diva Cheryl re-reads A Christmas Carol every year.
The theme that strikes the strongest chord with me, though, is redemption. I love watching this miserable, miserly, misanthrope (is that enough mis words?) transformed into a generous and lovable human being.
At The Book Nest Corinne made me laugh when she said this because I know many, many people who can relate.
I have never read this book before. I have, however, watched Muppets' Christmas Carol approximately 20 times, possibly more. So, it was the voice of Gonzo I heard in my head as I read Dickens' words, usually verbatim from the text of the book.
(Now all I can hear in my own head is Rizzo the rat saying to Gonzo, "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat!!!")
Rebecca Reads reminds us that A Christmas Carol was just one of Dickens' Christmas tales and reviews his The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain.
Arabella Cucumber made a secret whispery confession that she doesn't like Dickens...but she does like A Christmas Carol.
I've seen and read all different versions of it and even at the school play standard of performance, the story still carries me away to the point that I always worry that Scrooge might not be redeemed in time - which of course heightens my relief and joy when he always is redeemed!
There are, of course, other options than reading about it on blogs since Dickens' works are public domain. If you have iTunes you can download it for free as a podcast from Open Culture. Or you could download it in MP3 format from Librivox, although I do recommend getting a version that's read by one person rather than several (or maybe that's just me). You can download an e-book from Project Gutenberg (they also have some audio versions of some books as well) or read it in installments from DailyLit.
So read, listen and enjoy from "Marley was dead: to begin with" to "Bless Us, Every One!"
Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
