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Christmas Books (Wordsworth Classics)
Each of these short stories was written specifically for Christmas. They combine concern for social ills with the myths and memories of childhood and traditional Christmas spirit-lore. The stories are: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man and The Cricket on the Hearth. These 5 stories were first published together as 'The Christmas Books' in 1...more
Paperback, 383 pages
Published
by Wordsworth Classics
(first published January 1st 197)
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Dickens Carol and a few other Christmas tales (The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth,
The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man)presented in a beautiful illustrated format on good quality paper. A beautiful hard-backed volume to add to the library for holiday reading.
Also includes:
"two appendices containing Dickens's article, 'What Christmas Is As We Grow Older,' and facsimile pages from Dickens's reading version of A Christmas Carol."
The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man)presented in a beautiful illustrated format on good quality paper. A beautiful hard-backed volume to add to the library for holiday reading.
Also includes:
"two appendices containing Dickens's article, 'What Christmas Is As We Grow Older,' and facsimile pages from Dickens's reading version of A Christmas Carol."
One of the reading groups that I am a member of on here chose to read A Christmas Carol as their December book, and as the only copy of it I had was a set of all five of his Christmas tales, I decided that I ought to read them all.
So I did. And A Chistmas Carol was, as it always is, a cracking read. The problem was the other four stories. The Chimes is, in essence, a clumsy reworking of the previous tale, using a similar trick of showing th future to influence the present. Next was th...more
So I did. And A Chistmas Carol was, as it always is, a cracking read. The problem was the other four stories. The Chimes is, in essence, a clumsy reworking of the previous tale, using a similar trick of showing th future to influence the present. Next was th...more
To be fair and honest, I only read A Christmas Carol, and can't finish the other stories right now because the Christmas bug has left the building, so to speak. However, A Christmas Carol was thrilling. You get so many images, sounds, and feelings in your head about that story from all of the different media versions - plays, TV movie, Muppet version, and so on... but then you put those ideas together with Dickens' superb writing... it's like rediscovering orange juice by sitting in the orchard...more
The Chimes
The Haunted Man
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Battle of Life
A Christmas Carol
I read this collection of stories for a Book Club and we all agreed that none of the other stories is a patch on "A Christmas Carol". I'd advise anyone not to start by reading "The Battle of Life" like I did, as it's possibly the most annoying story I have ever read!
The Battle of Life
This was the first of the stories I read and I hated it! The main...more
The Haunted Man
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Battle of Life
A Christmas Carol
I read this collection of stories for a Book Club and we all agreed that none of the other stories is a patch on "A Christmas Carol". I'd advise anyone not to start by reading "The Battle of Life" like I did, as it's possibly the most annoying story I have ever read!
The Battle of Life
This was the first of the stories I read and I hated it! The main...more
Maybe I deserved this for my recent Dickens idolatry. Maybe I loved him too much and I needed to be reminded that he's only human, 'cause this was hella weak. Well, A Christmas Carol is pretty good, though not nearly as good as I remembered it being from my childhood. The Battle of Life is vaguely good and The Haunted Man is decent, but The Cricket On the Hearth is weak and I loathed The Chimes.
My theory on Dickens is that longer Dickens is better Dickens. The shorter his stuff g...more
My theory on Dickens is that longer Dickens is better Dickens. The shorter his stuff g...more
My favorite holiday classic story that I try to read every year.
Everyone knows A Christmas Carol, but most people have never heard of the rest of Dickens’ Christmas stories—I certainly hadn’t. Most of them are, unsurprisingly, quite dark and have a lot to say about the plight of the poor in Victorian England. I think Christmas Carol is still my favorite, simply because it seemed like the best written of the collection. The story is familiar—even the Disney version with Scrooge McDuck and Mickey is surprisingly faithful to it—but the writing style is very vis...more
I actually reviewed all of these books separately. I have this copy on Goodreads because I want a record that I own it. My thoughts on each story contained within can be found by the following links. A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man
I really enjoyed reading this collection. I read A Christmas Carol aloud with my mom over December 2010, and I read the other four stories aloud with her during December 2011.
I hi...more
I really enjoyed reading this collection. I read A Christmas Carol aloud with my mom over December 2010, and I read the other four stories aloud with her during December 2011.
I hi...more
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In the early 1840s, Charles Dickens wrote a special Christmas-themed story for his magazine ‘Household Words’, which was intended to be read aloud around the family fireside. It was called ‘A Christmas Carol’ and it was so successful that he wrote several more Christmas stories in the next few years, most of them featuring a paranormal element. Then in 1852 he published five of them together as a book. This is a new edition of that book.
‘A Christmas Carol’ is by far the best known of...more
‘A Christmas Carol’ is by far the best known of...more
Every year I re-read "A Christmas Carol," which is included in this collection, and every year I really try to read one of the other four. I love "A Christmas Carol" but have had a hard time warming up to the others. "Cricket on the Hearth" is kind of fun (now available on dvd as a cartoon, and my 4 year-old loves it!), but "The Chimes" and "The Battle of Life" seem to be Dickens at his worst, utterly lacking in wit and humor. There is one mor...more
'tis the season! I received this book for Christmas 2011, and quickly reread "A Christmas Carol". It had been many years since I read it, and I had forgotten how awful Scrooge is in the beginning ;) I'm looking forward to reading the other Christmas stories that Dickens wrote.
Like every good Christmas celebrator I've read A Christmas Carol, and it's awesome--even though the Muppets perfected it. Haven't read any of the other "Christmas Books" so let's start with The Chimes and see what happens. Hope to get all the CBs in before Christmas, but we'll see what happens. Hoping Dickens will give me a nice vacation from Thackeray's VF...sheesh!
UPDATE: Read The Chimes and The Cricket. Will have review up on my blog at http://alisfault.blogspot.com/...more
UPDATE: Read The Chimes and The Cricket. Will have review up on my blog at http://alisfault.blogspot.com/...more
Charles Dickens at his best in "A Christmas Carol" ... "The Chimes" was a bit strange ... also includes "Cricket on the Heart" plus a couple others I had not heard of before. Good Christmas reading.
Angelo Love
is currently reading it
Title in Portuguese: Contos do Natal - Charles Dickens.
(trad_João Costa / ilust_Manuel Dias)
Circulo de Leitores ed., 1976
(with ilustrations)
Lisboa.
- Book to reread for pure pleasure.
- A delightful book to read.
- Book purchased by me.
- A book about the active love for the neighbor (a christmas carol).
- Book about a fantastic Christmas tale (a christmas carol).
Notes:
- Charles Dickens – The Christmas Books,
(W...more
(trad_João Costa / ilust_Manuel Dias)
Circulo de Leitores ed., 1976
(with ilustrations)
Lisboa.
- Book to reread for pure pleasure.
- A delightful book to read.
- Book purchased by me.
- A book about the active love for the neighbor (a christmas carol).
- Book about a fantastic Christmas tale (a christmas carol).
Notes:
- Charles Dickens – The Christmas Books,
(W...more
I started this a few weeks ago, and it not only got me in the Christmas spirit, but it put me on holiday overload. A Christmas Carol deserves five stars, but without it, the rest of the stories get a three star overall rating; hence the four star rating. Dickens is an excellent writer, but I found that reading these stories together became a bit repetitive as a result of their themes. If you have this book, I would recommend reading A Christmas Carol every year and then only one more of the o...more
I had actually already read the first three stories in this book. A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth. I found I didn't much care for the The Chimes too much last time, but maybe I was in a better mood or my mind was more clear but I actually liked it this time around. I also read the other two stories The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man. Quite liked all of them. I'm not sure they were all really Christmas stories mind you.
I actually only read A Christmas Carol and the Chimes, but I liked them. Dickens is funny to me, because I have a hard time paying attention. It's too easy for me to start thinking about other things while reading his work for me to truely get into his books, but I've noticed that it's always worth paying attention, because he requently says things in perfectly profound or witty ways. I wish things like those could come out of my mouth.
If all you know is the movie versions, it is well worth reading. If you don't even know the movie versions ... well, you must have your head in the sand.
I think this is the edition which I read, which contained a collection of 5 books which Charles Dickens wrote at Christmas or about Christmas. The most famous is A Christmas Carol which I really enjoyed even though I knew the story already. The only story I didn't like was called "The Chimes" which seemed overly complicated. If you are looking for an easy introduction to Dickens I think these are just what you need.
If my review were based solely on A Christmas Carol it would be five stars. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it, considering how many movie and play versions I'd seen of it. It was wonderful though! The other short stories were fine, but I prefer Dickens' novels, where he can develop characters fully and create intricate plots. This was a fun read, however, and I'm excited to read some more Dickens soon!
A priceless collection for understanding the strange relationship "Americans" had with CA Indians once they were beaten into submission and therefore no longer a real threat - here are all those quotes about digger indians being some kind of a missing link between monkeys and human beings, etc... sad, infuriating, but useful information in my research of family survival post-secularization.
All of Dicken's Christmas stories are wonderful, but none more so that A Christmas Carol. At first it was just a good story, but as I have aged I have come to discover that Ebenezer Scrooge is very real, and that, if I don't read A Christmas Carol every holiday season, I run the very real risk of turning into him.
firstly i just want to say, i loved A Christmas Carol. sadly, the rest of the christmas stories were dire, very boring and hard to get into. I've finally given up trying to finish it.
December 2009 is the perfect time to read A Christmas Carol,the first of five stories in this volume. The book also includes The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man. Dickens wrote these tales "to awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts." Way to go, Mr. Dickens.
really surprised how dark most of these stories were. also surprised how few of them were actually about the holiday. overall, not that impressed. dickens' style is really more suited to long form narratives; it is clear why 'a christmas carol' is the best known of these works.
All of Dickens' Christmas tales in one volume. Re-reading A Christmas Carol this time around. It has been a while since I visited Scrooge and his Spirits and it is speaking to me differently this time around -- I'm getting old?
There was a lot more to the story than the movies have in them, as with most books made into movies. A Christmas Carol has been my favorite Christmas movie for a long time and now it is my favorite Christmas book as well.
I have been wanting to read this book for a long time and finally this year got around to it. I just finished the first chapter and am entertained by the humor and insite that I wish I got to it sooner.
I've enjoyed the story in so many forms, starting with the muppet one. Absolutely heart warming and hope giving, perfect for example reading it together with the family on a Christmas night.
I love the classic's especially at christmas time.I enjoy hearing how christmas is suppose to be not how it is.I love christmas just not what our country has turned it in too.
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A prolific 19th Century author of short stories, plays, novellas, novels, fiction and non; during his lifetime Dickens became known the world over for his remarkable characters, his mastery of prose in the telling of their lives, and his depictions of the social classes, mores and values of his times. Some considered him the spokesman for the poor, for he definitely brought much awareness to thei...more
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