Christmas Books, Tale and Sketches

by Charles Dickens

Contents:
A Christmas carol --
The chimes --
The cricket on the hearth --
The battle of life --
The haunted man --
A Christmas tree --
What Christmas is, as we grow older --
The poor relative's story --
The child's story --
The schoolboy's story --
Nobody's story --
The seven poor travellers --
The holly-tree. Three branches --
The wreck of the Golden Mary --
The perils of certain English prisoners --
A house to let --
The haunted house --
A message from the sea --
Tom Tiddler's ground --
Somebody's luggage --
Mrs. Lirriper's lodgings --
Mrs. Lirriper's legacy --
Doctor Marigold --
Two ghost stories --
Mugby Junction --
No thoroughfare.

Genres: Christmas, Classics

826 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1978

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Arnt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Christmas Carol and other stories

[Erika RS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of various pieces of Dickens' work. Some of it's very good. Some of it's rather bad. Some of it might be good if it weren't for the fact that when Dickens collaborated with others on a story, the editor's decided to take out the parts not written by Dickens and include an extremely brief summary instead. Overall, worth the read.