A Christmas Carol in Should have read classics

Dec 06, 2011 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audible-book, 2024-reads, 2011-reads, 2017-reads, holiday-not-romance, 2019-reads

2024 Audio Update: Still lovely in every way.

2019 Audio Update: I adore this story, and hearing Tim Curry narrate it was a joy. I love the characters that Dickens creates ... all of them. They are delightful. And Tim Curry does a great job creating different voices that are unique and memorable. In fact, it is often easy to forget that it is actually him who is doing the narration. He has his own memorable voice, but he loses it as he creates the characters in this story. Charles Dickens paints 2024 Audio Update: Still lovely in every way.

2019 Audio Update: I adore this story, and hearing Tim Curry narrate it was a joy. I love the characters that Dickens creates ... all of them. They are delightful. And Tim Curry does a great job creating different voices that are unique and memorable. In fact, it is often easy to forget that it is actually him who is doing the narration. He has his own memorable voice, but he loses it as he creates the characters in this story. Charles Dickens paints a picture with his words that just resonates with readers. There is a reason that so many adaptations of this novel don't really deviate much from what he wrote. It was almost perfection already. As a side note, I think it is amazing that you can use those same words and create such different adaptations as the fun Muppet Christmas Carol, the dramatic Patrick Stewart version, and the crazily scary George C. Scott version. That's great writing. I could read this over and over every Christmas and not tire of it.

I'm not sure how I got so far through my life without reading this classic story by Charles Dickens. I've seen just about every adaptation of it on screen. Yet I've never taken the time to read it until now. I found a wonderful story with little surprises for someone who is already familiar with the movies of this story. The story is one that is very familiar, so there was little for me to learn as I read this short story. However, even though I knew the story I still enjoyed reading the language of Dickens. A few reviewers have commented on the fact that it is obvious that Dickens was paid by the word because of the wordiness of his writing. It is true. Dickens is quite wordy. He takes a paragraph to describe something that could adequately be described in a sentence. However, I didn't find this to be something that detracted from the story. In fact, I loved the language of the story. Dickens was able to paint a picture with his words that drew me into the world that he described. I could almost taste the tastes and smell the smells of the world of Ebenezer Scrooge. I could see the world he lived in and the reason that Scrooge needed to learn the lessons he learned that night of visitations.

I won't say anything much about the story itself. What more could I say that hasn't already been said before? I find it interesting that some of the attitude expressed by Scrooge can be heard in today's world. The people in our society who say these things may be speaking with a smile on their face, but the sentiment is the same. How many people blame the poor for their circumstances and refuse to lift a finger to aid them? This story is needed as much today as it was in Dickens's time. Although the poor may not find themselves in quite as horrible of a situation as they may have been in that day and age, there is still a problem in our world that needs to be addressed. But I'm heading into political commentary here, not literary commentary.

I will say that my biggest problem while reading this story was that I was constantly breaking into song from the Muppet Christmas Carol at each scene in the story. It probably wasn't what Dickens intended when he wrote this story, but there I found myself. I very much enjoyed my reading of this classic, and I believe that I will now try to make it a Christmas tradition to read it each year and do a bit more in my own way to spread Christmas cheer throughout my sphere of influence. Great story!

2017 Audio Update -- I love this story! I love to read it, and I've made it a new tradition to read it each Christmas season. This year I decided to listen to Tim Curry's audio version. It is lovely. The story is already amazing. Tim Curry does a wonderful job reading it. Five stars! ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2015 Stephanie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books-i-own, fantasy, classics, book-club

What's not to love? I love Dickens, and I think I love his writing even more in bite-size, heartwarming form. This story is a fantasy, a book with a very clear moral, and a timeless classic, all in one. Modern writers love to say that stories shouldn't have morals or agenda because those things don't make for good stories, but I think this book is proof that it can be done really well.

I love the message. I had my own Ebenezer Scrooge moment recently when I read Doing Good Better: How Effective A ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2012 Roberta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, classici, uk

Autore: Charles Dickens
Titolo: A Christmas Carol
(Titolo italiano: Canto di Natale)
Edizione: audio libro di Librivox

Quale modo migliore di immergersi nello spirito natalizio della rilettura di A Christmas Carol di Charles Dickens - un autore così famoso che nel 1943, proprio pochi giorni prima di Natale, pubblicò questa novella spinto dai ricordi umilianti e dolorosi di un'infanzia infelice (a dodici anni Dickens fu costretto a lavorare come operaio in una fabbrica perché il padre era stato impri Autore: Charles Dickens
Titolo: A Christmas Carol
(Titolo italiano: Canto di Natale)
Edizione: audio libro di Librivox

Quale modo migliore di immergersi nello spirito natalizio della rilettura di A Christmas Carol di Charles Dickens - un autore così famoso che nel 1943, proprio pochi giorni prima di Natale, pubblicò questa novella spinto dai ricordi umilianti e dolorosi di un'infanzia infelice (a dodici anni Dickens fu costretto a lavorare come operaio in una fabbrica perché il padre era stato imprigionato per debiti, un'esperienza che lo segnò per tutta la vita e contribuì a sviluppare il suo interesse per i meno abbienti) e dalla necessità di aiutare le persone impoverite dalla realtà della Rivoluzione Industriale.

A Christmas Carol ha come protagonista il burbero Ebezener Scrooge, un uomo d'affari di successo e ricco ma amareggiato, che il giorno della vigilia si lamenta dell'atmosfera natalizia, rifiuta un invito a pranzo da parte del nipote Fred, povero ma allegro, e nega una contribuzione a due gentiluomini che sollecitano una donazione per un pranzo di Natale per i poveri. L'unica concessione (seppur fatta molto malvolentieri) è una giornata di vacanza pagata al suo impiegato Bob Cratchit, peraltro già ampiamente sfruttato e sottopagato.

Al ritorno a casa la sera, Scrooge riceve la visita del fantasma di Jacob Marley, il suo socio in affari deceduto proprio sette anni prima, che lo invita a cambiare stile di vita se non vuole affrontare, come lui sta facendo, un vita ultraterrena terribilmente infelice. A seguire Scrooge riceve la visita di altri tre fantasmi, lo Spirito del Natale Passato, lo Spirito del Natale Presente e lo Spirito del Natale Futuro che, uno alla volta, gli mostrano scene dal suo stesso passato, dal presente (specialmente i miseri festeggiamenti del suo impiegato, il cui figlio Tim è molto malato ma non può curarsi per motivi economici, e nel futuro la morte di Tim e il triste e solitario funerale dello stesso Scrooge. Ad ogni apparizione Scrooge vacilla, e quando si sveglia il mattino dopo, e scopre di non essersi perso in Natale, si affretta a trasformare la sua vita, trattando i suoi simili con gentilezza, generosità e compassione per tutto il resto della sua esistenza.

Questo romanzo ebbe un successo strepitoso e dalla pubblicazione influenzò profondamente la nostra concezione del Natale. La sua popolarità non è mai diminuita negli anni e il libro non è mai stato fuori catalogo. Al contrario, è da sempre stato oggetto di numerose riduzioni: sono innumerevoli i film per il cinema e per la tv che riprendono la storia di Scrooge, per non parlare poi dei telefilm e dei cartoni animati. Personalmente ho visto solo 'Canto di Natale di Topolino' che è un grande classico della stagione. Lo stesso Dickens, vista l'amore del pubblico per questa novella, decise di pubblicare successivamente altre storie di Natale: The Chimes (Le campane, 1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (Il grillo del focolare, 1845), The Battle of Life (La battaglia della vita, 1846) e The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (Il patto col fantasma, 1848), tutte create sul modello del Canto: una conversione (laica) condita dal tema dell'ingiustizia sociale. A quanto pare questi libri continuarono ad avere successo con il pubblico ma non con la critica, che li stroncò.

Quasi dimenticavo di dire che questa 'rilettura' è avvenuta grazie ad un'incisione gratuita che è possibile scaricare (in varie versioni) dal sito Librivox. Ascoltare Scrooge che inveisce contro il Natale per poi convertirsi pienamente allo spirito natalizio mentre vado al lavoro in macchina è una soddisfazione!

Giudizio: 5/5

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2017 Joy Gerbode rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

While I have read other editions of A Christmas Carol, this one was truly a delight! The story itself was the same, I think ... though there were a few parts I didn't seem to remember. But the illustrations were wonderful, although a bit dark (I mean literally dark). But I enjoyed studying the pictures, and found many details of life in the time of Scrooge. A delightful reminder of the old story ... a favorite of mine ... and a reminder of how to keep Christmas! ...more

Like · see review