From the Bookshelf of Should have read classics…

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

Start date: December 1, 2011

Finish date: December 31, 2011

Discussion: Group Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: The group read for December.
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What Members Thought

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

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

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Mar 01, 2014 Sharper1 rated it really liked it

I liked this better than I expected. It was nice to have the old movie from my childhood running in my head as I read. Very cool.

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2013 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-list-books, 2013

This will be short and sweet. What, honestly, can I say about this Christmas classic that hasn't been said a thousand times before? Although it is one of Dickens' shorter works, I feel it is one of his more beautiful ones and I look forward to sharing this story with my children during the Christmas season in the future. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print, was an immediate hit, and helped to bring back the old Christmas traditions of England.

Full review here: http://ennleesreadingcorn ...more

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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

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