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A Christmas Carol
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A Christmas Carol > Reading Schedule and Preliminary Observations

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Tristram Shandy | 5005 comments Mod
Dear Fellow Curiosities,

Since we have nearly finished reading Nicholas Nickleby, it is now high time I gave you the reading schedule for our next enterprise. In December, we are reading, as usual, one of the Christmas books by Dickens, and as, in the course of the past few years, we have read every single one of them, we are now going to start again with his first and probably most celebrated Christmas novel, A Christmas Carol.

As usual, we will post the latest threads either on Saturdays or Sundays, and our new reading week always starts on a Thursday. This is our schedule:

29/11 - 05/12 CC, Stave 1
06/12 - 12/12 CC, Stave 2
13/12 - 19/12 CC, Stave 3
20/12 - 26/12 CC, Staves 4 and 5

This is a very straightforward and compact timetable, isn't it? We would like to start the New Year with some of the Sketches by Boz, and then tackle our first major novel in 2019 with The Old Curiosity Shop. So, unless you have already got the necessary books, Sketches by Boz or the Curiosity Shop would be a good idea for a your Christmas tree :-)


message 2: by John (last edited Nov 23, 2018 06:22AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments Wonderful. I have never read A Christmas Carol with others. I look forward to revisiting it.


message 3: by Tristram (last edited Nov 23, 2018 06:52AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Tristram Shandy | 5005 comments Mod
It's been four or five years since I last read it, John, and so I am quite happy to give it a fresh read, too ;-)


message 4: by Kathleen (new) - added it

Kathleen (kathleenbbruce) | 7 comments I m in .. my first read with this group


Peter | 3568 comments Mod
Kathleen wrote: "I m in .. my first read with this group"

Great Kathleen. I’m looking forward to ACC as well. What a perfect book to be reading at this time of the year.


message 6: by Kathleen (new) - added it

Kathleen (kathleenbbruce) | 7 comments I usually read it every December. The alliteration in the first chapter is worth reading out loud.. slowly..


Tristram Shandy | 5005 comments Mod
I watch one or another movie version every December, preferably with my kids. Since each Christmas, we are reading another of Dickens's Christmas stories in the Curiosity Club, I would not have the time to read ACC every year in piece and quiet ;-)


message 8: by John (last edited Nov 24, 2018 09:10AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments I've never read a better opening line than in ACC.

I've never been sure how to take it, but I find it six words that impose a sense of both deathly seriousness and unvarnished hilarity.

For me, anyway.


message 9: by Kim (new) - rated it 5 stars

Kim | 6417 comments Mod
John wrote: "I've never read a better opening line than in ACC.

I've never been sure how to take it, but I find it six words that impose a sense of both deathly seriousness and unvarnished hilarity.

For me, ..."


I agree. I also read ACC every year, but not in December, in July when Christmas seems so very far away and it is just plain hot and sunny. Yuk. Right about that time I need a little Christmas.


message 10: by John (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments Kim wrote: "John wrote: "I've never read a better opening line than in ACC.

I've never been sure how to take it, but I find it six words that impose a sense of both deathly seriousness and unvarnished hilari..."


Most of my reading in the winter requires injections of tropical places, with warmth, colors, and salty air. Just to warm me up. I usually turn to Derek Walcott or any number of great South American novelists. Mind over matter when it comes to the horrid cold and snow. ;)


message 11: by Kim (new) - rated it 5 stars

Kim | 6417 comments Mod
John wrote: "Most of my reading in the winter requires injections of tropical places, with warmth, colors, and salty air."

Yuk. It sounds like torture.


message 13: by John (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments Kim wrote: "https://www.theodysseyonline.com/8-re...

or if you prefer:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jemimaskelle..."


This did get me thinking of those things, and then I discovered yet another "escape." And it's right here. ;)

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...


message 14: by John (last edited Nov 29, 2018 01:10AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments Just for the record: I'm not sure where my review of A Christmas Carol went. I could have sworn I wrote a review of it. Additionally, when I added the book to my currently reading list, it indicated that I had given ACC three stars. The horror! This is a Five Star All Time Classic. If there six stars, it would get that and more. How it was listed as 3 stars is not my doing. Maybe Marley tried to pull a fast one on me.


Tristram Shandy | 5005 comments Mod
Or maybe, Ralph Nickleby made away with your review and with the two missing stars? He would do such a thing, out of spite, now, wouldn't he?


message 16: by Julie (new)

Julie Kelleher | 1525 comments John wrote: "I've never read a better opening line than in ACC.

I've never been sure how to take it, but I find it six words that impose a sense of both deathly seriousness and unvarnished hilarity.

For me, ..."


I've never read a better opening line either. I love it so, so much.

Really looking forward to seeing which illustrations Kim features!


message 17: by John (new) - rated it 5 stars

John (jdourg) | 1219 comments John wrote: "Kim wrote: "https://www.theodysseyonline.com/8-re...

or if you prefer:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jemimaskelle..."

This did get me t..."


I love the list of books set in tropical locations. I perused and found one, so far, I would like to try. The main character is Walcott Emerson. I like that, too, for its literariness.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


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