Tom Quinn’s Reviews > A Christmas Carol > Status Update

Spirit Two is a jolly fellow I wouldn't mind joyriding around with. And though the book is short and moves quick there's so much packed into each chapter, it's amazing how much I forget year over year.

Hey wow this year Sprit One really knocked me for a loop and left me mired in nostalgic morass. I think tonight calls for cocoa and Chex Mix with the kids—Christmas Present becomes Christmas Past so darn quick after all.

A book best read in the early morn beside a cozy fire with dog curled at feet before family wakes.

Acceptable substitutions: space heater, cat, guinea pig.

Classic? or cliché? Whichever the case I wanna head off the humbugs early this year.

Seems ridiculous how long it takes Scrooge to realize HE's the dead guy everybody despised and nobody misses. But then I suppose no one cares to think on their own end. The third spirit is an interesting blend of that Eastern meditation the Buddha encouraged, considering your own mortality, and the Western philosophy of industry, channeling that realization into action which might gain you better standing with people

The second spirit comes with much symbolic folderol, which is all quite plain to unpack and think upon, but more the potent for that forthright simplicity. So I won't say more than that old cliche of a rhyme:

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why we call it the Present

The Ghost of Christmas Past's visions remind me of how important it is to provide my own kids with some happy holiday memories to keep for themselves.