A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Paperback, 100 pages

Published April 1st 2010 by HarperPress
(First published 1843)

My shelves: books-i-own, 1001-books, adult-fiction, christmas-books, classics, currently-reading, fantasy, favourites, ghosts, historical
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Description via Goodreads

'I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,' said the Spirit. 'Look upon me!' A celebration of Christmas, a tale of redemption and a critique on Victorian society, Dickens' atmospheric novella follows the miserly, penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge who views Christmas as 'humbug'. It is only through a series of eerie, life-changing visits from the ghost of his deceased business partner Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future that he begins to see the error of his ways. With heart-rending characters, rich imagery and evocative language, the message of A Christmas Carol remains as significant today as when it was first published.

My Review

A Christmas Carol is one of those books that I always meant and wanted to read, but I never got around to it, even though I've managed to watch the original film version each year. I'm very glad that I finally picked up a copy of this novella as it was certainly everything I expected it to be. The book felt a little more realistic than the film adaptations, yet managed to keep a real sense of magic, and therefore I do feel that this was more effective and a little more special.
This is the first piece of literature that I have read by Dickens and I was surprised with how effortless it was to read, the language wasn't at all difficult and it flowed well - his writing is unique and a real pleasure to read. I particularly enjoyed reading his descriptions. Although the story isn't completely light hearted, Dickens manages to weave humour throughout. The several characters and family members that we're introduced to are well formed in a short amount of writing and you can really see a depth in them all.
The transition of an old man, Scrooge, from dissatisfied and irritable into a considerate gentleman is handled in a stirring way, especially when based around the Christmas period.
At a mere 100 pages, there's no excuse to not pick up this heartwarming Christmas tale. Although it isn't totally perfect or extremely 'deep', it portrays a meaningful story and it has to be the definitive Christmas Classic.