By Charles Dickens
Cruel miser Ebeneezer Scrooge has never met a shilling he doesn’t like…and hardly a man he does. And he hates Christmas most of all. When Scrooge is visited by his old partner, Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, he learns eternal lessons of charity, kindness, and goodwill. Experience a true Victorian Christmas!
This was actually my second time reading this book. I was assigned this book to read in third grade. I really don’t think I got much out of reading it, I think I just went with whatever was in the Scrooge McDuck version to help me pass my quiz.
So reading it this time as an adult was like reading it for the first time. Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol from its various iterations, but it’s certainly a treat to read through the original.
The story is a little scarier than I had realized. After watching so many cartoon versions, the fear Scrooge had of the ghosts doesn’t really come across. Especially when the first ghost he meets is Jacob Marley who keeps his jaw bandaged up to keep it from flopping open. Ick.
A Christmas Carol is certainly an inventive, lovely story. I especially loved the character of his nephew, who refused to give up on loving his Uncle. We all know that we shouldn’t be a Scrooge, but it’s the nephew we should really all strive to emulate. Giving love even when it isn’t wanted or reciprocated is an ideal we should all try to keep close to heart.
This is a holiday classic that should be read year after year. At just over one hundred pages, it’s a breeze. And if you’re hesitant about the Victorian language, it’s much simpler than many other books of the times and easy to follow.
