A Christmas Carol
Ratings669
Average rating4.1
“Christmas Carol” really didn't grab me like it has some folks. It's a story that makes you think, but it isn't my favorite Dickens by a long shot. Oh, well. Not all books ring the same people's chimes. Still a worthy read, though.
An annual listen and an utterly enthralling one. You all know the story, but you've not heard it narrated so well before, unless perhaps you've seen the Simon Callow version. Both essential and both annual.
I'm pretty sure this is my first time reading/listening to it. Perhaps my expectation was different (I thought this story was more satire/playful); so when Scrooge was pretty much threatened with his death at the end, I was like "wow that got really dark" lol;; ) gotta love a good haunting I guess. I hope he didn't merely change to avoid his death, but rather had a pure change of heart to do good and respect all. I think the way it was written wasn't for me, so I'm curious to see how productions have adapted this classic into films/movies!
This was a nice, little roadtrip listen. It’s nothing earth shattering and everyone’s clearly familiar with the story, but it’s a good length, Tim Curry does a great job with the voices, and it’s interesting enough.
Que hermoso es poder leer esta historia que tantas veces vi en película desde muy pequeña, recrear las imágenes ya conocidas, e incluso sentirlas más personales.
La enseñanza de Dickens en este libro es magnífica, no solo por la navidad, sino por la forma en que deberíamos vivir nuestra vida siendo amables con los demás y no aferrándonos a lo material como si fuera lo único que importara en el mundo.
Me encantó y espero poder leerlo cada navidad.
How is it two days till Christmas and I haven't watched A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong yet?
After years of watching movies and various ilk, it was high time to read the original. I enjoyed it very much. It was a quick read, yet still full of the thick and superfluous language that, for me, characterizes 18th and 19th century English writing. What surprised me, though, was how snarky the writing was. I was expected Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, but while the narrative was very Dickensien, this one simply had more of a pub feel than I expected.
I'm also struck by how much I've been conditioned by modern “sensibilities.” Cable network FX recently did a take on the story starring Guy Pearce as Scrooge. It was dark and stark, and it felt like it was exploring themes that TV mini-series in the 80s would have been afraid to explore. Thus, I expected to see more of Scrooge's back story from that remake in the books. There was really only one noticeable them...Scrooge's loneliness at boarding school and a bit of the fantasy sequence with Ali Baba. I happily stand corrected that sometimes, things are beautifully simple (and that's okay).
A friend has long said that A Muppets Christmas Carol was the most faithful retelling of the actually novella. I think he is right! It's funny to me that the actual text from the story made the Muppet version funnier, and as noted in above, I wasn't expecting that to be a part of the “real” story.
Many people have pointed out the centrality of Tiny Tim and his impact on Scrooge's change. I see that. I understand it. But, to me, it was the familial connection to Fred that made the change. With the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge lets go for the first time when eavesdropping on Fred's dinner. It's the first time we see the suspicion start to fall for Scrooge. It's also a lesson. Our connections to our families are the most visceral we have...they're there first, they last the longest, and we love our families through thick and thin. Even when we're on the outs with a relative, there's something that will bring us together despite the animosity. (Of course, there are exceptions...I fully recognize that some people are just demons.) We need the familial foundation and connection before we can be moved by the Tiny Tims of the world.
In all, it's a good read. Do yourself a favor and put this on the list for the holiday season.
Hard to understand that style of writing (1840's). Still a good book, wish there was more dialog in book between characters. David N.
this is a super quick and heartwarming classic. a bit different than the animation we've probably all seen. The scrooge here was too quick to accept criticism. The acceptance is gradual in the animation which I think is the most important part of the story. Regardless, just about anyone should be able to pick this up and find something to love.
Every Christmas, I start to read a Christmas Carol. And every Christmas, I somehow only get through half the book. No matter how early in the month I start reading it, I always forget to finish. However, I thoroughly enjoy the half that I read every year. Maybe one year I'll get through the whole thing. In the meantime, I highly recommend you read this one - especially if you love any of the movies!
This is a masterpiece of a Christmas story, and you were robbing yourself of the perfect experience if you do not listen to the audiobook done by Tim Curry.
A lovely classic story, with some great wisdom to bestow.
I am so happy I finally read it.
I, like I assume most people, know this story very well even though I have never actually read it. I'm honestly most familiar with it through Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Muppet Christmas Carol, which are both great! In fact, seeing The Muppet Christmas Carol with live music from the local symphony orchestra is what inspired me to finally read it.
And I loved it! I've always loved the structure of this story, it just feels like one of the classic basic archetypes of a story that hits on something interesting with every beat and doesn't have any fat on it. The quick character arc and morals expounded by his change are also very satisfying.
This Dickens guy has a pretty good way with words too, I'd say. I love a lot of the lines that are often quoted verbatim in adaptations (“A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!”, “If they would rather die, they'd better do it, and decrease the surplus population”, “Come in! and know me better, man!”, etc). Each character, time period, and location is imbued with so much life and texture, and they all become very clear in my mind while reading it.
I actually listened to this via an audiobook that was narrated by Hugh Grant and made available for free through Audible, though it annoyingly had ads littered throughout as I don't have a subscription to Audible right now. It is a pretty short read as well, so I think I might try to revisit this one more often in the coming years, both in written form and audiobook, and of course as performed by Muppets.
I've never loved A Christmas Carol, although I know many people do. It seemed so barren to me. I never cared about Scrooge, and his conversion in the end never mattered to me.
This is the first time I've listened to it as an audiobook, and boy, did that ever change my mind. I absolutely loved the experience of listening to it. The narrator for the version I listened to is Tim Curry, and he brought a lot of emotion into the story. I cannot think of a more perfect narrator for this book, and I'm grateful to have found this version. In his reading, Scrooge is by turns angry, bitter, bored, scared, silly, and joyful. I cried through most of the book as I really began to care about Scrooge and to see some of his foibles in me. Bravo!
Absolutely LOVE Tim Curry and needed a pick-me-up favorite to read. As soon as I saw this it was a must listen. Just what I needed. Love re-reading this classic.
This was the first Dickens I've read and so I chose a short, well known tale. I can't say that I loved it but it certainly didn't put me off reading more Dickens in the future.
I picked up this edition for a buck or two at a thrift shop. It contains four stories: A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Tree, Christmas Dinner, and excerpts from The Pickwick Papers.
A Christmas Carol is an absolutely classic and essential Christmas story, and I surely have no novel insight into it. It is unquestionably the best piece of the collection and by itself would have been five-star material.
A Christmas Tree is an essay in which Dickens recounts various details of a Christmas celebration from a child's perspective, including specific toys and ghost stories. While the particularities of a Victorian Christmas are interesting from a historical viewpoint, the essay comes across as rambling and tedious, especially in juxtaposition with the much superior Carol. I doubt I will ever return to this piece.
Christmas Dinner is pleasant enough and only eight pages long.
The Pickwick Papers excerpts are the other highlight of the collection, full of classic Dickensian charm. While the narrative concerning a Christmas wedding is amusing at moments, I particularly enjoyed the ghost story of Gabriel Grub.
This collection is nice on the whole, even if none of the other stories reach the soaring heights of the titular tale.
