Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Books & Such Illinois Office
Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has been a Christmas favorite in my family for as long as I can remember. Other endearing Christmas novellas like those we’ve read about earlier this week have become favorites in more recent years, but this one has been around the longest. First written in 1843, this beloved novella has never gone out of print. That’s quite a statement.
As a child, I was intrigued by the cultural word pictures Dickens painted and the “funny” way those people talked. I loved looking at the beautiful color pictures of the buildings, the people dressed in the fashion of the day, and Tiny Tim with his family. Although they were poor and he was crippled and ill, fun and laughter filled their little home. This image stood in stark contrast to Ebenezer Scrooge, rich, sour, and alone.
We’re all familiar with the story so I don’t need to go into it. But did you know that Dickens had to go to work in a factory when he was only twelve to help pay for his father’s debts? He wrote the book to publicize the abhorrent treatment and suffering of London’s poor as a result of the 1834 Poor Law Reform Act, which actually worsened conditions for the poor and homeless.
His efforts were successful. A Christmas Carol was read by millions and applauded for its appeal to treat the poor justly. This little story stirred hearts and rekindled a spirit of good cheer and kindness during that particularly dreary phase of Victorian England. William Thackeray, a well-known author at the time, called it “a national benefit, and to every man or woman who reads it a personal kindness.”
What is it about the story that causes it to endure for 167 years and counting? We know the quick answer: It and others like it reveal truths about ourselves and show the way to redemption. For Christians, Scrooge’s change of heart is a model of our salvation experience in Christ and new life beyond. So I’ll read it again this year, take joy in God’s greatest gift, and look for ways to pass it along to others.
Ah, the power of a good story!
Do you recall the first time you read A Christmas Carol? Are there other Christmas stories that made a lasting impression on you?
I loved “A Christmas Carol” and I only read it a few years ago. However, when I was a child I saw various movies of it and didn’t like it at first because of the Ghost of Christmas Future just scared me too much. It took some time before I could actually appreciate the movies and then the book.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss has made a lasting impression on me. Like “A Christmas Carol”, I appreciate it now more than I did when I was a child. When you think about it, the Grinch and Scrooge so similar.
Thank you Mary, I knew this book had to come up eventually. I grew up watching the Rich Little version on HBO, so still think of Scrooge as WC Fields.
I first read the book in 7th grade English class, and hated it, like most books in school. Many of those I read because I wanted to, and enjoyed them greatly.
I read “A Christmas Carol” almost every December. I love the dialogue and the depth of characters in each scene, however brief.
Ms. Keeley, you say that “A Christmas Carol,” is your favorite of the holidays, mine and my wife’s too. my wife and i have a follow up to the original story. it’s not a bastardized copy of the original but a whole new story that picks up in the future from the original. it’s entitled, “Bah Humbug,another christmas story.” in it’s lead in it says;
“This book is dedicated to the memory of Scrooge, Marley, and Dickens, the first two as two of the characters in one of the finest christmas books ever written, and the latter, a man whose, “spirit,” will always be with us…
four modern twenty-first century kids. An old London street, and the well known story, “A Christmas Carol,” all combined to create this latter day continuation of that famous holiday tale.
they only wanted to make a club house in an old abandoned office. little did they know that the office used to belong to the business partners Scrooge and Marley and now Marley has come back as a ghost to visit them something and it’s up to them to find out what…
this story answers many of the questions left by the original. like, how did scrooge and marley meet. did cratchet work with marley and how did he come to work with them. and what about Bell, Mr. Scrooges one and only love. these questions and many more are answered…
this is a completed novella