Recensioni
First Charles Dickens book I've ever read! It was a short and nice read.
it was slightly annoying as it was done by a computer generated voice, the standard microsoft one. pronoucation was wierd too. but i stuck with it. next time i'm going to try a human voiced audiobook i have a leatherbound copy of the christmas carol at home, and i haven't read it in full. but this is my all time favourite christmas story, as i have watched almost every version of it on TV (or DVD), my favourite by far being the muppet version. I also did a play back when i was in high school.this story is about Ebenezer scrooge. he is a cheapskate and from what i can tell; he is also an grumpy old man.this story has a few ghosts to show Ebenezer what he has been missing out on by hating christmas. he is shown what other peple think of him but dare not say to his face(Ever). and is shown what the future holds for him if he contiues on the path he is on.of course he changes his ways. but this is a story to make you think. it is meant to make you appreciate what you have and to celebrate the spirit of christmas because it brings joy to not only you but those around you.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a book that in the many years after its publication has seen adaptation after adaptation of its plot and symbolism. Many of these adaptations capture the tale and do it justice following closely to the book itself, where some follow along loosely, though you can still feel the remnants of the plot. May it be a good or bad, close to or far from adaptation of A Christmas Carol I have come to see that there is nothing like the words of the man who wrote it himself. Charles Dickens writes with a sense of ease in his story telling. Perhaps the familiarity of the tale influences my thought upon this, but the writing itself flows with an almost talkative rhythm that made me feel as though I wasn't even reading. Within the text Dickens shows us a glimpse of life, we are able to see riches in their lavishly decorated homes, the middle class with their modest lives and hard working days, and the poorer classes with their dark and dingey depiction. I think this is always one of the greatest qualities of classics, where we are able to dive into a time gone by written by someone who was there. Scrooge, a man too rich for his own good, blinded by the gleam of money that shines to him so bright it blinds him towards the real riches of the world and the wealth one can have from a pure heart and a mind of virtue. Life is fleeting and though there may not be three ghosts in the night upon the strike of one to show us our mistaken ways, we can learn a lot from this old miser's journey and in our own lives take care of the path we choose to walk down in the years we have in this world, for however long that may be.A Christmas Carol is an inspiring classic that has stood the test of time and will continue to do so in years to come. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves the tale of Scrooge. I think it doesn't get better than going back to where it all began and immersing yourself in the words of Dickens.
Great story. A bit too much scene description for my taste, often at 4 pages worth, but great all the same.
The pretty much entirety of the book is worth 2 stars but the last 70 pages I would say made it go up to 2.5 if not 3 stars
I think I have to re-read this the next year. It was so difficult to understand the language because English is my foreign language.
A Christmas Carol is a timeless classic that I've loved for a long time and make a habit of reading again every couple of years just to be lost in the Dickensian tale of redemption and emotional rebirth.To me, the story is about how you should open your eyes to the world around you and whilst you can be appreciative of what you possess, you should also do what you can for others. Put simply, being selfish and cruel will only make your world colder, and Ebeneezer Scrooge is the epitome of the worst there is in the world both the one Dickens during the nineteenth century had seen as a journalist and now 178 years later.Ebeneezer Scrooge is man whose greed has eaten away what good there had been in his youth, the allure of money has cost him so much but he doesn't see it because he's been blinded for so long. His like-minded business partner Jacob Marley had passed seven years previously and we see just how unwilling to spend his wealth by living in the dead man's former rooms. I love the way the lessons are told, the glimpses both good and bad into Scrooge's life and those around him both past, present and future - though if you aren't familiar with the story either from the various films, adaptations for television or the book itself? You will need tissues for the future glimpses because they hurt no matter how many times I've read the book.A true classic of Christmas.... though I always wonder just HOW does Scrooge expect that Turkey to be cooked in time for lunch?
2024 - Another year, another reread. It simply remains my favorite story of all time.
Who says classics can't have plot twists? This book is amazing, thank you, Dickens.
Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol. Be nice to those around you, and the people close to you. Good will and merriment among all men. It's a timeless story that we've all heard of, studied in school, seen one of the many, many movies on the story.But what about the original story?Not many people know the very original, not the book. We know watered down versions and we know adaptations. We know the gist of the story, but we don't know what Dickens wanted us to know and to feel.When I read this the first time, I was in year eight, in a shitty little school, in a mobile classroom. We were in a rickety little hut in the playground because we were being moved to another site. My English teacher, Mr. Dooley, hated Christmas. He didn't let us celebrate when December came around. Instead, we began to read A Christmas Carol. It was as Christmasy as he would ever let us be.None of us really wanted to read this. We wanted to play games, we wanted to play Christmas hangman, or watch a movie of a book adaptation, but we had to read this. Never in my life did I ever see that class as quiet as it was when we were doing our guided reading of A Christmas Carol. Loud, pre-pubescent teenage boys not screaming and hollering, teenage girls not worried about their make up, or their chipping nail varnish. Sports kids not complaining about being cooped up in a classroom. Fashion lovers not concerned with how the uniform looked speckled with snow and rain, and not straightening out the wrinkles in their skirts for the first time in all the time I had known them so far.This book is a wonder, truly. Dickens wrote this in order to be able to support his family, his income weak and small, and not enough for his family or his home; rather like Bob Cratchit, after all. Upon reading this, you feel the slight desperation behind the words that Dickens penned, begging silently for just a few meagre people to buy this book, even if it were only for kindling.The characters that Dickens creates within this are absolutely wonderful. We have the miser, Ebeneezer Scrooge who hates everyone and everything except himself and money. He has no care for anyone in the world, as shown when he cares not for the people he throws out of their properties for not being able to keep up their payments. He cares naught for little Tim Cratchit, walking with a stick, and Bob Cratchit unable to support his son and family. Scrooge cares unbelievably little, and even tries to have Bob work on Christmas Day, showing great contempt when he eventually gives Bob the day off. It's Christmas Eve night when things start getting strange. Scrooge is alone in his chambers, trying to enjoy his evening meal, when the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley. Three ghosts will visit you, Ebeneezer Scrooge. Follow their advice before it's too late.We all know this. We all know that the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to visit Ebeneezer during the night and spook him. The things he finds terrify him and he begs them to let him know what he must do to change the future bestowed onto him. They leave without an answer. Scrooge eventually finds love in his heart and it's a big hurrah from the audience as he begins to celebrate Christmas in the 'proper' fashion for the time of year.The world that Dickens created is amazing. I love the setting of A Christmas Carol. He focuses on characters, other than Scrooge, that are down on luck and are struggling to get by in the world. It's a cold, cold Christmas, and everyone is struggling to make ends meet. The characters are wonderfully three dimensional. It's hard to believe that they're mere book characters when you've finished reading it. I feel like I could walk out of my house and bump into Scrooge on the street. I feel like I could see Bob and Tim Cratchit, and spend some time helping Tim when he falls over and needs his stick. I feel like the ghosts themselves could appear in my room at any given second, and forewarn me of the horrible future ahead of me. It's so hard to create a book full of three dimensional characters, and Dickens has done this wonderfully. The moral of this story truly is a beautiful one. Everyone knows what comes from A Christmas Carol, everyone knows Scrooge's story. It's something that has been handed down through generations, amongst friends, and through the many, many retellings of this classic. Care for all those close to you. This is my interpretation of the moral, myself, but there are many. "Don't be a Scrooge." "Be positive." "Don't do that which is considered a sin." There are countless.My personal one is that, everyone is going through something, and kindness may be all they need. It takes nothing to be kind, it really doesn't, and this book taught me that from an young age. The Muppets Christmas Carol taught me it from the age of a toddler.This is a story that has stayed with me throughout my childhood, into my teenage years, and I cannot wait for it to follow on into my adult years. Dickens has created a story that I can disappear into at any given point in my life, and I thank the man for it. This is a book that deserves many, many things more than it has. A true classic, that has shaped literature and slang as we know it. A solid five out of five and a solid recommendation from me.
Surprisingly I'd never read a Dickens before so I started here. I love his manner of writing and his wit is fabulous. Its the descriptions of characters that are my favourite element.