I was going to do this blog on one of Dicken's lesser known novellas about Christmas, such as The Cricket on the Hearth (UK edition) (Deutsch edition), but I had to speak about A Christmas Carol (UK edition) (Deutsch edition).
"It is required of every man, that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."
And so it is I am compelled every December to take down this short book and read again how Scrooge's life was transformed in just one night. It was truly an ultimate makeover from the man who begrudges coal for the fire to the man who giggles and flings money out the window for the purchase of a Christmas goose to be given away!
Go with Scrooge on his ghostly tour as he eavesdrops on his past, the present and even his own death. It is one of the gifts of this book that it is not so much about the holiday as something larger. The case is made for why Scrooge is the way he is, a product of choice, but also circumstance, and yet at an advanced age he totally remakes himself.
Dickens remade Christmas too. In urging that Scrooge keep the day, it seems he spurred his readers to celebrate Christmas Day with a festive meal and family and friends and charity to strangers. A Christmas Carol is not about exchanging gifts and shopping. That seems to have been added later. We could do worse that revisit Christmas Past.
Tweet this!
This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive
classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions,
please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe
to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. This
gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your
Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them
to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.
UK
readers may go to this
Amazon link to subscribe. (Slightly more than half my readers are
from the UK)
US
readers may go to this Amazon
link
Thank
to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it
online. I love to get good reviews! Who wouldn't? Should you
care to leave a review, follow these links for UK
readers or US
readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.