A Christmas Carol

In this Christmas story, Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy man, finds redemption in a magical way. Visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future, he sees that if he continues in the same selfish way, his life will have no meaning to anyone. I re-read this story often.

I am constantly amazed by how believable the magical elements of the story feel. Do spirits really visit Mr. Scrooge? Or is it his subconscious mind sending himself warning dreams? Either way, I am swept away with pure joy at the end every time. It’s as if the author has reached… show more.

Christmas classics are a must for any age. I think a strong dramatic story that twists the heart in endless directions is a must for a good read and a delight for the mind. A great story has strong, relatable characters, a villain you love to hate, a hero, and a moral at the end. The story must touch the soul.

This is my favorite ghost story, one I return to repeatedly. I am always moved by Scrooge’s transformation, which signals there may be hope for even the most curmudgeonly among us. I can identify with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and even Scrooge—the fear, hope, sourness, and glee they represent and visit each of us occasionally.

I love this book because it’s a tradition that touches the heart. I return to and enjoy reading it every holiday season, and I am reminded of the holiday’s past. I love the redemption and relentless kindness certain characters employ, no matter the situation. I also enjoy the paths people take to rediscover in their own hearts ways to help others. In the end, I am drawn to a story that brings me laughter and tears and gives me a sense of fondness for humanity.

I simply cannot get enough of this book. I read it every December and watch movie adaptations of it every December, too (Patrick Stewart’s 1999 version is by far the best movie rendition, as far as I’m concerned!).

Many people may not realize that Dickens considered himself a Christian writer and many of his books have Christian allegories buried within the storyline. This book is no exception, and I find it also takes me on a rollercoaster of emotions every time I read it, which helps to make it a new story every time I read it!

This Victorian classic sent shivers down my back when the ghost of Jacob Marley rattles his spectral chains to send a dire warning to Ebenezer Scrooge about the perils of his miserly life.

I was gripped from the first word as his tragic life is revealed by the narrator in the most effective and emotive way. I remember feeling anger as Scrooge mistreats his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, dismisses his kind and generous nephew, Fred, and believes Christmas to be a “Bah!” and a “Humbug!” However, as Scrooge was shown the error of his ways by three phantoms, my anger… show more.

Out of all of the books I have read, I have read A Christmas Carol more times than any other. An instant phenomenon when it was first published in 1843, it has never been out of print. It is the embodiment of not just a Christmas ghost story, but of a story that encapsulates the very essence of the spirit of Christmas in the popular imagination in a way that no other story ever has. Although I had always loved watching the 1951 classic film Scrooge with the wonderful Alastar Sim in the title role, I didn’t read the book… show more.

The Christmas ghost story that popularized the expressions “Merry Christmas!” and “Bah! Humbug!", inspired festive family gatherings around a Christmas tree and holiday food & drink, and landed Scrooge in the Oxford Dictionary as a synonym for Miser (go ahead, look it up). “Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” Ebenezer Scrooge must endure three hauntings from three distinctly different ghosts on Christmas Eve—and change his miserly ways—if he wants to escape a hellish afterlife that his former business partner, Jacob Marley, has been condemned to. Written in part as a commentary on child poverty of the time, with… show more.

Obviously just brilliant. I rarely read adult books twice, but this one I read every few years. It’s a simpler world and also quite scary when I first read it for English at school when I was twelve. I think it’s his best book. Pure genius. Maybe my daughter can get this for Christmas. Much cheaper than a phone.

This is, of course, the classic of classics when it comes to Christmas literature, but with so many stage and screen adaptations out there—headlined by everyone from George C. Scott to the Muppets—have you read the actual novella? And if you have, how long has it been? I urge you to read or re-read Dickens’s glorious, terrifying, funny, heart-wrenching tale that asserts forcefully that the Spirit(s) of Christmas can actually redeem our hearts—which I, at least, urgently need at the turning of the solstice.