A Christmas Carol Review: Some Cheer With A Touch of Bah Humbug

In order to prepare myself for the holiday season this year, I listened to the audiobook of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This was also exciting because it was my first Dickens! I did enjoy the story, though I wish I hadn’t seen so many adaptations prior to reading it.

In October 1843, Charles Dickens ― heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher ― began work on a book to help supplement his family's meagre income. That volume, A Christmas Carol, has long since become one of the most beloved stories in the English language. As much a part of the holiday season as holly, mistletoe, and evergreen wreaths, this perennial favourite continues to delight new readers and rekindle thoughts of charity and goodwill.

With its characters exhibiting many qualities ― as well as failures ― often ascribed to Dickens himself, the imaginative and entertaining tale relates Ebenezer Scrooge's eerie encounters with a series of spectral visitors. Journeying with them through Christmases past, present, and future, he is ultimately transformed from an arrogant, obstinate, and insensitive miser to a generous, warm-hearted, and caring human being. Written by one of England's greatest and most popular novelists, A Christmas Carol has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.

If you are looking for a nice copy of this book, I have linked to the various collector’s editions in my photo in the blurb above (click the “Buy on…” links)! 

What I enjoyed about A Christmas Carol:

It’s packed with all sorts of moral lessons, forcing us all to remember the true spirit of the holiday.  Whether it is simply to be kind or to be extra generous; whatever little reminder you need, it’s in the book.

The other reason to love this book is because it has wonderful Christmas imagery! The dinners with family, the shops on cobblestone streets, the cheer in the air – it’s got it all. Despite the fact that the story focuses on Scrooge, the festive Christmas atmosphere thoroughly permeates the book.

What A Christmas Carol lacked for me:

This isn’t Dickens’ fault, but I’m going to say originality. The book was nothing new! Now, before you get all in a huffy, I recognize that it’s because this story has been re-told a million times. I have seen this story in movies, Disney re-tellings, on stage, etc etc so many times before I read this book. I was really hoping that the book was going to have something extra magical. Unfortunately, for me, it didn’t.

The bottom line for me with this story is that I wish I had read it much younger, prior to seeing any of the adaptations. I think it would have been much meaningful and exciting.

It’s a great Christmas story. I just wish I had read it before seeing all the adaptations.

Do you have a favorite Christmas story?

A.S. Thornton

A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.