By Charles Dickens
When it came to when I was planning what to write for my first Christmas season, there was no doubt in my mind what to review. This is a story that I had seen many adaptations of, including the productions that my uncle David Hansen took part in, but I only read the book in the last few years. In case you are wondering about the production, it’s the annual performance at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Anyway, for this month, in addition to the book we will be looking at Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Muppets Christmas Carol and Disney’s A Christmas Carol.
“The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future, show Scrooge what he needs to see before it’s to late, and we get to witness the mistakes of his past, the emptiness of his present and the dark future that awaits him.”
This falls in the category of classic fiction, where more people have seen enough adaptations that they know everything that they need to know, but I do recommend that you still need to read the book. There is a quality to the language.
For this story, I have 4 thoughts.
Firstly, something you should know is that Mr. Dickens was paid by the word; this has two different effects. On the one hand, in the very first chapter Mr. Dickens goes on two different diversions, why the phrase is “as dead as a door nail” and not a coffin nail and another on why it is important that we know that Marly was dead to begin with including a reference to Shakespeare. But on the other hand, when it comes to any of the descriptions of Christmas, he is incredibly lavish in description to the point that you can practically taste the food.
Secondly, Charles Dickens wrote this story as a social critique. His main criticism is the idea that in medieval times, the lord of the manor would hold a feast for all his tenants, and Christmas was a celebration. But now that most people live in cities, they have to beg for Christmas off, and the well-to-do are doing very little to help those who are not. Charles Dickens is putting out that if you can, it is your duty to help those less well off than you. In that spirit, at the bottom of this blog, there will be some links to food banks. If you can, please give.
Thirdly, there is one part of this book that has never been adapted. It is during the 2nd stave when Scrooge is travelling with the Ghost of Christmas Past. After seeing Bell break things off with Scrooge, they go to the year when Marly died. This memory focused on seeing what happened to Bell, specifically the fact that she is happily married with kids. It annoys me that this hasn’t made it in any adaptation. It hits much harder that Scrooge is beginning to leave, not because he doesn’t want to be reminded of the love he lost, but of the chance he missed.
Fourthly, ok show of hands who thought that Scrooge was going to die if he didn’t change his ways. But the truth is that no one will care when he dies, the idea that the only emotion is happiness for time to pay off their debt and those who profited from what they stole from him. It must also sting that Scrooge will know the afterlife that awaits him in this future.
This is a book that has earned its place in history. Thank you for reading this and until next week.
Happy reading to all and to all a good night.
https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank/all-food-banks
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