'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens (Festive Reflections)
Added 2025-12-21 22:01:32 +0000 UTCDear Book Club Readers ---
Here's wishing a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!
I love rereading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every year. It has become a warm reading tradition that always reminds me of what's important in life and gets me into the festive spirit.
You may not have heard my reflections on rereading this phenomenal work, so I would like to share this talk again with you here. We also have a podcast episode that deep dives into the history and message of the story, the festive season, the condition of the country at time of writing, and Charles Dickens, which you may wish to listen to here.
I would like to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for you and to say a huge thank you for making this such a special book club community. Thank you for living the great books with so much passion, curiosity, and love.
Audio Timestamps:
0:00 why reread a story?
3:30 how Scrooge changes
6:00 communal & solitary reading
8:51 the chains we forge in life
10:00 do we sympathise with Scrooge?
12:00 being mortal & liable to fall
14:00 Scrooge’s child self
18:00 reliving the painful past
20:00 the Dickensian Sublime
21:30 the ephemeral present
24:00 on paradigm shifts
25:22 a vision of the future
28:00 accessing eternity
30:30 a personal message
Here are some recommendations for engaging with this wonderful story again this year:
Edition: I'm reading from my beloved Chapman & Hall Facsimile edition of A Christmas Carol, which you can see in this video: How to Read Charles Dickens (& Showing You My Complete Collection). I'm also a fan of the Everyman's Library editions of the work. One has a wonderful introduction from Margaret Atwood and they also have a children's edition with glorious illustrations by Arthur Rackham. I also love watching videos that show rare first editions of the work like here, here, and here.
Film Adaptations: There are so many great adaptations of A Christmas Carol, which speaks to just how special this work is. But the two adaptations that are particularly special for many lovers of Dickens are the masterful film starring George C. Scott as Scrooge from 1984 and the 1951 classic starring Alastair Sim. Personally, as I enjoy my first Christmas with my little one, I will be throwing on the great 1992 musical, starring Michael Caine, The Muppet Christmas Carol. Of course, there are so many more great adaptations and films inspired by this tale, so let us know which version you're watching this year. Also, for another film option, a masterpiece that I watch around this time every year is the 1946 film, starring James Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life.
Audiobooks: There are few things better than settling down by the fire, with a glass of something warm, and reading this classic tale aloud. If you want the joy of having the story read to you, there are many great narrations available. Here are some options of readings and performances I've enjoyed in the past: Tim Curry, Hugh Grant, Jim Dale, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Patrick Stewart, Orson Welles. I love listening and reading the text at the same time, but I also love just shutting my eyes and listening to half an hour before bed across the festive season.
Documentary: If you're in the mood for a wonderful documentary, then I highly recommend Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, from the BBC and presented by Griff Rhys Jones, which explores how Dickens created the idea of a traditional family Christmas through this special work.
What do you make of A Christmas Carol? Does the story resonate with you? What is your biggest takeaway from this tale this year?
If you partake in the rereading tradition, then please do share your thoughts about A Christmas Carol with us, or let us know what books are keeping you company and how you're enjoying the season!
Happy Reading, Happy Holidays & love to you all!
Comments
I had the most vivid dream last night. I was half awake and saw a scrooge-like character, wearing a red and white striped nightgown, hunched over and holding a lit candle and coming towards me as if attacking me. I woke up swiping at him (hitting the air) and my husband looking at me a bit shocked. I think that I may have been too involved in the world of Dickens this year. My imagination has become hyper visual. 🕯️👻
Alice A
2025-12-30 11:31:47 +0000 UTCIt has become a yearly reread for me. I also watch all the different movie/television versions I own.
Suz R
2025-12-28 23:46:24 +0000 UTCHa!!
Lily
2025-12-28 10:48:01 +0000 UTCWe heard Christmas Carol narrated, accompanied by Boston Pops and with PJLynch illustrations projected last week.. and I never get tired of a Christmas Carol joke… that goes like: “ "I am the ghost of Christmas Future Imperfect Conditional, said the spirit... I bring news of what would have been going to happen, if you were not to have been going to change your ways"…
Svetlana Monroe
2025-12-28 01:16:44 +0000 UTCThis was my first time with a Christmas Carol too and I enjoyed Tim Curry’s narration thanks to the group’s recommendation. I forgot I was listening to Mr. Curry. He narrated so well it was Dickens I was hearing and not the brilliantly flamboyant Curry. I think i must seek out the Muppets adaptation for my little daughters.
Lily
2025-12-27 11:37:35 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas everyone. Over the past few years, I've fallen in love with The Muppet Christmas Carol and forced everyone around me to watch it. It's a beautiful movie with just the right amount of silliness to convince anyone to stick around for a little bit. It's also incredibly well done and really captures the spirit of the text. I've never read A Christmas Carol before, and I loved listening to Tim Curry's reading of it this season. I loved Dickens' trademark "overly" descriptive style. He pummels your imagination with description such that you cannot help but be overwhelmed with his world. I find it interesting that we interpret the first two spirits as "kind" and the third as horrifying, when to me, all three spirits in the text are horrifying. They all expose truth in their own way, reflecting back to Scrooge the true weight of his words and the consequences of his worldview. I believe a stage production emphasizing the horrific aspects of A Christmas Carol would be a fascinating take.
Trey Lord
2025-12-27 05:18:24 +0000 UTCJust finished it and watched Mickey's Christmas Carol with my teenage boys. Always a great watch :)
YugoNation
2025-12-26 05:47:36 +0000 UTCWhat with B.H and C.C. I can't stop reading Dickens. He fills my soul no end.
Marina
2025-12-25 21:03:53 +0000 UTCDoes anyone else remember Charles Kuralt? I watched this video today, Christmas in Appalachia (1964). While not merry in the slightest, it fits with our Dickensian reading. If nothing else, it puts life in perspective for anyone who has the means to read this via modern technology. https://youtu.be/qbUwR2K0s9A?si=pCZKvYT0NDa6yWeh
Linda Hall
2025-12-25 20:07:38 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas everyone!
Greg
2025-12-25 18:29:54 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas everybody! Re-read the Christmas Carol with you all and it’s definitely going to be a tradition henceforth to do so every Christmas!
Sakshi Rathi
2025-12-25 14:04:52 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas to everyone. We've been putting on the Patrick Stewart audiobook version when we do the drive from Melbourne to Sydney each year and we watched the Muppets version for the first time this year. I must have missed that one when I was a kid.
Renata
2025-12-25 08:04:47 +0000 UTC
