Charles Dickens
Finished Reading: 12.2010
Read on the Nook
The classic story of mean old Scrooge and his hum-bug outlook on the merriment of Christmas. I've seen various film adaptations of course, and find that I knew many of the lines - which is awkward. A Muppet Christmas Carol, Mickey's Christmas Carol, etc. Without Statler and Waldorf or Scrooge McDuck, however, the real story is decidedly less comical and a little heavy on "grim," but that is as it should be.
Once again Dickens does not disappoint with his great descriptions of London and the colorful people who inhabit the cold, snow-covered bubonic streets. I noticed a few particularly fine longs lists of food, as well. No story is complete without a long list of fabulous foods.
A Christmas Carol is a very short work, just long enough to fully realize the depravity of Scrooge and allow him to make a turn-around before the ghosts get him. If it were any lengthier, I fear the story could not be completed in one Christmas Eve night and Scrooge might have the misfortune of enduring a few dozen more ghosts rather than only the famous Three: Past, Present and Future. (The Ghost of Past-Participle was luckily never written in).
In the end, Scrooge is of course redeemed and becomes the sort of guy I'd like to have for an uncle: he's got loads of cash, he likes to buy dinner for everyone, and thinks he can fly with ghosts. Sounds like a party.
