Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol reviewed by jseger9000
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1jseger9000
I still haven't finished my review for the previous book I read (The Dark Half), yet here's my review of A Christmas Carol.
I tried to keep it a short review since it is such a short book. I didn't bother with a synopsis, because come on, it's A Christmas Carol. I could also possibly drop the first paragraph which is about me, not the book. Does it add to the review?
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I've loved watching various incarnations of A Christmas Carol since I was a kid. This year I decided to actually read the thing.
By now I (like everyone else) am so familiar with the story that there aren't really any surprises. Just about every character, phrase and event is known almost by heart.
But Dickens writing is wonderful. He constantly 'breaks the fourth wall' or whatever they would have called it in the days before TV, passing judgment on his characters and making asides to his readers. The book (novella really) might have started as a quicky cash-in, but Dickens obviously had a good time writing it and that feeling shows. There is absolute joy in the narrative. At times the dialog gets a little too cloyingly sweet (mainly when Scrooge is observing his nephew's or the Cratchit's Christmas parties), but it's a small sin.
If you've not read the book, you owe it to yourself to do so, regardless of how many adaptations you've seen. At around a hundred and fifty pages, it is perfect to read in the days right before Christmas.
I tried to keep it a short review since it is such a short book. I didn't bother with a synopsis, because come on, it's A Christmas Carol. I could also possibly drop the first paragraph which is about me, not the book. Does it add to the review?
---
I've loved watching various incarnations of A Christmas Carol since I was a kid. This year I decided to actually read the thing.
By now I (like everyone else) am so familiar with the story that there aren't really any surprises. Just about every character, phrase and event is known almost by heart.
But Dickens writing is wonderful. He constantly 'breaks the fourth wall' or whatever they would have called it in the days before TV, passing judgment on his characters and making asides to his readers. The book (novella really) might have started as a quicky cash-in, but Dickens obviously had a good time writing it and that feeling shows. There is absolute joy in the narrative. At times the dialog gets a little too cloyingly sweet (mainly when Scrooge is observing his nephew's or the Cratchit's Christmas parties), but it's a small sin.
If you've not read the book, you owe it to yourself to do so, regardless of how many adaptations you've seen. At around a hundred and fifty pages, it is perfect to read in the days right before Christmas.
2readafew
I like the review as is. I think it was last year that I finally 'read' a Christmas Carol. I listened to it on CD and I thought it was a wonderfully fun story as well.
4jimroberts
I really really like it. The first para works very well.
Now for the quibbles.
"But Dickens writing is wonderful." This needs an apostrophe for the possessive: "But Dickens' writing is wonderful."
I'm not sure that "sin" is the best word at the end of para three.
Now for the quibbles.
"But Dickens writing is wonderful." This needs an apostrophe for the possessive: "But Dickens' writing is wonderful."
I'm not sure that "sin" is the best word at the end of para three.
5jseger9000
#4 - Whoops! You're right. I changed that in my review.
I can change 'sin', but I'm blanking on a replacement term. I'm probably just too close to it.
I thought about 'gaff' but that's not really fair. It's not so much a mistake as something I didn't like.
I can change 'sin', but I'm blanking on a replacement term. I'm probably just too close to it.
I thought about 'gaff' but that's not really fair. It's not so much a mistake as something I didn't like.
6jimroberts
I've come across a different take on the story and added it to LT as a published review.
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