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divine529's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The story of "A Christmas Carol" is known by pretty much everyone and adapted many times. I love reading it at the holidays and honestly get something new out of it every time I reread it.
For those of you who don't know what this book is about, it follows a man named Ebeneezer Scrooge, a cold, grumpy and angry man, as he is visited by three ghosts, and is allowed a chance to reflect on his life and things go from there.
It's absolutely fantastic and I particularly loved this reread because of some things I've been thinking about lately.
If you haven't read this classic Christmas story, I'd highly recommend it, fan of Dickens or not.
For those of you who don't know what this book is about, it follows a man named Ebeneezer Scrooge, a cold, grumpy and angry man, as he is visited by three ghosts, and is allowed a chance to reflect on his life and things go from there.
It's absolutely fantastic and I particularly loved this reread because of some things I've been thinking about lately.
If you haven't read this classic Christmas story, I'd highly recommend it, fan of Dickens or not.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Medical content, and Grief
Poverty, classismnottoolate's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Have seen many movie adaptations, and found the book well worth the read.
Quotes:
"But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile..."
"...to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not just another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
"There are some...who lay claim to know, and who do their deeds of passion, ill-, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remeber that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."
Quotes:
"But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile..."
"...to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not just another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
"There are some...who lay claim to know, and who do their deeds of passion, ill-, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remeber that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Death
nyssa_jo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Body horror, Child death, and Grief
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, and Terminal illness
nstew16's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I reread this every year and I always find new hidden meaning in the words and themes.
I will keep rereading this as long as I live.
I will keep rereading this as long as I live.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death and Death
rachel_here's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Child death
linnylionheart's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Body horror
emilyswift's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
good book. had a lot of symbolism.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
arianappstrg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5: If this story had a smell it would smell like pudding, mashed potatoes, and turkey.
A Christmas Carol is such a wholesome and inspiring little ghost story that it's difficult to find fault with it. I grew up obsessed with the Disney adaptation (pretty sure I still have it on DVD or VHS somewhere in my family home) so I'm quite emotional when I reminisce the story and its messages of kindness, charity, and compassion. And yes, I did read the story with Mickey and Donald's faces as Cratchit and Scrooge popping up in my head. The graveyard scene with the Ghost of Christmas Future pointing its sickly, deathly hand towards the tombstone still haunts me. In terms of writing, Dickens has a distinctly magical way of transforming gloomy, filthy, dingy, slimy, plain yikes Victorian London into a hopelessly dark labyrinth of mysticism and eeriness, where the simplest, most mundane things, like a tombstone or curtains, or the Tank where poor Cratchit does all his work, acquire otherworldly qualities. Interrupting the narration with glibs, comments, and jokes makes you feel like the story is told around the Christmas table or in a warm hearth in front of a softly crackling fire.
At times, I did become suspicious and sceptical of the idealization of Christmas and of the depiction of the Christmas spirit. Dickens aimed for this story to be social commentary that would endorse charity and establish a fairer social care system. But in doing so, he leans more on affecting the reader emotionally than having them use their common sense. In brief, the effects of the story are not long-lasting. You feel sad and hurt and angry when reading about Ignorance and Greed, Man's children, and your heart clenches when you hear of poor Tiny Tim's death but the emotions don't stay with you easily. Societies, from the Victorian era to the 21st-century, are far too desensitized for this story to take full effect and earn a permanent place at one's heart. And what happens to the poor when it's not Christmas? Is the charity and generosity of the rich confined to that time of the year?
But as I said, if you're like me and have linked the story to childhood memories of laughter, Christmas presents, food, and Disney, you'll find it hard to make your heart steel and assess the story as an adult reader.
At times, I did become suspicious and sceptical of the idealization of Christmas and of the depiction of the Christmas spirit. Dickens aimed for this story to be social commentary that would endorse charity and establish a fairer social care system. But in doing so, he leans more on affecting the reader emotionally than having them use their common sense. In brief, the effects of the story are not long-lasting. You feel sad and hurt and angry when reading about Ignorance and Greed, Man's children, and your heart clenches when you hear of poor Tiny Tim's death but the emotions don't stay with you easily. Societies, from the Victorian era to the 21st-century, are far too desensitized for this story to take full effect and earn a permanent place at one's heart. And what happens to the poor when it's not Christmas? Is the charity and generosity of the rich confined to that time of the year?
But as I said, if you're like me and have linked the story to childhood memories of laughter, Christmas presents, food, and Disney, you'll find it hard to make your heart steel and assess the story as an adult reader.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death and Death
Tiny Tim's death is by no means minor! But in terms of how it is described and the references made to it... well... they aren't that explicit. They are just emotionally jarring. You feel the injustice of a little kid dying because the system that was supposed to protect him failed him but you don't explicitly read every gruesome detail of his death. The fear and the fury arise from the suggestion that the kid's death would have easily been avoided if he had proper medical care. But obviously, this is all hypothetical because at the enddrunkoctopus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death