Release Date: December 19, 1843 | Rerelease: June 1, 1991 (unabridged edition)
Ebeneze Scrooge is a miser that considers the Christmas tradition frivolous and an employee having a paid day off as a way to pick a man’s pocket. He is visited by three spirits that will show him who he is and where he’s going if his cruel ways continue.
Dickens wrote [easyazon_link identifier=”0486268659″ locale=”US” tag=”rabidreaders-20″]A Christmas Carol (Dover Thrift Editions)[/easyazon_link] in six weeks. Reputedly influenced by his own experiences as a disadvantaged youth, Dickens shows the folly of a society without kindness. Like much of his work, Dickens cautionary tale is bleak but ends with a change of heart and an effervescent enthusiasm that becomes the touch point of the season.
There are no spoilers for[easyazon_link identifier=”0486268659″ locale=”US” tag=”rabidreaders-20″]A Christmas Carol (Dover Thrift Editions)[/easyazon_link]. If you haven’t read the book, you’ve likely seen one of the countless versions from a “Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol” to the 1939 classic now played seasonally on network television. Readers of this blog will have heard of or remember seeing it as televised version with the cheery “What day is it boy?” called from Scrooge’s window. Dickens wrote a man truly transformed by an examination of a lonely life and unmourned death. To add to the weight of the moment, Dickens included an overworked employee with an invalid innocent whose plight is amplified by the “tiny” moniker. Some may call the story emotional blackmail. Live a good life or no matter your success you won’t attract friends to be by your side to give comfort in dark times. One man living the karma he earns.
People will tell you how important it is to be charitable at Christmas, but I think the larger moral lies in the fact that we live by what we earn. If like Scrooge (a name now synonymous with a tight-fisted nature), you live for the dollar, you will die with false friends looking to take what they can get and celebrating that you’re gone. The story poses the question as to if it’s better to be business-minded or loved, which is a question many of us still ask ourselves today.
[easyazon_link identifier=”0486268659″ locale=”US” tag=”rabidreaders-20″]A Christmas Carol (Dover Thrift Editions)[/easyazon_link] has never been out of print. It’s both timeless and timely. If you need some holiday classic lessons in your life, pick it up today.You can download A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for free on Amazon or buy a print version
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