I started watching A Christmas Carol with my mom when I was a little girl, and we still watch it every Christmas, although maybe not together. We watch the 1951 version with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. All other versions are wrong/inferior, except for the Muppet version, which is the second best version and also acceptable, because Muppets. That the Alastair Sim version of the film is the best version is one of the pettiest hills I’m willing to die on.

It wasn’t until I was older that I actually read the story. I try to read it most Christmases now, but don’t always succeed. I did in 2018, though. I’m not going to bother recapping it, as it’s a very popular/well known story, but I recommend everyone read it even if they don’t celebrate Christmas, rather than just watch the film. Or listen to the audiobook, that’s fun too., I’ve found that reading Dickens is a joy as long as you aren’t in school. Yes, he is quite wordy, but that is part of what makes it fun. His language is magic all its own.

As with many books gone Hollywood, reading the book is different than the film. I quite enjoyed the book, and it gave me one of my favorite opening lines ever:

Marley was dead: to begin with.

Come on! That’s great!

There are some other really famous lines too, which I love quoting at people who don’t necessarily know what I’m talking about (because I, too, can be a smug asshole). “Are there no prisons!? Are there no workhouses!?”

I also like the end, that Scrooge learns to “keep Christmas in his heart.” The entire thing is beautifully written in a way only Dickens ever seemed to master.

There’s also a lot of history surrounding A Christmas Carol (as there is around a lot of Dickens’ stories) and I find it particularly enjoyable for some reason, possibly because I connect it with the happy Christmases and nostalgia of when I was young, possibly because it’s just very interesting, and possibly just because it’s good. Is there a better story that embodies the spirit of Christmas?

The Victorians more or less developed the celebrations and traditions of modern Christmas. From caroling to Christmas trees, if you’re familiar with it, they developed it or popularized it. Maybe that’s a little broad, but it is generally accurate. The story is considered a zeitgeist of the Victorian age which I heard somewhere but also read on Wikipedia later so maybe that was stolen?

The legacy of the story is one that still touches us today. In the west, we frequently “do” Dickens’ vision of Christmas – we visit friends and family, give to the poor, sing songs, have dances, play games, have a special meal and take a day off from work. We’re more optimistic and more generous than we usually are. We “keep Christmas” the way Dickens’ Scrooge kept Christmas.

I’m sure not everyone loves the story as much as I do, and the actual realities of life at the time clash with the optimism of the story. But I firmly think this is a story that should be read by everyone for the language, lasting legacy, and cultural currency.

Tagged: authors: charles dickens, books gone hollywood, books: a christmas carol, genre: fiction, genre: supernatural