Review: "A Christmas Carol" Classic a Month #12

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
3 out of 5 stars

My final classic for 2012! I am so proud of myself for actually following thru with this particular goal. I've found (and refound) several new favorites and I almost feel edumacated lol. I will definitely be continuing it next year and I think I'll try another Jane Austen in January. So...how did I feel about this Christmas classic? It was kind of meh but I'm glad I read it. I don't think it would have been so "meh" if I wasn't so familiar with the story already though. It is a good story, full of meaning and symbolism and all that stuff but...all I could picture was Scrooge McDuck and Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit.

Scrooge is a curmudgeonly old man and quite wealthy. He has worked himself into such a pit of bitterness, that no one can pull him out. He sacrificed the love of his life, thinking his wealth and fortune and business would make him happy but as his nephew points out, it has not.

"Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough."
"What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough."

For those who don't know the basic story (if anyone?): Scrooge is visited Christmas Eve night by his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who has been dead 7 years that day. Marley's ghost tells Scrooge that he will be haunted by Three Spirits and that he'd better pay attention or he will be doomed to haunt the Earth like Marley, wrapped in chains and tormented by his evil deeds. Scrooge is freaked, goes to sleep, and is woken at one in the morning by each of the three Spirits: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They each show him things about himself that he'd rather forget or not know at all. How he used to be happy, grew greedy, lost his family and loves, became the bitter old man he now is, and what will happen if he continues on this path.

Honestly, if you watch the Jim Carrey movie version, it's the closest adaptation I've seen in a while and you'll get the same feeling as reading the book. I loved old Fezziwig and the Spirit of Christmas Present was pretty cool, even with his whorly chestal hair and those icky kids under his robe. :p Christmas Past creeped me out in both the book and movie, too fidgety and the high-pitched voice made my skin crawl. Tiny Tim made me teary-eyed, bad and good. When Scrooge finally learns his lesson and vows to change, it made me cheer. The hope and joy he feels makes you want to change too, be a better person, give more, feel more. And I guess that's the whole point of this story, isn't it?

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach." "God bless Us, Every One!"