BOOK: A Christmas Carol.
AUTHOR: Charles Dickens.
PUBLISHER: Rupa Publications.
COVER DESIGN: sonalilal@gmail.com
ISBN: 978-81-291-1571-3
RATING: 4/5.
PAGES: 90.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Christmas Carol, a classic, is written by the prolific 19th century author, Charles Dickens. He is celebrated for hiss remarkable characters and mastery of prose in the telling of their lives. Loved for his inestimable contribution to classic English Literature, his good, bad and comic characters and realistic portrayal of contemporary life in Victorian England continue to fascinate readers worldwide.
STORY
The plot revolves around the transformation of a cynic, naysayer, misanthrope Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge into a sprightly, mettlesome and vivacious individual.
How will you feel to have a dead friend and partner in walking in your room, white and transparent, tied with shackles, talking to you?
The fog and frost so hung about the black gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the genius of the weather sat in a mournful meditation on the threshold.
One fine winter morning, rude Mr. Scrooge is sitting in his counting house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal, but, Mr. Scrooge never shivered a hair in his entire life. He was one hard-nosed person! Later that evening, he obliged to his clerks request of a day of leave for Christmas. He walks his way towards his apartment which was shared by his dead friend and partner Mr. Jacob Marley. Ready to sleep, he hears the sound of shackles approaching his room and there he was, Marley,bound with shackles, white and transparent. Scrooge as audacious a person as he was, asked Marley about his shackles and there started his life lessons.
Marley told Scrooge that he has committed many sins throughout his life time for being rough-hewn to everyone he came across. Marley said three ghosts will be visiting him in the coming days and he has to oblige to whatever they say only if he does not want be punished after death.
As foretold by Marley, three ghosts visit him THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST, THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT and THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME. Scrooge is deeply shaken to see all the lives that are disturbed because of his nature, shaken to see what people think of him in his absence and what may happen if he continues with the same behavior.
At the end, when the THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME has left, we see a man totally different from Mr. Scrooge.
There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!
MY THOUGHTS
A Christmas Carol is a marvelous classic that teaches us to be polite and humble to everyone we come across. The writing style adopted to write this piece is impeccable and the characters are lively. You can actually hear them talking with all of their expressions. The transformation of Mr. Scrooge is slow and eventual and the whole story is character driven which is the best part of the book.
This book is a must read for any classic lover.
CHARACTERS
Ebenezer Scrooge - The miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth century term for an accountant's office. The three spirits of Christmas visit the stodgy bean-counter in hopes of reversing Scrooge's greedy, cold-hearted approach to life.
Bob Cratchit - Scrooge's clerk, a kind, mild, and very poor man with a large family. Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and dedicated employee.
Tiny Tim - Bob Cratchit's young son, crippled from birth. Tiny Tim is a highly sentimentalized character who Dickens uses to highlight the tribulations of England's poor and to elicit sympathy from his middle and upper class readership.
Jacob Marley - In the living world, Ebenezer Scrooge's equally greedy partner. Marley died seven years before the narrative opens. He appears to Scrooge as a ghost condemned to wander the world bound in heavy chains. Marley hopes to save his old partner from suff ering a similar fate.
The Ghost Of Christmas Past - The first spirit to visit Scrooge, a curiously childlike apparition with a glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his past. The spirit uses a cap to dampen the light emanating from his head.
The Ghost Of Christmas Present - The second spirit to visit Scrooge, a majestic giant clad in a green robe. His lifespan is restricted to Christmas Day. He escorts Scrooge on a tour of his contemporaries' Holiday celebrations.
The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come - The third and final spirit to visit Scrooge, a silent phantom clad in a hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge with an ominous view of his lonely death.
Fred - Scrooge's nephew, a genial man who loves Christmas. He invites Scrooge to his Christmas party each and every year, only to be refused by his grumpy uncle.
And other minor characters such as Fezziwig, Belle, Peter Cratchit, Martha Cratchit, Fan, The Portly Gentlemen, Mrs. Cratchit.
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