Christmas Books | Charles Dickens
"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor."
There are five books in this collections - well, long stories to be more precise. I knew of only one - the ever famous 'A Christmas Carol' that has been adapted in many ways by many mediums - the others' mere existence was a novelty for me. So I was excited to get to it. But - I regret to inform you that I found the 'Carol' to be the best work and the others aren't really festive. The stories offer Dickens' usual fare of social commentary and moral lessons. They can be really depressing, actually. As for their Christmas factor, I equate them to the 'Die Hard' debate - is it a Christmas film or not? I say not because it's merely set around Christmastime but possesses nothing that constitutes a festive story. The same with the following tales.
"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
A Christmas Carol - The tale of a miser, "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner" Ebenezer Scrooge. He hates Christmas and hates people, looking only for profit in every one of his dealings. On Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner Marley who then sends three ghosts his way - of Past, Present and Future. Being confronted with past traumas, current neglect and future tragedies, Scrooge learns to appreciate people and changes his ways. I mean, this is a classic in the Anglophone world, but I bet there are many people who think they know the story but have never actually read it. Maybe give it a go this Christmas.
"The New Year, the New Year. Everywhere the New Year! The Old Year was already looked upon as dead; and its effects were selling cheap, like some drowned mariner's aboard ship."
The Chimes - A very depressing New Year's Eve story of a man called Toby Veck. He is a ticket-porter and is very poor, living with his daughter Meg. Nothing much happens here but he goes up to the church bells he admires daily and there encounters goblins that ring them. They show him the future, which is very dark. This story is a lot of philosophizing, an overdone morality tale that is way too depressing for a holiday book. The stakes are nonexistent as well - the trick doesn't work here because Scrooge needed to change, Toby did not. His circumstances are not due to him being a terrible person. I found this one boring and not holiday themed at all.
"Every man thinks his own geese swans."
A Cricket on the Hearth - A domestic, sentimental tale that follows two families, the Peerybingles and the the Plummers. The domestic bliss is the main focus here, with the life at home being described as the ultimate wealth and happiness. Contrasted with these two families there is the wealthy, Scrooge-like, toy seller Mr Tackleton whose coldness makes his life bereft of such tender feelings as the members of these families possess. The titular cricket is a sort of guardian fairy of the Peerybingle family. It's a strange little story, thin on plot but overbloated on sentimentality. It also has nothing to do with Christmas, but I suppose they consider it a Christmas book because it was originally published around that time. Who knows?
"We count by changes and events within us. Not years."
The Battle of Life - Another one of the stories that is considered to be a Christmas book simply due to the time it was published, not because it has anything to do with the holiday itself. The initial plot takes place on a long-forgotten battlefield. Then we're introduced to Dr. Jeddler and his two daughters. It's mainly a "love story" of a young woman who fakes an elopement ad hides for years so her fiance would realize he's in love with her sister and marry her. I can't even... Jeddler sees life as meaningless and silly, and the best approach is not to care about anything, with his friends thinking life is eaither too hard or to easy these days. They all learn their lesson in the end.
"Your voice and music are the same to me."
The Haunted Man - Mr Redlaw, a chemistry teacher, is our protagonist here. He often broods over the wrongs he has suffered in the past and the grief that befell him. One night he sees a specter - of himself? And this ghost offers him something he crave deeply, the ability to forget his past troubles and not dwell on them anymore. As an added gift, the ghost bestows upon him the ability to erase the memories of all he touches. We are introduces also to the Tetterby family who all love each other, but after being 'infected' by Redlaw's gift they start deforming and becoming cruel, callous, caring nothing for each other and always fighting. In the end, this could be seen as a story of confronting one's demons, coming to terms with one's past and reconciling the good memories with the bad for they both make us into who we are. Still, why is this a Christmas book?
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