The cheerful poverty of the Cratchit family in A Christmas Carol, is a sure-fire tear-jerker. At one public reading by Dickens in Boston, there were “so many pocket handkerchiefs it looked as if a snowstorm had gotten into the hall”
Sunday Express

The cheerful poverty of the Cratchit family in A Christmas Carol, is a sure-fire tear-jerker. At one public reading by Dickens in Boston, there were “so many pocket handkerchiefs it looked as if a snowstorm had gotten into the hall”
Sunday Express

It has it all: a spooky ghost story, a heartwarming redemption and a great plot with a satisfyingly ending
The Times

It has it all: a spooky ghost story, a heartwarming redemption and a great plot with a satisfyingly ending
The Times

A story which, perhaps more than any other, sums up the spirit of the British Christmas
Sunday Telegraph

A story which, perhaps more than any other, sums up the spirit of the British Christmas
Sunday Telegraph

One of the great achievements of British culture
D.J. Taylor,

One of the great achievements of British culture
D.J. Taylor,

But that story endures and retains the power to move us because it speaks to the human heart, and gives us hope when hope is fading
Tony Parsons, Mirror

But that story endures and retains the power to move us because it speaks to the human heart, and gives us hope when hope is fading
Tony Parsons, Mirror

A little masterpiece…irresistible
Sunday Express

A little masterpiece…irresistible
Sunday Express

After 150 years still have the power to fascinate readers
Contemporary Review

After 150 years still have the power to fascinate readers
Contemporary Review

Cherith Fuller 07 December 2011

You probably read this a long time ago. You remember the story because it is a part of our Christmas traditions, and you may well have mental images derived from various films and TV adaptations. What you probably don't remember is how fresh and entertaining and funny it is. Read it again and be astonished.

adrian ham 07 December 2011

Astounding to read 'A Christmas Carol' again after many years, and to find it fresh, vibrant and relevant. In a world of selfish bankers, growing inequality and the simple humanity of some of those at the bottom of the heap we see a reflection of our own world . There is much in this book that shows Dickens' ideas and imagination finding new directions.

Gof Fairbairn 16 December 2011

This was a joy to read for our book group and had a very definite feel good factor.

I particularly enjoyed the way Dickens engaged the reader as illustrated in the passage about Scrooge's nephews laugh "if you know of a man more blest in a laugh .....then I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me and I'll cultivate his acquaintance".

Although an indictment of 19C industrial capitalism Dickens empathy and personal experiences made this more about the poverty of emotional feeling displayed by Scrooge. he illustrated the possibility of joy overcoming adversity.

I do however sometimes find Dickens characters too one dimensional and not sufficiently developed in his early books. Sometimes the characters are too either good or evil.

Finally the sense of humour and descriptive style was without peer in the passage about Mrs Cratchit delivering the Christmas pudding.