Christmas Carols
I'm sick at home today and drugging up watching TV - as you do when you feel like death. But I thought that I would take the opportunity to give a little review on the Charles Dickens classic that I just read on the weekend for the Christmas meeting of my little Book Club: A Christmas Carol.
Dickens, as most Classic authors, is not as easy to read as the sort of thing you find now; he wrote in another time when language was different and thus the way in which he constructed his prose comes across as particularly difficult. I, who love the language of Shakespeare, still find Dickens hard to wrap my head around and have managed to put them off for this long. Although finally, for the sake of the season and enjoyment, we chose to do it for Book Club and I found that even though the language is difficult it was pretty much just wonderful.
The novel is divided into five 'staves' starting with the visit from Marley's ghost and ending with the day after Christmas when he apologises to Cratchit. The first part is probably my favourite because it was the most quotable and probably the most terrifying. No one can tell me that Marley's ghost isn't frightening, even when portrayed by the Grumpy Old Men of the Muppets, because there's just something so creepy about a melancholic spirit covered in chains of misdeed. It's an image well-constructed to make you rethink the way you live and the way you think about eternal punishment.
"If I could work my will...every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." - Just in case you were in any doubt about how much of an asshat Scrooge was before the spirits got to him.
But despite the well-versed characterisation of one of the literate world's most famous wankers, A Christmas Carol is also the story of the modern Victorian Christmas; prior to this 19th century Christmas was quite a different affair in England - it wasn't until Queen Victoria and Prince Albert took the throne that Christmas started to become the sort of holiday event that we know now. Albert's Germanic influences brought mainland European traditions to England like gingerbread, and it was this new idea of Christmas as a celebration of family, friends and goodwill that Dickens writes about in his famous novel. Christmas is not just about the Birth of Christ, not anymore, and that is probably why I find this story so appealing; it talks about love, family, friendship, good will, charity, happiness and kindness interlaced with the magical atmosphere that Christmas casts on the world. As a friend of mine stated, Christmas is a time of magic and miracles that doesn't necessarily have to do with your religion, even if Victorian morals are rather of the same kind of ilk as Christian morals are. The idea that someone as bitter and jaded as Scrooge can have a change of heart at this time of year leaves you well with the notion that this magical time of year can fix all sorts of other problems as well, and promotes a certain level of carefree and optimistic nature.
Believing in the impossible, the magical and the miraculous, spending time with family, friends and loved ones, and feeling light-hearted, happy and optimistic, to me, is exactly what Christmas is all about. I'm not religious so I don't necessarily celebrate that so much, but the spirit of giving, goodwill and peace on earth are still things that I believe in - especially at this time of year.
And in a sort of way of showing just how much I love it, I decided to write another Christmas story. I didn't want to write about anyone you already know, like Eleanor, Daphne or even Allora, so I thought about it and came across someone new that I can't wait to introduce you to!
Now many of you have probably seen the Muppet's Christmas Carol, which is one of my all-time favourite Christmas movies alongside The Grinch, Jingle All the Way and the Nightmare Before Christmas, but if you haven't then I would highly recommend it. Not only for the fact that it is an incredibly clever, funny and simply charming holiday movie that is guaranteed to leave you feeling fuzzy and festive, but also for the way that it actually follows the Dickens original quite closely. The movie is just full of smart little homages to the Christmas classic that will spring out if you have read it but still work their effect even if you haven't.
Dickens, as most Classic authors, is not as easy to read as the sort of thing you find now; he wrote in another time when language was different and thus the way in which he constructed his prose comes across as particularly difficult. I, who love the language of Shakespeare, still find Dickens hard to wrap my head around and have managed to put them off for this long. Although finally, for the sake of the season and enjoyment, we chose to do it for Book Club and I found that even though the language is difficult it was pretty much just wonderful.
I would argue that most people are pretty familiar with the story of A Christmas Carol already; everyone knows about the change of heart Scrooge went through after being visited by four spirits (including the terrifying, chained ghost of his old partner, Marley) one Christmas Eve. However, I doubt that many of you have actually read it and I have to say I recommend that you all do so. Despite the language, I genuinely think that it is perhaps one of the most heart warming, moralistic and well-written stories of all time. Say what you want about Dickens but the man did have a way with words that puts some modern authors to shame.
The novel is divided into five 'staves' starting with the visit from Marley's ghost and ending with the day after Christmas when he apologises to Cratchit. The first part is probably my favourite because it was the most quotable and probably the most terrifying. No one can tell me that Marley's ghost isn't frightening, even when portrayed by the Grumpy Old Men of the Muppets, because there's just something so creepy about a melancholic spirit covered in chains of misdeed. It's an image well-constructed to make you rethink the way you live and the way you think about eternal punishment.
In the method of applauding Dickensian prose, here are a couple of my favourite quotes from the first stave;
"Marley was dead, to begin with." - this is actually the first line of the book itself and I legitimately can't think of a better opening line for any book that I've read. Immediately Dickens hooks you with questions and mystery - who is Marley? Why is he dead, and what does stating his death so adamantly have to do with the story? It immediately sets the scene for the cold, grey, and eerie atmosphere that accompanies the first stave.
"If I could work my will...every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." - Just in case you were in any doubt about how much of an asshat Scrooge was before the spirits got to him.
"If they would rather die...they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." - On the poor; once again, Scrooge was a total prat.
But despite the well-versed characterisation of one of the literate world's most famous wankers, A Christmas Carol is also the story of the modern Victorian Christmas; prior to this 19th century Christmas was quite a different affair in England - it wasn't until Queen Victoria and Prince Albert took the throne that Christmas started to become the sort of holiday event that we know now. Albert's Germanic influences brought mainland European traditions to England like gingerbread, and it was this new idea of Christmas as a celebration of family, friends and goodwill that Dickens writes about in his famous novel. Christmas is not just about the Birth of Christ, not anymore, and that is probably why I find this story so appealing; it talks about love, family, friendship, good will, charity, happiness and kindness interlaced with the magical atmosphere that Christmas casts on the world. As a friend of mine stated, Christmas is a time of magic and miracles that doesn't necessarily have to do with your religion, even if Victorian morals are rather of the same kind of ilk as Christian morals are. The idea that someone as bitter and jaded as Scrooge can have a change of heart at this time of year leaves you well with the notion that this magical time of year can fix all sorts of other problems as well, and promotes a certain level of carefree and optimistic nature. Believing in the impossible, the magical and the miraculous, spending time with family, friends and loved ones, and feeling light-hearted, happy and optimistic, to me, is exactly what Christmas is all about. I'm not religious so I don't necessarily celebrate that so much, but the spirit of giving, goodwill and peace on earth are still things that I believe in - especially at this time of year.
I loved reading A Christmas Carol, and I would probably read it again next year. There's nothing better to me than the feeling I get at this time of year and the sense of ease that it puts me in. If you're looking for a fun holiday read to get you into the spirit than go no further than the classic. But I've also got a list of Christmas stories you may like when you're done, starting with the wonderful Lindsey Kelk's latest: I Heart Christmas.
I do, too, Lindsey.
And in a sort of way of showing just how much I love it, I decided to write another Christmas story. I didn't want to write about anyone you already know, like Eleanor, Daphne or even Allora, so I thought about it and came across someone new that I can't wait to introduce you to!
My Christmas story revolves around the Twelve days of Christmas and the lyrics of the carol, so in the spirit of relativity look forward to the first part on the 13th of December; it's an important day, you know, it's both Friday the 13th and the first day of Christmas!
Happy Christmas!
Sam xox
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