This was a wonderful explanation of A Christmas Carol. Thank you so much! I'm going to read it for the first time this year but I have seen many adaptations over my 77 years! My mother loved to watch it so it became a family tradition in our house. In later years I watched it with my dearly departed mother-in-law who was English from Stoke-on-Trent and came to the US after WWII as a "war bride". Then in more recent years, a priest at our church shared that he reads the novella every year and encouraged others to read it. Also, in the homeschool academy my grandchildren attend, the eighth graders perform a stage production each year. I agree that it does so much to evoke the true meaning of Christmas about how being kind and helping others ultimately brings us happiness. I'm looking forward to watching your other video interpretations of the story as well. Thank you!
What a thoughtful, inspiring and informative video this is. Even those who have read it can now be aware of so much more after viewing your video. Wonderfully done.
Thank you for the break down, it was excellent. I’m just reading A Christmas Carol, & watching my favourite film version at the same time. I love the story. I’m not one who sees all this information & knowledge in the lines, so your break down was interesting for me.
@ ok mine most of all is Patrick Stewart & Richard E Grants version. I do like others, I also, sorry about this, love the muppets Christmas carol starring Michael Caine, sorry about that.
@@mandysmith1646 Don't be sorry. The muppet version is actually very good. I'm partial to the Alastair Sim version having watched it every Christmas Eve when I was a kid. I also like Albert Finney because he played both old and young Scrooge.
I watched a discussion video last year which has stuck with me, it talked about how in a Christmas Carol its about harkening back to the nostalgia of the Middle Age Christmas, where Boxing Day began and the landlords giving to their tenants. How Scrooge and Cratchit represent that dynamic again at the end of the book. That it focuses on even with Industrialisation and the shift into the cities, how the traditions of Christmas had a huge change during the Victorian period. I love how theres so much to discuss in this tiny book that is probably one of the most adapted stories.
I love this video so much! Thank you Katie ❤ I am now going to buy a Christmas Carol to read 📖 this video has convinced me... I've been thinking of it for a while as I love the story so much already through films I've seen, but definitely keen to buy it now to read xx
I finished reading the novella today. It's the first Dickens' work I read and what a great introduction it was 😃. I loved a Christmas Carol and Dickens' writing style 😊. It set me in a Christmas mood 🎄. I'm looking forward to read Dickens' other xmas stories. Thank you Katie for the insights you gave us about this novella 😁
Fascinating overview, thanks. I had always thought of Scrooge as being a sort of gentleman but I see now that his background is lower down the scale. I too love ACC - definitely an essential part of Christmas!
That was a fantastic observation you made about the Names of the Characters not appearing until Scrooge begins to change! C.D. was indeed a very powerful writer! ~ Dombey
Thank you, I enjoyed this. I had no idea that The Spirit of Christmas Present was Santa. Very interesting. My parents always made sure we understood about the children under his protection, Ignorance and Want, they wanted us to understand how important it was we understood those two things are the cause of most strife and tragedy. I had no idea about the ovens either, that was very, interesting. I always wondered why they picked it up at the bakers. I think I have seen every adaption of the novel but my favorite is Alistair Sims version of it, because his transition from miserable and mean man, to happy and generous man is so well done. Even him giggling to himself at the office that he can't help being happy, he doesn't deserve it, but he can't help it. Lovely chat, thank you,
Thank you for the historical context. We too used to have a roast on Sunday and leftovers for a few days and now I know where that comes from. Very interesting.
I just finished listening to the Audrey audio book of A Christmas Carol, and loved it. I was sure I had read it a least once in the past. Now I'm questioning that, though with my faulty memory I may have read it. Listening to the wonderful rich prose, I suspect if I had read it before, I would have read more of Dickens' other work by now, and would have reread A Christmas Carol from time to time. I might have just been so familiar with it through various adaptations and hearing snippets of it quoted here and there that I thought I had read it. Commander Data playing Scrooge in an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation is one adaptation that comes to mind. From that episode, I clearly remember Data delivering the "more of gravy than of grave" line. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the Christmas Dickens Readalong.
Thank you Katie for your insights into A Christmas Carol! Very interesting. I just love it and it always puts me in the Christmas spirit so thank you for that. I don’t think it is canon but I always thought the reason he doesn’t take care of Fred the way he promised was because she died after giving birth and that was tied back to his own mother dying after she had Ebenezer, and the reason why his father was unkind.
Thank you Katie. This was a wonderful interpretation of The Christmas Carol. I have seen the movie numerous times, but never read the book. Reading the actual book and your video has started my Christmas season in a most meaningful way. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks Katie for this interesting video. I too thought Ebeneezer was responsible for his own choices, focused so strongly on wealth creation that he grew distant from his fiancée (much to his regret later) I remembered watching an animated version in the early 1970s and the children Ignorance and Want scared me every time- young Gollums
I love that you mentioned the Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton! It's one of my favorite moments in Dickens. On Monday at the university library we stumbled on a lovely illustrated edition of Dickens's fairy-tale "The Magic Fishbone" from his Christmas-themed 1868 collection Holiday Romance. It's so strange and so subversive and so funny, and I'm convinced that if he'd written a few more fairy-tales he'd be considered one of the greatest who ever did it. You may have already read it but I can't recommend it enough.
When I read Pickwick Papers, I thought that was an abbreviated version of A Christmas Carol. It's actually included in a Christmas story anthology I just bought.
Thank you for this energetic, enthusiastic, entertaining, and informative account and overview of A Christmas Carol. Can you recommend a good version (paperback or hardbound) of A Christmas Carol which ALSO includes all of the holiday stories Dickens wrote? Which one would you suggest?
Christianity probably did not fit so well with Dickens' later lifestyle, but I read A Christmas Carol every year. Freedom of religion also includes freedom from religion, but my own belief was best described by Emerson, "I cannot see the ocean from my armchair, but I know it is there."
9:50 To pick up on your mentioning of Scrooge as a stand-in and why the characters in ACC might seem flat to our eyes: Maybe first readers of ACC all knew a Scrooge and a Cratchit in their personal lifes and could easily fill in the details. An elaborate backstory to the characters might have only stood in the way of the readers' empathy.
Dicken's tone in ACC and his method of telling the story and his character building (the flatness) may be entirely intentional because of what kind of story this is. Unlike his contemporary and historical fictions, which are presented as realist (we can believe characters can and do behave like his characters even if they are "types"), his Christmas stories should be viewed as fables with meaning, or even hopeful fantasies, like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, or even the Bible. The Lessons Learned or the Message, or the way the story works out in fables like ACC, as crafted by the author, is the only thing that matters; nihilism does not exist. Game of Thrones is a fantasy via being fantastic (not realist), but its philosophy is nihilist.
A modern critic might suggest that Dickens reveals his (then) sense, in Oliver Twist, that Fagin was evil and unredeemable (a racist judgement) whereas Scrooge did not learn the lessons he was exposed to as a child and fell into bad practice, but because he had Christian beginnings, he was (potentially) redeemable, which is what happened via intervention of caring spirits. Dickens obviously evolved in his beliefs through his life, but we might also guess he harbored strong personal Christian beliefs and he accepted the teachings of Jesus.
@@MartinDSmith True, CD likely would have been in sympathy with the sentiments of the so-called Prayer of Saint Francis, but since it was (likely) not written until 1912 and was in French and not composed by Francis, Dickens was (likely) not aware of it. The French never seem to be presented in particularly favorable ways by our dear Chuck, but we all have our crosses to bear.
He is a "weird little man" yet so many around him sense the icy veneer can be cracked. I don't know about you, but maybe there's some hint that the awful fate awaits him in the afterlife isn't proportional to his hoarding of gold coins. Would it be helpful to learn more about the circumstances of his engagement? Perhaps Scrooge met someone else? Maybe someone older to initiate him into adult relationships? He seems to feel some self-revulsion but being a short story not a novel or even novela that's all just speculation.
This was a wonderful explanation of A Christmas Carol. Thank you so much! I'm going to read it for the first time this year but I have seen many adaptations over my 77 years! My mother loved to watch it so it became a family tradition in our house. In later years I watched it with my dearly departed mother-in-law who was English from Stoke-on-Trent and came to the US after WWII as a "war bride". Then in more recent years, a priest at our church shared that he reads the novella every year and encouraged others to read it. Also, in the homeschool academy my grandchildren attend, the eighth graders perform a stage production each year. I agree that it does so much to evoke the true meaning of Christmas about how being kind and helping others ultimately brings us happiness. I'm looking forward to watching your other video interpretations of the story as well. Thank you!
This puts me in the holiday spirit. Thank you, Katie.🎄
Your enthusiasm is infectious! I really appreciate how you explain the social history along with the story. 🙂
What a thoughtful, inspiring and informative video this is. Even those who have read it can now be aware of so much more after viewing your video. Wonderfully done.
Thank you for the break down, it was excellent. I’m just reading A Christmas Carol, & watching my favourite film version at the same time. I love the story. I’m not one who sees all this information & knowledge in the lines, so your break down was interesting for me.
What is your favourite film version of A Christmas Carol? Everyone seems to have a favourite. There are many excellent versions.
@ ok mine most of all is Patrick Stewart & Richard E Grants version. I do like others, I also, sorry about this, love the muppets Christmas carol starring Michael Caine, sorry about that.
@@mandysmith1646 Don't be sorry. The muppet version is actually very good. I'm partial to the Alastair Sim version having watched it every Christmas Eve when I was a kid. I also like Albert Finney because he played both old and young Scrooge.
I watched a discussion video last year which has stuck with me, it talked about how in a Christmas Carol its about harkening back to the nostalgia of the Middle Age Christmas, where Boxing Day began and the landlords giving to their tenants. How Scrooge and Cratchit represent that dynamic again at the end of the book. That it focuses on even with Industrialisation and the shift into the cities, how the traditions of Christmas had a huge change during the Victorian period. I love how theres so much to discuss in this tiny book that is probably one of the most adapted stories.
I really enjoyed the information about ovens and the bakers!
Thanks, we are enjoying listening to A Christmas Carol from Borrow Box. And I found your novel in Dorchester library last week! 😀
I love this video so much! Thank you Katie ❤ I am now going to buy a Christmas Carol to read 📖 this video has convinced me... I've been thinking of it for a while as I love the story so much already through films I've seen, but definitely keen to buy it now to read xx
I finished reading the novella today. It's the first Dickens' work I read and what a great introduction it was 😃. I loved a Christmas Carol and Dickens' writing style 😊. It set me in a Christmas mood 🎄. I'm looking forward to read Dickens' other xmas stories. Thank you Katie for the insights you gave us about this novella 😁
I really enjoyed this❤
I agree about the opening paragraphs - discussing the use of door nails or coffin nails in the simile is fantastic way to begin the story.
The historical context was fascinating. I had no idea that people used to use the baker's oven.
Fascinating overview, thanks. I had always thought of Scrooge as being a sort of gentleman but I see now that his background is lower down the scale. I too love ACC - definitely an essential part of Christmas!
Thank you - this was so interesting. So many things I had never thought of from Christmas Carol - it really is a complete story. 😀
That was a fantastic observation you made about the Names of the Characters not appearing until Scrooge begins to change!
C.D. was indeed a very powerful writer!
~ Dombey
Thank you, I enjoyed this. I had no idea that The Spirit of Christmas Present was Santa. Very interesting. My parents always made sure we understood about the children under his protection, Ignorance and Want, they wanted us to understand how important it was we understood those two things are the cause of most strife and tragedy. I had no idea about the ovens either, that was very, interesting. I always wondered why they picked it up at the bakers. I think I have seen every adaption of the novel but my favorite is Alistair Sims version of it, because his transition from miserable and mean man, to happy and generous man is so well done. Even him giggling to himself at the office that he can't help being happy, he doesn't deserve it, but he can't help it. Lovely chat, thank you,
Thank you for the historical context. We too used to have a roast on Sunday and leftovers for a few days and now I know where that comes from. Very interesting.
I just finished listening to the Audrey audio book of A Christmas Carol, and loved it. I was sure I had read it a least once in the past. Now I'm questioning that, though with my faulty memory I may have read it. Listening to the wonderful rich prose, I suspect if I had read it before, I would have read more of Dickens' other work by now, and would have reread A Christmas Carol from time to time. I might have just been so familiar with it through various adaptations and hearing snippets of it quoted here and there that I thought I had read it. Commander Data playing Scrooge in an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation is one adaptation that comes to mind. From that episode, I clearly remember Data delivering the "more of gravy than of grave" line. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the Christmas Dickens Readalong.
I reread A Christmas Carol every year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it's become a (relatively recent) tradition for me and I love it!
Thank you Katie for your insights into A Christmas Carol! Very interesting. I just love it and it always puts me in the Christmas spirit so thank you for that. I don’t think it is canon but I always thought the reason he doesn’t take care of Fred the way he promised was because she died after giving birth and that was tied back to his own mother dying after she had Ebenezer, and the reason why his father was unkind.
Thank you Katie. This was a wonderful interpretation of The Christmas Carol. I have seen the movie numerous times, but never read the book. Reading the actual book and your video has started my Christmas season in a most meaningful way. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks Katie for this interesting video. I too thought Ebeneezer was responsible for his own choices, focused so strongly on wealth creation that he grew distant from his fiancée (much to his regret later)
I remembered watching an animated version in the early 1970s and the children Ignorance and Want scared me every time- young Gollums
Another amazing and wonderful book to read five 5️⃣ stars 🌟 family book 📕 of all time ❤❤❤
Very interesting point about the lack of ovens at home. Had never really thought about that.
Really interesting re the Sunday roast introduction
I love that you mentioned the Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton! It's one of my favorite moments in Dickens. On Monday at the university library we stumbled on a lovely illustrated edition of Dickens's fairy-tale "The Magic Fishbone" from his Christmas-themed 1868 collection Holiday Romance. It's so strange and so subversive and so funny, and I'm convinced that if he'd written a few more fairy-tales he'd be considered one of the greatest who ever did it. You may have already read it but I can't recommend it enough.
lol i get my out the first of December I Love Christmas Carl too and it’s my favourite too
Thank you Katie?
When I read Pickwick Papers, I thought that was an abbreviated version of A Christmas Carol. It's actually included in a Christmas story anthology I just bought.
Thank you for this energetic, enthusiastic, entertaining, and informative account and overview of A Christmas Carol. Can you recommend a good version (paperback or hardbound) of A Christmas Carol which ALSO includes all of the holiday stories Dickens wrote? Which one would you suggest?
Christianity probably did not fit so well with Dickens' later lifestyle, but I read A Christmas Carol every year. Freedom of religion also includes freedom from religion, but my own belief was best described by Emerson, "I cannot see the ocean from my armchair, but I know it is there."
Oh, that's an interesting factoid - to think there was a bit of a draft/dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol 😲
9:50 To pick up on your mentioning of Scrooge as a stand-in and why the characters in ACC might seem flat to our eyes: Maybe first readers of ACC all knew a Scrooge and a Cratchit in their personal lifes and could easily fill in the details. An elaborate backstory to the characters might have only stood in the way of the readers' empathy.
Dicken's tone in ACC and his method of telling the story and his character building (the flatness) may be entirely intentional because of what kind of story this is. Unlike his contemporary and historical fictions, which are presented as realist (we can believe characters can and do behave like his characters even if they are "types"), his Christmas stories should be viewed as fables with meaning, or even hopeful fantasies, like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, or even the Bible.
The Lessons Learned or the Message, or the way the story works out in fables like ACC, as crafted by the author, is the only thing that matters; nihilism does not exist. Game of Thrones is a fantasy via being fantastic (not realist), but its philosophy is nihilist.
I liken Scrooge to a civilised version of Fagin from Oliver Twist,however the former was destined for salvation.
A modern critic might suggest that Dickens reveals his (then) sense, in Oliver Twist, that Fagin was evil and unredeemable (a racist judgement) whereas Scrooge did not learn the lessons he was exposed to as a child and fell into bad practice, but because he had Christian beginnings, he was (potentially) redeemable, which is what happened via intervention of caring spirits. Dickens obviously evolved in his beliefs through his life, but we might also guess he harbored strong personal Christian beliefs and he accepted the teachings of Jesus.
@kevinrussell-jp6om Dickens certainly would not have had a problem in reciting the prayer of Saint Francis.
@@MartinDSmith True, CD likely would have been in sympathy with the sentiments of the so-called Prayer of Saint Francis, but since it was (likely) not written until 1912 and was in French and not composed by Francis, Dickens was (likely) not aware of it.
The French never seem to be presented in particularly favorable ways by our dear Chuck, but we all have our crosses to bear.
⚛❤
He is a "weird little man" yet so many around him sense the icy veneer can be cracked. I don't know about you, but maybe there's some hint that the awful fate awaits him in the afterlife isn't proportional to his hoarding of gold coins. Would it be helpful to learn more about the circumstances of his engagement? Perhaps Scrooge met someone else? Maybe someone older to initiate him into adult relationships? He seems to feel some self-revulsion but being a short story not a novel or even novela that's all just speculation.