You are spot on-The Haunted Man is the second best of Dickens’ Christmas novellas. I read it yesterday and couldn’t agree more. Next for me is The Chimes, The Battle of Life, and The Cricket on the Hearth. Katie, I hope you and Nick had a Happy Christmas!
The Haunted Man is my favourite of all of Dickens works. I just love everything about it! Merry Christmas Katie, thank you for all your wonderful uploads, I thoroughly enjoy them. Also, I just finished Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst and it’s FANTASTIC! Seriously 5 Stars!
Merry Christmas Katie! I didn't participate on this Christmas Dickensalong but watching your videos I started to feel that I should read this novellas!
Thank you so much, Katie! I so appreciate your insights into Dickens’ Christmas books. I’m really glad to have read them and to have you as a guide through them. It must be a little bittersweet for you to have completed all the novels and Christmas novellas. Congratulations!
Thank you for these reflection videos on the Christmas stories. The passage you read here also brought a tear to my eye. Dickens can be so absurd but also so serious and moving. Also, sign me up for a Victorian Christmas Readalong! That sounds like it would be fun!
I have the same rating order as you. I love The Haunted Man and totally agree that it’s the best story after A Christmas Carol. I think it’s so thought provoking and interesting. I reread Dickens novellas every year at Christmas, but I wait until New Year’s Eve to read The Chimes. 😊
You're not alone in your ranking of The Haunted Man. I would also rank it second behind A Christmas Carol, and agree that they are on another level above the other Christmas Novellas. I also enjoyed the Jonathan Keeble audio book, though to my American ears it sounded like the old man kept giving his age in hex. Someone should point out to him that 8E7 would equal 2,279 in decimal. 🙂
The unnamed child is the near relation of the orphans of Oliver Twist,the suffering pupils of Dotheboys of Nicholas Nickleby,Jo the sweeper of Bleak House... and yes how many female and male versions of Johnny and the baby have existed since time immemorial.😊
O what a season to read Mr Charles Dickens, not as far-reaching as say Chronicles of Riddick, not so heart-wrenching to alert your local medic, a moving narrative with the pace of an Andy Caddick.
Maybe in "The Haunted Man" Dickens explores the idea of a purely egotistical world, where people are nothing beyond a representation of oneself personified without substance. Perhaps there are times in our lives when instead of seeing a human being with feelings we see an equation with which to wrestle: What does this pathetic urchin mean to me? What am I being told by witnessing the suffering of this dying man? The world doesn't revolve around you nor me. We must strive to make more of ourselves than confused animals in the forest, even if to do so means sacrificing some temporal comfort. Thx - looking forward to a reread next year!
You are spot on-The Haunted Man is the second best of Dickens’ Christmas novellas. I read it yesterday and couldn’t agree more. Next for me is The Chimes, The Battle of Life, and The Cricket on the Hearth. Katie, I hope you and Nick had a Happy Christmas!
The Haunted Man is my favourite of all of Dickens works. I just love everything about it!
Merry Christmas Katie, thank you for all your wonderful uploads, I thoroughly enjoy them. Also, I just finished Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst and it’s FANTASTIC! Seriously 5 Stars!
Merry Christmas Katie!
I didn't participate on this Christmas Dickensalong but watching your videos I started to feel that I should read this novellas!
Thank you so much, Katie! I so appreciate your insights into Dickens’ Christmas books. I’m really glad to have read them and to have you as a guide through them. It must be a little bittersweet for you to have completed all the novels and Christmas novellas. Congratulations!
Thank you, Katie. Merry Christmas
thanks, Katie. I had never heard of this story before you highlighted it.
Thank you for these reflection videos on the Christmas stories. The passage you read here also brought a tear to my eye. Dickens can be so absurd but also so serious and moving. Also, sign me up for a Victorian Christmas Readalong! That sounds like it would be fun!
This was very enjoyable. Thank you.
Another marvelous video that helps me look deeper into the story.
A very merry Christmas Katie and my very best wishes for a wonderful 2025.
I have the same rating order as you. I love The Haunted Man and totally agree that it’s the best story after A Christmas Carol. I think it’s so thought provoking and interesting. I reread Dickens novellas every year at Christmas, but I wait until New Year’s Eve to read The Chimes. 😊
You're not alone in your ranking of The Haunted Man. I would also rank it second behind A Christmas Carol, and agree that they are on another level above the other Christmas Novellas. I also enjoyed the Jonathan Keeble audio book, though to my American ears it sounded like the old man kept giving his age in hex. Someone should point out to him that 8E7 would equal 2,279 in decimal. 🙂
lol - MMCCLXXIX
I think the opening pages of this story are my favorite piece of English prose
The unnamed child is the near relation of the orphans of Oliver Twist,the suffering pupils of Dotheboys of Nicholas Nickleby,Jo the sweeper of Bleak House... and yes how many female and male versions of Johnny and the baby have existed since time immemorial.😊
O what a season to read Mr Charles Dickens,
not as far-reaching as say Chronicles of Riddick,
not so heart-wrenching to alert your local medic,
a moving narrative with the pace of an Andy Caddick.
Maybe in "The Haunted Man" Dickens explores the idea of a purely egotistical world, where people are nothing beyond a representation of oneself personified without substance. Perhaps there are times in our lives when instead of seeing a human being with feelings we see an equation with which to wrestle: What does this pathetic urchin mean to me? What am I being told by witnessing the suffering of this dying man? The world doesn't revolve around you nor me. We must strive to make more of ourselves than confused animals in the forest, even if to do so means sacrificing some temporal comfort. Thx - looking forward to a reread next year!