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A review by thekingcrusoe
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens
3.0
I'm giving the whole of this collection a 3 star rating average, although the actual rating may be closer to 3.5. Let's just say that there's a reason that this is called "...Other Christmas *Writings*", not "Stories", because several pieces of this are not stories, for better or worse.
Christmas Festivites; A Christmas Tree; What Christmas Is, As We Grow Older; & The Seven Poor Travellers are all rather mixed, because they draw the line between story and writing so vaguely that I had a hard time truly understanding what it was I was reading, let alone what I was supposed to get out of them, depending on which writing it was.
A Christmas Episode from Master Humphrey's Clock was just a chapter from one of Dickens' other novels, so the impact the story had was not high; in fact, I actually complete forgot about the story's existence in the collection up until 5 seconds ago.
So the sum total rating of all the previously mentioned stories is low, like 2-3 stars maybe. Was not particularly enjoying myself with any of them, NOR was I getting anything out of them (since not all writings are meant to be "enjoyed").
However, the remaining 3 stories are great:
The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton was delightful in its brevity, and in its dismal storyline that still felt light and charming in a weird, somewhat twisted kind of way, and was nearly the fastest reading story of anything in the collection. (easy 5 star)
A Christmas Carol is obviously super iconic and well known, and it definitely lives up to it, especially thematically. I wasn't expecting to be thinking so much about the content while reading this as I did because of my familiarity with the story. It is right on the verge of 5 stars, and has a FANTASTIC final chapter, but I grew up with a fantastic adaptation (the 1970 "Scrooge" musical film starring Albert Finney as the titular character), that expanded especially on the final spirit's stave that holds this thing back SLIGHTLY. (about 4.5 star)
The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain is a special one. Chapters 2 and 3 weren't quite as amazing as Chapter 1 was, but the whole story culminated in something unexpected and very thought provoking, especially Chapter 1, which is likely my single favorite part of this entire collection. (4 star overall, but Chapter 1 is probably like 6/5 star lmao)
I definitely recommend A Christmas Carol, The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain; everything else? Eh. Not worth it.
Christmas Festivites; A Christmas Tree; What Christmas Is, As We Grow Older; & The Seven Poor Travellers are all rather mixed, because they draw the line between story and writing so vaguely that I had a hard time truly understanding what it was I was reading, let alone what I was supposed to get out of them, depending on which writing it was.
A Christmas Episode from Master Humphrey's Clock was just a chapter from one of Dickens' other novels, so the impact the story had was not high; in fact, I actually complete forgot about the story's existence in the collection up until 5 seconds ago.
So the sum total rating of all the previously mentioned stories is low, like 2-3 stars maybe. Was not particularly enjoying myself with any of them, NOR was I getting anything out of them (since not all writings are meant to be "enjoyed").
However, the remaining 3 stories are great:
The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton was delightful in its brevity, and in its dismal storyline that still felt light and charming in a weird, somewhat twisted kind of way, and was nearly the fastest reading story of anything in the collection. (easy 5 star)
A Christmas Carol is obviously super iconic and well known, and it definitely lives up to it, especially thematically. I wasn't expecting to be thinking so much about the content while reading this as I did because of my familiarity with the story. It is right on the verge of 5 stars, and has a FANTASTIC final chapter, but I grew up with a fantastic adaptation (the 1970 "Scrooge" musical film starring Albert Finney as the titular character), that expanded especially on the final spirit's stave that holds this thing back SLIGHTLY. (about 4.5 star)
The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain is a special one. Chapters 2 and 3 weren't quite as amazing as Chapter 1 was, but the whole story culminated in something unexpected and very thought provoking, especially Chapter 1, which is likely my single favorite part of this entire collection. (4 star overall, but Chapter 1 is probably like 6/5 star lmao)
I definitely recommend A Christmas Carol, The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain; everything else? Eh. Not worth it.