Coffee and Classics: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A feature hosted by The Library Canary where we read classics, drink coffee, and discuss.

January: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Happy New Year and welcome to the very first Coffee and Classics post! So happy you could join me to discuss our first book, A Christmas Carol, while sipping on a hot cup of coffee (or whatever drink you fancy). This is going to be an informal discussion so if you haven't read the book and you don't want to be spoiled, get out now.

I used to go see this play every Christmas with my family and I absolutely loved it. But I've never read the book. How did this happen?? Especially since it's only like 108 pages. No excuses. At least not anymore. I finally read it. This book is a classic Christmas story that totally got me in the Christmas spirit while reading. 

In case you don't know what this book is about, it follows the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, a crabby old man who hates Christmas. He treats his employee like crap, alienates his entire family and lives a lonely life. A life that he is okay with. He sees nothing wrong with the way he lives his life and you don't feel sorry for him at all in the beginning. 

But then he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner who tells him that three spirits will come to visit him in the night. The ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Each spirit visits him and teaches Scrooge that if he continues down the path he's headed, he's going to end up dead with no one to mourn for him. Basically Scrooge turns his life around and makes it to his nephew's home in time for Christmas dinner. 

The language in classics is always the most difficult part for me to get through. Does anyone else feel this way? But it wasn't too difficult to follow in this book and I flew through it pretty quickly. I enjoyed actually reading the story versus watching the play although I do think it helped to have seen it performed so many times. I could see the story playing out in front of me. Or maybe that's because my sisters and I used to dress up and act it out for our families. My younger sister was always the ghost of Christmas future and she would just throw a black sheet over her head and point her finger at nothing while we played ominous music in the background. We were such nerds. 

But I digress. I really enjoyed reading about Ebeneezer Scrooge's transformation and it truly got me in the Christmas spirit. This is a classic Christmas story for people of any age that I truly enjoyed. 

Thanks for joining me for the very first Coffee and Classics post. If you participated this month be sure to add your name to the Linky so I can check out your post. Enjoy your coffee. And your classics!

Information on future and previous Coffee and Classics books can be found here.

Did you guys read A Christmas Carol? Have any of you seen the play? Was there any story that you acted out over and over again when you were younger? Or was that just me...