A Christmas Carol is the first of the City Year book club reads and was a very seasonal choice. The story follows the spiritual transformation of the protagonist Ebeneezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve as he is visited by four ghosts. The story is one that has remained popular for over a century and if you live in the West the likelihood is that you've seen some kind of retelling whether that be Muppets, Disney or even Blackadder-style.
The novel itself was very short and moved along at a moderate pace. When we first meet Scrooge it is difficult to believe that he will have any redeeming features as he works Bob Cratchit to the bone, sits hoarding his treasure like a fat dragon and I have to admit that by the end of the book I'm not sure that I was filled with the joy of Christmas cheer. Here is probably a good point to stop and insert a disclaimer that I don't myself celebrate Christmas and haven't done so for the past four years.
For me, Scrooge is Dickens' representation of the bourgeoisie, a greedy Capitalist who gives up love and laughter in order to be rich. Scrooge is preoccupied with thoughts of little more than profit. He refuses to put more coal on the fire for fear of what it will cost and even lives a relatively Spartan existence himself, although nothing close to the poverty of those he would have locked up in prisons and workhouses.
The book did, however, work as a ghost story. The Ghost of Christmas Past is for me the most frightening of all the ghosts. The description of him alone is enough to frighten children. He is an amalgamation of Scrooge at every stage of his life. The ghost vacillates between the beauty of youth and the ugliness of old age.What we find comforting about age is that it is a progression. It suggests that we have time, that we have cause and occasion to develop each laugh line, to use all of our muscles in the pursuit of adventure, to wear out our sight and hearing having listened to incredible music and witnessed stunning views. To be confronted with a condensed version of yourself, in the way that Scrooge is, emphasises how short a time you have to do all of those things. It also works to present a distorted reflection of Scrooge's self and begins the systematic breaking down of his character's identity. Furthermore, it is what the ghost represents that must be the most frightening, after all the thing about the past is that it has happened and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the novel as it was the source of a story that seems embedded in my culture. I found nothing redeemable in the character of Scrooge and thought his transformation happened too quickly. Having said that, the novel worked for me as a ghost story and it's themes helped to reinforce my abstaining from Christmas. This is the only Charles Dickens novel that I have ever read, but I would definitely read more in the future.
Rating: ★★★
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