I've read most classic writers, whether in school or since, despite my lack of reviews on this website. However I'm ashamed to admit that this is my first exposure—ever—to Charles Dickens. I'm not sure how I managed to avoid all of his novels, novellas, short stories, and the like up to this point, but here we are. And after experiencing his work for the first time I can confidently consider it a failing not only of my own reading choices, but of our education system.
Perhaps most affecting in the story is how much of myself I saw in Scrooge. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that might have been Dickens' intent. We're all curmudgeonly, miserly, and stingy with our affections at times, and Scrooge's initial character represents that quite well. While this novel did a lot to reform the Christmas holiday and popularize it, it's also a general reminder for us to be more kind, generous, and empathetic towards one-another, which, from what I understand, is a common theme in Dickens' work.
The changes Scrooge goes through in subsequent pages, though unsubtle, is touching and doesn't seem cloying, though it very well could have in the hands of a lesser writer. The dialogue and Dickens' imagination in designing the spirits are particular highlights for me.
Though it's equal parts comical and beautifully written, what's most striking is that Dickens prose remains so readable now, nearly 200 years after he began writing. I breezed through A Christmas Carol pretty easily, and I sometimes have troubled getting into Victorian literature.
I went in somewhat cynical, but Dickens changed my mind. This is every bit the influential modern fable it's reputed to be, and I'm looking forward to making up for lost time and reading more Dickens next year. Perhaps The Pickwick Papers next, followed by Oliver Twist?
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