Book review - A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Title: A Christmas Carol
Date of publication: 20 September 2006
Publisher: The Platt & Peck Co.
Number of pages: 128
Type of book: e-book

Introduction
I would say there are many themes in this book, it is not only about Christmas but there are
also themes of generosity, forgiveness and greed. It is a story of miserly man who realises
that money and wealth are not the most important and that the happiness does not depend on
whether you are rich or poor. And my opinion it is very truthful, morally edifying, well
written book.

Summary
1. Marley´s ghost
 Jacob Marley, Scrooge´s business partner died 7 years ago
 It is Christmas eve and Scrooge is in office with his poor clerk Bob Chranchit
 Scrooge ´s nephew comes to wish merry Christmas and invites him to a dinner but
grumpy Scrooge refuses as he believes Christmas is just a normal day
 2 gentlemen enter to his office and ask him to make a donation for poor, but Scrooge
dismiss them
 Scrooge closes up the office and tells Cratchit he expects him to work on Christmas
day also
 Scrooge goes home and sees the dead Marley´s face in the knocker, firstly he does not
want to believe it, but when it appears clearly again, he admits he believe
 Marley ´s ghost tells Scrooge that he has been wandering since death as a punishment
for being consumed with business and he came to save him from the same fate
 Ghost tells him that Three Spirits will visit him next three nights
 Scrooge goes to sleep

2. The First of the Three Spirits

  Scrooge wakes up at midnight and then the first of the three spirits came - Ghost of
Christmas Past
 This ghost takes him on a tour of his past Christmas
 Ghost shows him his childhood and scene with his cheerful old boss, Fezziwig
 Next ghost takes him to a time where a beautiful girl Belle left him because he has
changed and seems to love money more than her
 Scrooge is devastated, affected by memories and he pleases the ghost to take him
back home

3. The Second of the Three Spirits

 The church clock strikes one and the second of the three spirits came – The ghost of
a Christmas Present
 Ghost takes him to modest home of Bob Chratchit where he sees how family
tolerates its poverty with love, and sick Tiny Tim makes him sad
 Then ghost shows Scrooge his nephews house, where he and his friends celebrate
Christmas and joke about Scrooge
 At the end spirit shows him two kids – Ignorance and Want and tells him to be aware
of them
 Ghost disappears and scrooge sees a dark hooded phantom approaching

4. The Last of the Spirits

 The last spirit is Ghost of the Christmas Yet to Come and he shows Scrooge some
scenes connected to some man´s death
 He also takes him to Chratchits and Scrooge finds out that Tiny Tim also died
 Finally, the ghost shows him a grave of man whose death was discussed before and
Scrooge sees that there is written: Ebenezeger Scrooge
 Scrooge promises that he will live by the lessons of Past, Present and Future such
that he may change his fate

5. The End of It
 Scrooge wakes up full of excitement and realises that all three spirts visited him
during one night
 He buys a turkey for the Charchits and visits his nephew
 Scrooge becomes like a second father to Tiny Tim and becomes famous for knowing
how to celebrate Christmas

My opinion
The book A Christmas Carol really surprised me. It is quite an old book. Therefore, I thought
that it will be boring and dull, but I was wrong. It is an amazing book that will make you feel
happy after reading it. It contains a strong message that tells us we should spread love and be
kind to one another. And I think that is really important to remember, because nowadays,
many people are consumed with money and business.
I also appreciate that the book is written in a good style and is easily understandable. Even
though this book is probably for younger readers I would recommend it to everyone, because
in my opinion everybody would enjoy it. Whether they are teenagers or adults. In these days
people often search for instructive and morally edifying books and I think A Christmas Carol
is just that kind of book.