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    A Christmas Carol
    A Christmas Carol
    A Christmas Carol
    Audiobook56 minutes

    A Christmas Carol

    Written by Charles Dickens and Susan Stamberg

    Narrated by Mimi Kennedy and Jonathan Winters

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Charles Dickens' masterfully crafted Christmas fable tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man with wealth to match the coldness of his heart. On a mystical Christmas Eve, a visitation with spirits forces Scrooge to make a choice: change, or perish.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateSep 5, 2007
    ISBN9781598876277
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the most popular and, many believe, the greatest English author. He wrote many classic novels, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities are available from Brilliance Audio.

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    Reviews for A Christmas Carol

    4.5/5

    250 ratings201 reviews

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    • 5/5
      There's not much to say about this book that hasn't already said by many others (and said better than I am capable of). Obviously, it's a great book. It's a classic for a reason. That said, this was my first foray into Dickens, and two things struck me about this book:

      1.) I was genuninely shocked to realize that Dickens had a sense of humor! I chuckled out loud a couple of times. For some reason, I expected this to be a very serious book, and it really was not.

      2.) I was also genuninely shocked by how closely the movie adaptations follow the book...something that never happens. Granted, this is such a short book, it's easy to remain true to it. But even the Mickey Mouse version is pretty darn accurate!

      It was a great read for our December bookclub meeting...festive AND short. Glad I finally got around to reading this one.
    • 5/5
      I finally read one of my favorite Christmas stories. I love seeing it on stage and film, but I had never read it. I enjoyed it very much. I really did. It was interesting to see the story I had always enjoyed in film or on stage in it's original, written form. Awesome.
    • 4/5
      Scrooge has lost the meaning of Christmas in his search for success. When his dearly departed buisness partner comes and tells him that he when he dies he will walk the earth forever in chains, Scrooge is scared out of his wits, but still skeptical. Then the tree ghosts of Christmas come and show Scrooge the real meaning of Christmas. This classic Christmas story is to be loved by all and a treasured book in everyone's collection. It show us the warmth of Christmas and has valuable lessons.This book will give you something to thik about all year long.
    • 4/5
      A Christmas Carol, a well known classic by Charles Dickens. I don't know if I ever really read it or just knew it from the many TV and radio shows that I have seen, many of which are quite true to the book. This story read as if the narrator was talking directly to me. It was a bit sarcastic and a bit dry humor and it was a fun read. I am not going to worry about spoilers here as who wouldn't know this story? The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to Scrooge and teach him to be a better man. The ghost of the past is shiny because the past always seems brighter than the present but with parts fading from memory, the present was an interesting blend of paganism and Christianity (our modern Christmas). What descriptions of colorful foods and Christmas scenes! The Ghost of the future was hardly visible and had no voice. Dickens always likes to deal with social problems and here he deals with ignorance and want which threaten the future. Dicken's characters of course our stereotypes; greedy oppressive capitalist, the noble poor, Tiny Tim the precocious Prophet-child and Fred the optimist. And all ends well, and "may we know how to keep Christmas well."
    • 4/5
      Four stars on its own; five because I read it with Shannon. I like the ghost story part, which was handled better than I thought it would be, but I hate poor Tiny Tim and I don't believe in Total Abstinence. Also, I enjoy as much intercourse as possible with Spirits of any sort or kind.

      Dickens was a cheeseball.
    • 5/5
      Great classic that every kid needs to read. I learned about this for the first time in like the third grade when we did a play of it, and I loved it.
    • 2/5
      received for Christmas from my parents 1957
    • 5/5
      Definitely my favourite work by Dickens; probably due to a combination of The Muppets' Christmas Carol and a love of Christmas in general.In any instance, it's an awesome book, and especially good if read in December ^_^
    • 3/5
      It's kind of weird to imagine how I can completely have avoided this book and any adaptations thereof, but up to now, I have. It's one of those things I've always meant to get round to, but never have until now -- at least in the book form: I'm not much one for sitting and watching things. Really I only got round to it because I realised I had the free ebook downloaded, and I wanted something quick and easy to read, even though this isn't exactly the appropriate time of year... I wouldn't normally describe Dickens as "quick and easy", but A Christmas Carol really isn't bad. The style isn't too overwrought. There are sections of thick description, but the whole thing has an easy tone, starting right at the beginning:

      Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.

      Obviously, the story gets more serious, since it's a moral one, about the meaning of Christmas and about the value of Christian charity. It still has an air of the Christmas cheer about it, the whole way through, except maybe for the part with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The story is pretty simple: not many characters, just various lives all followed by each of the ghosts, with Scrooge at the center of the story. I was expecting him to be somewhat more terrible, from the sort of general cultural impression I got -- although of course, he's bad enough as it is, mostly in his ignorance and silly bad temper. Of course, the part where he refuses to give to charity makes him seem pretty awful, too.

      The character development which is the entire point of the story is a little overdone, maybe, but it all adds to the good feeling of "yay, everything is better now", at the end.

      The moralising didn't really bother me. It's a classic story, and the moralising is part and parcel of that. I even liked a lot of the description in this, though in most Dickens novels the level of description used to frustrate me. Mind you, I should try again now I'm older and wiser.

      (Note: The writing isn't on the writing or anything objective, since I don't believe one can be objective about stuff like this. It's purely based on how much I loved the story, whether I would reread it again. As a piece of literature, I'd reflexively rate it higher, but I don't really want to: I "liked" it, but not "really liked".)
    • 5/5
      Inhaltsangabe:Ebener Scrooge ist ein reicher Kaufmann, der aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen stammt. Seit dem Tod seines Geschäftsparnters Marley ist er noch geiziger, noch kaltherziger und garstiger geworden. Und die Weihnachtszeit ist ihm sowieso ein Greuel, denn das bedeutet, das sein Kommis Cratchit einen bezahlten freien Tag bekommt.Doch am Abend vor Weihnachten bekommt Scrooge plötzlich Besuch: Den Geist von Marley. Marley kündigt ihm den Besuch von drei Geistern an: den Geist der vergangenen, der gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Weihnacht. Und Marley mahnt ihn, sich sehr bald zu ändern, denn sonst würde ihm das gleiche Schicksal ereilt wie ihm.Mit schlotternden Knien erwartet Scrooge die Geister und macht sich mit ihnen auf eine Reise, die ihn für immer verändern.Mein Fazit:Eine bezaubernde Weihnachtsgeschichte, die heute traditionell einfach nicht mehr fehlen darf, weder als Buch noch im Fernsehen. Schon mehrfach verfilmt, strahlt die Geschichte immer wieder eine Botschaft aus: Es ist Weihnachten, habe Mitleid, praktiziere Nächstenliebe und schieb den Groll beiseite.Charles Dickens bedient sich dabei einer sehr bildlichen Sprache, beweist zuweilen trockenen Humor und zeigt ohne mahnenden Zeigefinger die Mißstände in der zwei-Klassen-Gesellschaft auf, die damals in England herrschten und im Grunde zeitlos überall bis heute vorherrschen. Deshalb hat diese Geschichte ihren wahren Charakter bis heute nicht verloren und kann noch viele weitere Generationen zu Weihnachten erzählt werden.Dies ist eigentlich eher eine Kindergeschichte, aber ich denke, auch -oder gerade- Erwachsene haben etwas davon. Ich kann es immer wieder empfehlen. Trotz der an einigen Stellen holprigen Sprache (ist ja auch schon 160 Jahre alt) kann man es ganz gut verstehen.Von mir bekommt das Buch 4,5 von 5 Sternchen.Anmerkung: Die Rezension stammt aus Dezember 2009.Veröffentlicht am 22.12.15!
    • 3/5
      This was a short easy book to read, or in my case listen (narrated by Jim Dale). I've known of the story for years and years and have seen many renditions of it in film but had never actually read the book. Having known the story beforehand there was nothing here that was new or exciting but it is nice to have got through it. And it's such a classic, that if you haven't read it, I highly suggest getting a copy while the season is right.
    • 4/5
      Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol - it has been told a thousand times in a thousand different ways and it says a lot about the power of the original text that it can be re-interpreted so often yet people still find it fresh.

      The reinterpretations never stray too far from the general concept (in fact I'd say the Muppets version surprisingly was one of the most loyal versions of the story - bonus points to Kermit & co!) so basically it comes down to whether you like the story of not. I'm a sucker for redemption & ghosts and all those themes so I enjoy it but I know that some people find the whole thing a little gloomy.

      Regardless, this is a classic for a reason and, especially at Christmas, well worth a read.
    • 5/5
      It was so much fun to finally read this classic. I have seen it as a play and in several versions of television Christmas special, but of course the original book wins the prize!
    • 5/5
      This was brilliant, Patrick Stewart does an excellent job portraying the different characters.
    • 5/5
      This particular edition of Dickens' 1843 Christmas story is as much about illustration as it is about the story. The full title tells you this: "Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: With 45 Lost Gustave Dore engravings..." The book includes a number of fascinating introductory pages about both Dickens and Dore. The lost engravings were done in 1861. The book also includes an additional 130 illustrations - the work of artists who did the original illustrations for other Dickins' books; such as George Cruikshank and H.K. "Phizz" Browne, This is an intriguing look at illustration in the Victorian era - the well-illustrated story is a bonus!
    • 5/5
      When I read Dickens, I'm continually tempted to read bits and pieces aloud to Chris. Dickens has such a beautiful writing style, it practically begs to be read out loud. Beautiful story. I hope to make this a new tradition in my life and read it every year.
    • 5/5
      I had never read A Christmas Carol and listened to the fabulous recording of it by Jim Dale (he also reads Harry Potter). High recommend.
    • 5/5
      I try to reread this one every year at Christmas, though I'm a little late with it this year. It is just as wonderful each time.
    • 5/5
      All time favorite Christmas book. Dickens understood man's greed and avarice and disregard for society's downtrodden. Yet even while knowing so much of his fellow man Dickens still believes that humanity can change and their is hope in even the hardest of hearts. Dickens introduces the character of Scrooge, a man who has become so caught-up in the almighty dollar that he has forgotten about his fellow man. But Dickens sends Scrooge a second (and a first and third !) in the form of three ghosts - The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Through their visits Scrooge discovers what he has forgotten (perhaps never known) - that love and kindness make even the worst of situations bearable. I think that Scrooge's nephew Fred is Dickens alternate ego. After reading Dickens writing I always feel like I have been to that England that Dickens knew. I can taste the hot chestnuts, the plum pudding, and the roasted goose; smell the stink of the over-crowded city, and feel the awe and wonder Tiny Tim must have felt while going to the cathedral for Christmas service and when he and his father came home to a beautiful big Christmas goose. I wish everyone could read this book and have their hearts open to the joy of giving and their minds open to miracles.
    • 5/5
      Every year my mother, bless her heart, sends me a Christmas book. They are always written by contemporary authors like Mary Higgins Clark. Sometimes I am able to make my way through these novels but most times I give up after a couple of chapters and donate the book to my local library.The truth is there is only one Christmas book as far as I'm concerned and that book is "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. I read this book for the first time a few decades ago and I read it most Christmases now.Why do I love this book so much? Because it is the only one I have ever read that imbues the Christmas spirit in ME just by reading it! That is quite a feat especially now that I live in Australia after spending the first 35 years of my life in Canada. So now there is no snow or Christmas lights (it gets dark here about 10:00 by the end of December) to get my Christmas spirit sparked. But Dickens does it for me every time.
    • 3/5
      so well crafted. great writing; great articulation of an idea
    • 3/5
      The imagery Dickens creates in this novel is wonderful. The face in the door knocker, the visions of Marley and the ghosts are details with so few, yet powerful words, that Dickens puts a strong and vibrant image in my head each time I read this book. This is a great classic that I read every year one week before Christmas.
    • 3/5
      The book, A Christmas Carol, is a fable. In the story a miser goes through a series of life changing events to help him to grow as a person. The book must be read by someone who can dissect the book so its hidden true meaning will shine through!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a quick read that is very close to the movie if you have seen it. A solid recommendation for sure.
    • 3/5
      A great story that everyone should read (or at least watch the movie version with the Muppets!).
    • 5/5
      This is the first time I've read this classic holiday story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I can't believe I haven't read it before now. I think part of my hesitation was because I've seen the story dramatized in dozens of different ways during my lifetime (really, I've even seen the Flintstones version), and I was worried that it would be a little bit boring to read a story that I already "knew" on a basic level. But as I made my way through this short little novella, I realized that I was so very wrong. No matter how many dramatizations I've seen, they never could compare to the wonderful original written version.I'll forgo the story summarization for this review, since I think most people have probably seen the basic story outline as I have. Instead, I'll explain some of the things I really liked about the book version and specifically this "Special Edition" version.One of the things I really like about Dickens's story is that it is a story about hope. It shows that even the most morally repugnant person can have a change of heart and find forgiveness. Even though he seems like a cold, uncaring soul at the beginning, you can see how Scrooge's heart begins to change with the visitation of each spirit. He is grouchy and resistant when the first ghost arrives, but by the time the last ghost appears he is really ready to make a positive change in his life. My favorite character in the book is Scrooge's nephew, Fred. He is so cheerful and friendly, and never gives up on trying to win over his disagreeable uncle.This "Special Edition" includes extensive sidenotes by Stephen Skelton to define period terms we don't use today, explain how parts of the story reflected Dickens's own life, and to comment on the Christian themes in the story. The sidenotes were quite useful and extremely interesting. They really helped me to better understand the story and to see the ways that Dickens's faith influenced it. There are also thought-provoking questions at the end of each stave (chapter) for family or book group discussion. These questions are broken up into four groups: Telling the Story, Telling Your Story, Telling the Story of Christmas, and Living the Story. The questions would certainly provoke meaningful discussion between parents and their children during the Christmas season.This was a wonderful holiday read, and I am so glad I did not put it off for another day. I now understand exactly why this story has become so entrenched in our culture and society. It really deserves its reputation as a classic. Another book to add to my keeper shelf!
    • 4/5
      The 8th of Dickens' 24 major works, and the 1st of his 5 "Christmas novellas".... well, this is just wonderful, isn't it? Next to the characters of Oliver Twist, Scrooge and his ghosts - not to mention that little brat Tim - must be the most well-known Dickensians of our cultural consciousness. This is just first-class stuff, showcasing Dickens' skill for shorter fiction. Scrooge is perhaps Dickens' first real character. No, he's no Emma Bovary, I'll admit. But the short bursts we get of his life, combined with the ultimate causes of his change, give more insight than we saw in Oliver, Nicholas, Nell, and Barnaby. I think every person in the Western world has read this novella but, if you haven't, what are you waiting for? (The other four Christmas novellas... yeah, not so much.)
    • 5/5
      I am so glad I decided to read this book again. This one is the original first edition text from 1843. This edition was reproduced from the original by Dover Publications in 1991 with the following note added:“The Christmas gift presented to the English-speaking world in 1843 by the preeminent novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) has never lost its power to delight. Adapted in numerous ways and for a great variety of media over the yeaars, this modern Christmas myth, which is linked to every Christmas celebration and whose characters have become household names, is still best enjoyed in its inimitable original wording. The text in the present volume is that of the first edition (Chapman and Hall, London, 1843)”.I quote this from the Dover Classics Edition because it is very true. Much as it wouldn't seem like Christmas without "A Christmas Carol" in one form or another, nothing tells it as well as Charles Dickens' original. My favorite movie version is the second made, with Alistair Sim, which sticks to the original fairly well. But the last time I read the book was in 1952. I loved it then and I love it now.Dickens' descriptions of mid-1800s London are so real and so chilling one wonders how the English survived those times. The attitudes are spot on, as Dickens' characters always are. What makes "A Christmas Carol" different is the absolute fear that Scrooge feels upon seeing his old "dead as a doornail" partner visit him on Christmas Eve. The feel of Dickens' writing is so powerful nothing can be ignored.The visits of the three spirits are amazing in the depth they are given and in what they accomplish and how. As most people do know the story in one form or another, I won't go into the visits other than how imaginative the story is in the way Scrooge's background and Scroogeness is dealt with so succinctly. This book is a must-read at least once in a reader's life, even if seen as plays, movies, even cartoons and remakes. Nothing is so satisfactory as the book itself.
    • 4/5
      I have read Dickens before and found him rather tedious, but as I did do a play version Christmas Carol every year in college and grad school, and then twice since then, I figured this wouldn't be so bad since I knew the story. Actually, I enjoyed it. While the story was the same as the plays, there was a little more in the narration that I found quaint that can not be found in a play version.
    • 5/5
      This has always been my favorite Christmas story. The first time I came into its presence was in elementary school in Memphis, TN (Snowden Elementary School, in fact). They called us all into the auditorium for an afternoon of Christmas movies - nothing religious, just the secular stuff - mostly old classics. I have no clear memory of any of those movies with the exception of A Christmas Carol. It was the 1938 British version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge. I remember being utterly captured by it and looking for the book to read. We read it aloud until I could re-read it on my own.A Christmas Carol is a story about redemption - how one man, who has led a selfish and greedy life that has brought him no pleasure or kinship, gets a chance to revisit his choices and observe the consequences. It's smart, funny, and, of course, very Victorian.It is also one of the most timely and relevant books all year. Forget the political reporting, the novels on current events, the magazine articles, and all the other things that have been written about the state of our economy and our political system. Just read this. It will tell you everything you need to know. From the notion that one's duty is to help the poor and ease their suffering to the punishment exacted of those who ignore this duty, this book is like a treatise on our times, on our ability to walk away from the starving on the way to our Christmas latte; on the fact that in a crushing economy there are no bread lines, no soup kitchens, no government jobs programs - just more children on the street; on the fact that most of our nation's wealth is in the hands of a very few who can't be bothered with anything in their lives other than grubbing for more money to buy their next 25,000 foot house in the country. There is also the existence of people who rise above their poverty, who find joy in the small things of life, who struggle and who sometimes die, but who maintain the giving spirit of Christmas throughout their days.I was humbled and delight by this book. It was a delight to read, as always, and amazing how relevant it is even though it was written way back in the 1800's. That's why they're classics - in case you ever wondered.