Book Club: A Christmas Carol.
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Hey
there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and
lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird,
wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Book
blog day boo yah. As you should know Tuesdays is book blog day were
we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Since it
is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is tomorrow, Today's blog is on
the Christmas book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
A
Christmas Carol opens on a bleak, cold Christmas eve in London, seven
years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner, Jacob
Marley. Scrooge, an ageing miser, dislikes Christmas and refuses a
dinner invitation from his nephew Fred—the son of Fan, Scrooge's
dead sister. He turns away two men who seek a donation from him to
provide food and heating for the poor and only grudgingly allows his
overworked, underpaid Underpaid Clerk, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Day
off with pay to conform to the social custom.
That
night Scrooge is visited at home by Marley's ghost, who wanders the
Earth entwined by heavy chains and money boxes forged during a
lifetime of greed and selfishness. Marley tells Scrooge that he has a
single chance to avoid the same fate: he will be visited by three
spirits and must listen or be cursed to carry much heavier chains of
his own.
The
first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas
scenes of Scrooge's boyhood, reminding him of a time when he was more
innocent. The scenes reveal Scrooge's lonely childhood at boarding
school, his relationship with his beloved sister Fan, and a Christmas
party hosted by his first employer, Mr Fezziwig, who treated him like
a son. Scrooge's neglected fiancée Belle is shown ending their
relationship, as she realises that he will never love her as much as
he loves money. Finally, they visit a now-married Belle with her
large, happy family on the Christmas Eve that Marley died. Scrooge,
upset by hearing Belle's description of the man that he has become,
demands that the ghost remove him from the house.
The
second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to a
joyous market with people buying the makings of Christmas dinner and
to celebrations of Christmas in a miner's cottage and in a
Lighthouse. Scrooge and the ghost also visit Fred's Christmas party.
A major part of this stave is taken up with Bob Cratchit's family
feast and introduces his youngest son, Tiny Tim, a happy boy who is
seriously ill. The spirit informs Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die
unless the course of events changes. Before disappearing, the spirit
shows Scrooge two hideous, emaciated children named Ignorance and
Want. He tells Scrooge to beware the former above all and mocks
Scrooge's concern for their welfare.
The
third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, shows Scrooge a
Christmas Day in the future. The silent ghost reveals scenes
involving the death of a disliked man whose funeral is attended by
local businessmen only on condition that lunch is provided. His
charwoman, laundress and the local undertaker steal his possessions
to sell to a fence. When he asks the spirit to show a single person
who feels emotion over his death, he is only given the pleasure of a
poor couple who rejoice that his death gives them more time to put
their finances in order. When Scrooge asks to see tenderness
connected with any death, the ghost shows him Bob Cratchit and his
family mourning the death of Tiny Tim. The ghost then allows Scrooge
to see a neglected grave, with a tombstone bearing Scrooge's name.
Sobbing, Scrooge pledges to change his ways.
Scrooge
awakens on Christmas morning a changed man. He makes a large donation
to the charity he rejected the day before, anonymously sends a large
turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner and spends the
afternoon with Fred's family. The following day he gives Cratchit an
increase in pay and begins to become a father figure to Tiny Tim.
From then on Scrooge treats everyone with kindness, generosity and
compassion, embodying the spirit of Christmas.
- A Christmas Carol wiki
A
Christmas Carol is a Novella written by English author Charles
Dickens, who wrote the story in six weeks and had the book published
by Chapman and Hall on December 19th 1843. the first print
run contained 6,000 prints and were sold out by the 24th -
Christmas Eve. Second and Third editions were issued before the new
year and continued to sell well. Dickens arranged to pay for the
publishing himself and with the high production costs it led to
Dickens having low profits, to which he was rather upset about in
1844 Dickens took legal action against the publishers due tot he book
being illicitly copied causing the publishing company to go bankrupt
and Dickens to receive less profit. The book was favoured by many
contemporary critics and continues to have favourable reviews to this
day as a literary classic. In 1849 Charles Dickens took to the stage
and narrated the book tot he public, which proved so successful he
performed 127 times until his death in 1870. A Christmas Carol has
since been translated into several other languages and adapted for
film, Stage, Opera and other media. Dickens managed to capture the
Zeitgeist of the Mid-Victorian revival of the Christmas Holidays with
writing A Christmas Carol. He Acknowledged the influence of the
modern western observance of Christmas and later on inspired several
aspects of Christmas himself, including family gatherings and a
festive generosity of spirit.
Charles
Dickens was born on 7th of February 1812 in Landport,
Hampshire, the second child of eight to John and Elizabeth Dickens.
When he was 12 Dickens ended up working in a book blacking factory
due to his father to being sent to the Marshalsea because of mounting
debts. Dickens was eventually called back to his family and sent back
off to school to finish his education. During the 1830's Dickens
started on his path to becoming famous and by the 1840's was writing
full time and was a somewhat well known author.
Charles
dickens married Catherine Thomson Hogarth on April 2nd
1836 and they had ten children together. In 1858 they separated and
Dickens went on to live with his mistress Ellen Turnan until his
death in 1870. despite this Dickens was a well known philanthropist
and often donated or helped with charities in his spare time.
On
June 6th 1865 Dickens was involved in the Staplehurst Rail
Crash which he survived, Dickens attended several of the wounded and
dying whilst waiting for rescuers which saved several lives. He left
the scene with his unfinished manuscript of Our Mutual friend under
his arms after going back for it. Dickens managed to avoid an
appearance at the inquest due to travelling with Turnan and her
mother and avoiding scandal, however he later used the experience for
the story “The Signal-man” and it was noted he became nervous
every time he travelled by train after that.
On
April 22nd 1869 Dickens suffered form a stroke during his
British tour of fair well readings, It took him some time but he
managed to recover enough to give a few more readings. On June 8th
1870 Dickens suffered another stroke and passed away the next day. He
was buried in the poets corner of Westminster Abbey instead of where
he wanted to be buried which was Rochester Cathedral. Dickens made
sure his family and servants were looked after in his will including
his wife despite their several years separation.
I
love reading A Christmas Carol every year around Christmas time, I
came across A Christmas Carol due to the Muppets Christmas Carol
movie (which along with the 1995 TV movie Ebbie is one of my
favourite Christmas Carol movies)when I was a child and it took me
some time to get my hands on a copy of the book. I love the books
themes of redemption and Christmas spirit, I highly recommend
everyone read Christmas Carol and I give the book 10/10.
WEBSITE
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
And
there you have it a decent book for those who So we'll be leaving
this here for today please leave a comment, share with others if you
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Tomorrow is Christmas day so I wish you all a happy
Holidays
and Merry Christmas, remember keep it sensible in the comments all
abuse will be tracked and reported to the appropriate people.
The
Bandersnatch Blog will be going on a break from 27th of December 2019
until the 7th
of January 2020.
THIS
IS THE BANDERSNATCH, I'M MAMA OGRE AND REMEMBER STAY WEIRD, STAY
WACKY, STAY WONDEROUS AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON...
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