"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

As an honours English student at university, I read (and -- mostly -- enjoyed) several novels by Charles Dickens as part of my coursework -- "The Pickwick Papers," "Great Expectations," and "Hard Times." (I was *supposed* to read "Bleak House" too -- but in every class I took, there was at least one assigned novel that I never managed to get through -- and that was one of them, lol.)(Insert red-faced icon here.) 

I don't think I ever read "A Christmas Carol," (first published in 1843) -- although of course I've absorbed a lot of the story over the years via movie & TV adaptations (and even ads, lol).  (My favourite version would be the 1951 black-and-white British film with Alastair Sim as Scrooge -- followed closely by the short Disney version starring Scrooge McDuck & Mickey Mouse, and then the one starring the Muppets.) 

The plot, of course, is well known:  it's Christmas Eve, and miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley -- and then, in turn, by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. We learn more about Scrooge's past, how he came to turn away from humanity, and how his actions have affected others. It's a wonderful Christmas story -- a great ghost story too! --  and an ever-timely lesson about the value of kindness and generosity. Also the idea that it's never too late to change our ways and make amends. 

I've been listening to the story for the past five nights, as read by the three members of The East Pointers, a Prince Edward Island-based band. I was first introduced to the East Pointers earlier this year when I learned about "Annedemic" -- their nightly readings of "Anne of Green Gables" (and then later the first two sequels, "Anne of Avonlea" and "Anne of the Island"). (See this blog post.)  The sight of these long-haired, bearded, tattooed young guys earnestly reading Lucy Maud Montgomery -- with side comments and occasional musical performances -- was irresistable. :)  I didn't tune in every night, but I did watch several times (and donated to their fundraiser for East Coast musicians who are having a hard time making ends meet during the pandemic) -- including a must-see guest appearance by Megan Follows -- who played Anne memorably in a 1980s TV adaptation -- reading a critical chapter -- and the finale of "Anne of the Island," which was read AT Green Gables in Cavendish, PEI, with "Anne" herself present -- braiding a band member's long hair and even doing some stepdancing!!

Screen shot from Night #4
of "A Christmas Carol"
with PEI's East Pointers. :) 

I figured that tuning in for all five nights of "A Christmas Carol" counted the same as listening to an audiobook. ;) I will admit, I haven't really gotten into audiobooks. I'm too easily distracted... suddenly I'm half an hour in and I'm wondering, "Wait, what happened?" (I'm the same way with podcasts.) 

But it was fun to watch/listen to this one. Being at least somewhat familiar with the story helped, although many of the film adaptations necessarily trim some of the minor characters and dialogue that add so much colour and richness to Dickens's work.  They were all here, as voiced by the band members, sometimes to hilarious effect. ;)  A highlight for me was the scene of the Christmas party at Fezziwig's. One band member read a lively description of the dancing & merriment, while another picked up his fiddle and added appropriate background music. Magical!  

I am tempted now to pick up (or download) an actual copy of the book & read it for myself. :) 

Videos of the East Pointers reading the book can be found on the band's Facebook page.   

Goodreads rating (for Dickens' novel):  5 stars. 

East Pointers performance:  5 stars. 

This was Book #42 read to date in 2020 (Book #3 finished in December), bringing me to 140% of my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 30 books. I have completed & now exceeded my challenge goal for the year by 12 books, and am (for the moment, anyway...!) 13 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2020 tagged as "2020 books."