Reviews

The Complete Christmas Books of Charles Dickens by Charles Dickens

rachelsread's review against another edition

3.0

A ghostly and heart warming tale of finding the true meaning of Christmas.

A Christmas Carol was Charles Dickens’ first novella but his seventh major work overall. Published in 1843, it was predicted as a failure resulting in Dickens partly funding the publishing himself. The first 6000 copies were sold out within five days and it has since sold over two million copies.

The novel was praised unanimously throughout England and has stayed in print ever since. It’s a light-hearted tale, celebrating not only Christmas but of human kindness, charity, and hope.

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cjdawn236's review against another edition

4.0

I'm mostly rating this based on A Christmas Carol, as I wasn't as big a fan of the rest of the Christmas stories, but I really enjoyed sitting down and reading A Christmas Carol in it's entirety for the first time. Side Note: If you happen to be looking for a nice edition of the Christmas stories, this hardcover Everyman's Edition (with the intro by Margaret Atwood) is really nice.

gablc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

emwilliams's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

tracyo14's review against another edition

4.0

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed A Christmas Carol, it was enjoyable to study for the OU A111 course.

chapter1_page1's review against another edition

5.0

⭐️ 5 ⭐️ - A CHRISTMAS CAROL

I bought this book solely to read A Christmas Carol; I’m pleased I did as unfortunately I didn’t rate the other Christmas stories featured.

A fabulous edition of my favourite classic. An uplifting, heartwarming tale. A Christmas Carol never ages; it’s so beautifully written and atmospheric. Dickens truly was a master of characterisation.

A Christmas gem I’ll continue reading year after year.

notnotnoble's review against another edition

inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

book_cryptid's review against another edition

4.5

this was super nice, a lot of the stories were really great and i had a great time. definitely a great read for the christmas season. 

elusivesue's review against another edition

5.0

To be fair and honest, I only read A Christmas Carol, and can't finish the other stories right now because the Christmas bug has left the building, so to speak. However, A Christmas Carol was thrilling. You get so many images, sounds, and feelings in your head about that story from all of the different media versions - plays, TV movie, Muppet version, and so on... but then you put those ideas together with Dickens' superb writing... it's like rediscovering orange juice by sitting in the orchard and squeezing the oranges yourself right off the tree. Is it wordy? Yes... but in a spell-binding, descriptive way. Dickens got paid by the word, but instead of being bored by all the extra, the phrases and clauses keep layering, creating a more vivid tableau full of detail and emotion. I will definitely get the book around December to reread, and read the other Christmas stories.

bekatron3000's review against another edition

hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25