Reviews

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

hollietoftx's review against another edition

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5.0

My favourite story to read every Christmas Eve. Unmatched.

jankyalias's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

vavocado's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

gracerangel's review against another edition

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5.0

A classic; makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Especially during Christmas season.

jenhurst's review against another edition

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5.0

This is my first Dickens book and I understand why he’s so popular. This story is a novella and I think a good entry level to classics if you haven’t read a lot. The writing was still fairly formal, but I thought it was very accessible. Now I know all the allusions to this story and can compare all the movies, plays and retelling to the original. It stands the rest of the time and deserves all the praise it gets.

richardmosson's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

noahh's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lavidaquees's review against another edition

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fast-paced

laraamtk's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A

4.0

blogthatbook's review against another edition

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4.0

I’ve wanted to try Charles Dickens for some time now but have been put off because of the impression that his writings may be dark, depressing and humourless. But, considering Christmas is almost upon us, I finally decided that A Christmas Carol might be the best way to test out the water.

The first problem is an obvious one, you can’t help but already know this story inside and out, thanks to the innumerable adaptations and retellings in all kinds of media there have been over the years. But if you can accept that and simply revel in the fact that this is the original then it’s well worth your time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and it even managed to squeeze a tear or two from me toward the end. Despite the initial content being dour, I felt that Dickens’ writing throughout had a hint of levity to it which carried me along with the words and never allowed things to get too dark.

I did find myself struggling with some of the phrasings, but I’m assuming those were colloquialisms of the time and they didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment.

And yes, I will be trying one of Dickens’ more expansive stories in the future, once I’ve built up the courage and decided on which one it will be.