Scan barcode
A review by laurenjpegler
Dickens at Christmas by Charles Dickens
3.0
I won't lie. I'm pretty disappointed with this collection. I initially bought it to help get me in the festive mood (which, really isn't that hard), but this collection of short stories and books really didn't do that. I found only the very short stories, mainly the two from A Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire and the one from the Pickwick Papers, were actually Christmassy. All the others, including the Christmas Books (except A Christmas Carol), were set around Christmas time but not actually anything to do with the holiday. I am majorly disappointed.
I'll link my individual reviews of the Christmas Books here, if you'd like to real a full discussion on them:
- A Christmas Carol: no review, but rated 5 stars.
- The Haunted Man
- The Battle of Life
- The Cricket on the Hearth
- The Chimes
- The Seven Poor Travellers
As you can see, I didn't enjoy the actual novellas all that much. Surprisingly, it was the short stories that gripped my attention and made me feel the slightest bit festive. I normally hate short stories, but I've found Dickens is quite good at writing them. I always tend to enjoy them more than his actual novels, so perhaps that is why these periodical entries suited my tastes more than the novellas.
I would recommend this to those of you who enjoy Dickens work - his writing is really beautiful in some of these stories. However, I won't recommend it to those of you who are looking for a festive read. Instead, just simply buy A Christmas Carol and read that instead. I definitely don't think this is worth the price!
I'll link my individual reviews of the Christmas Books here, if you'd like to real a full discussion on them:
- A Christmas Carol: no review, but rated 5 stars.
- The Haunted Man
- The Battle of Life
- The Cricket on the Hearth
- The Chimes
- The Seven Poor Travellers
As you can see, I didn't enjoy the actual novellas all that much. Surprisingly, it was the short stories that gripped my attention and made me feel the slightest bit festive. I normally hate short stories, but I've found Dickens is quite good at writing them. I always tend to enjoy them more than his actual novels, so perhaps that is why these periodical entries suited my tastes more than the novellas.
I would recommend this to those of you who enjoy Dickens work - his writing is really beautiful in some of these stories. However, I won't recommend it to those of you who are looking for a festive read. Instead, just simply buy A Christmas Carol and read that instead. I definitely don't think this is worth the price!