The Dickens, I Say!

This is not a ‘review’ week, but this one won’t wait. It’s about a story that all of you know, one that I thought that I did in its entirety. I also thought that I had read the complete story, but I found that I had not.

Have you read or heard the full, original story of Charles’ Dickens’  A CHRISTMAS CAROL ?

Last week I was looking for something to listen to that was Christmassy, but not a movie. For years I have run movies in the background, but this year I’ve wanted to actually sit down and watch the Christmas films.

I always watch at least George C. Scott’s version of Scrooge  and sometimes others, such as the one that Rich Little did where he played all the characters as different personalities, (unfortunately, my VHS of that is breaking down. I must look to see if I can find it on DVD.)

I put YouTube on and found a nice, well-spoken English actor to read A Christmas Carol and lo and behold, I heard a prologue that I never read, plus much more throughout the story which was completely new and unfamiliar to me. Some of the parts that stand out are  Ebenezer actually ‘seeing’ Ali Baba and Friday and not just saying that they were ‘real’ to him as he encountered himself in the school with the Spirit of Christmas Past. Nor did I ever read of the Spirit of Christmas Present taking Ebenezer to see miners and to hear them singing and joyful despite their harsh lives.

Do you know those?

I had often wondered how the story was long enough to keep audiences and the publisher happy.

Now I know.

There are many passages and quite a bit of humor that I never read in whatever version I had encountered in the past.

I can understand movies taking liberties, condensing happenings or simply editing for length and audience attention spans, but like Scrooge himself, I have missed so much good in this all these many years.

So now, I will read, or at least listen to, a full version of “A Christmas Carol” every year.

Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one.

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