Stories for Christmas by Charles Dickens

Stories for Christmas Reviews

• 
  Darth J

  Review of A Christmas Carol
  One of the most iconic holiday tales to date, A Christmas Carol has had a large influence all over the world. Dickens has given us unforgettable quotes that we still use to this day.
  
  
  
  This classic tale of a bitter miser who learns the error of his ways speaks to our collective wish of absolution and compassion, letting us believe that it's never too late to change. Scrooge's introspection (aided by temporal apparitions) allows him to see how much of his life he has already wasted due to his toxic outlook.
  
  
  It's a simple story that has been easily adapted to different reimaginings, though I must admit that the Patrick Stewart one was always my favorite.
  
  
• 
  Poiema

  You have to love Dickens to make it through this huge volume of short stories. While I DO have great affection for this author, it's taken me a couple of years to finish. Dickens' flourid use of adjectives and alliteration are charming when taken in small doses, but a little grating in quantity. Thus, I found myself putting the book aside several times and returning for a fresh dose later.
  
  
  This is a lovely keepsake edition, with a gold stamped front and ribbon marker. The print is jumbo sized, a facsimile of the 100+ year old original manuscript. This contributes to the "old tyme" feel of the stories and adds atmosphere to the reading.
  
  
  Divided into three sections, the first contains Dickens' most famous Christmas stories: The Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth. Parts II and III contain lesser known short stories that were first found in the periodicals "Household Words" and "All the Year Round." Some of these related to Christmas, but many did not.
  
  
  Two of the stories, "The Wreck of the Golden Mary" and "The Haunted House," were portmanteau stories ---- stories in which Dickens framed the beginning and end, but the middle chapters were contributed by other authors. Wilkie Collins had a part in both of these but alas! this edition of the book only contained Dickens' chapters. You have to refer to other editions to find the outsourced chapters.
  
  
  Dickens seems sentimental by today's standards, but his love of children, compassion for the down-and-out, and his ability to create colorful characters is pure genius. There's a playfulness that belies the deep character issues portrayed by his skillful hand. Heartwarming and highly recommended, even if you only read Part I.
• 
  Rebekah

  I didn't finish this beautiful book by Dickens, but decided to save the last two hundred or so pages of short stories until next Christmas. I highly enjoyed the short stories and tales I read, some of my favorites being "The Cricket on the Hearth" and "The Holly Tree".
• 
  Hunter Mallone

  I thought the book was fantastic. It was afterall Charles Dickens. I also was glad I read it during our holiday trip!
• 
  Kendalyn

  Actual Rating: 4.5
  My first foray into Dickens writing (besides A Christmas Carol) and what a wonderful time it was :)
• 
  Eric

  The edition I have of this book has an elegant cover and a nice bound bookmark. It might make a good gift for an avid reader who enjoys Dickens. That said, I started reading it but quickly realized that the stories are available for free on my Kindle, which is much easier to hold, so I did most of my reading there.
  
  I read the first three stories, and now I've got enough Christmas spirit for this year. I think I'll read some more when the Christmas season comes again next year. Merry Christmas!
• 
  midnightfaerie

  Christmas Stories
  
  
  
  The Cricket on the Hearth
  
  
  
  The Christmas Carol
  
  
  
  The Chimes
  
  
  
  A Christmas Tree
  
  
  
  What Christmas Is As We Grow Older
  
  
  
  The Child's Story
  
  
  
  The Poor Relation's Story
  
  
  
  The Schoolboy's Story
  
  
  
  Nobody's Story
  
  
  
  The Seven Poor Travellers
  
  
  
  The Holly Tree
  
  
  
  The Wreck of the Golden Mary
  
  
  
  The Perils of Certain English Prisoners
  
  
  
  Going into Society
  
  
  
  The Haunted House
  
  
  
  A Message From the Sea
  
  
  
  Tom Tiddler's Ground
  
  
  
  Somebody's Luggage
• 
  Bradley Somers

  A few years ago I began reading this collection every Christmas. I always read the classic Christmas Carol. Also read one or two of the other Christmas stories each year. I love the wit and style of Dickens.
• 
  Manuel Alfonseca

  In 1849, after his five Christmas books, Dickens started writing two of his major novels, David Copperfield and Bleak House, and could find no time to continue the tradition of putting out a Christmas book every year. He then fell back to writing Christmas short stories, and did it more or less continuously in the following years.
  
  I have read nine of Dickens's Christmas stories, six of them in English (published by epubbooks) and the other three in a Spanish translation. The most poignant was (for me) "The wreck of the Golden Mary," which ends in a totally unexpected way, but all of them are quite good.
  
• 
  Teri

  I have never read A Christmas Carol. It is a favorite of Thomas S. Monson. He includes it in his Christmas treasury of books he reads every year. I didn't realize it is only 82 pages. It will be a nice story for Christmas Eve.
  I loved it! I will save the other Christmas stories in the book for next year. Hope to read The Christmas Carol again and again and become familiar with the lines. I found the last chapter so touching. Very memorable.
• 
  Cameron Chaney

  REVIEW FOR "A CHRISTMAS CAROL"
  
  Reading this classic story is like eating a rich chocolate cheesecake. While small, it's best to be savored slowly in even bites. I recommend setting aside a few hours to experience this story from cover-to-cover, but don't read it too quickly! Just take your time to soak in the richness of the story we all know and love.
  
  FINAL VERDICT: 4.5 stars
• 
  Kristy

  I'm glad I finally read this. We all know the story, but it was good to read the original.
• 
  ALOK KUMAR

  Best line of Charles Dickens ever remained with me is "It is the best of times and it is the worst of times"
• 
  Nicole

  So the main Christmas stories that Dickens wrote (A Christmas Carol and The Cricket on the Hearth) I enjoyed immensely. However, the rest of the short stores that were included in this book were disappointing. Many of the stories come directly from other publications which means that sometimes, the original editorials had portions of the stories removed. This makes it challenging at times to follow along with Dickens. Also some of the short stores had multiple authors; one author wrote a chapter and then maybe Dickens wrote a few of the other chapters. Instead of including the chapters written by other authors the book edited them out and gave the reader a synopsis. This in my opinion took away from the brilliance of Dickens. All in all I would only read the stories that I enjoyed again and not the rest of this collection of Christmas short stories.
• 
  Debbie

  I did not read all the stories in this book yet but did read:
  
  A Christmas Carol
  How I have reached the age of 67 and have never read the story by Charles Dickens of A Christmas Carol I have no idea. I have watched many of the cartoons that have been made of the show since I was about 5...but to never have read the story...that is just shameful. Well, COVID provided me that opportunity this year...and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will indeed make it a plan to read each year and definitely want to say thanks to my son for giving me that extra kick during a facebook post (or some post) this year about taking the time to read it.
  
  
• 
  Leroy Erickson

  Charles Dickens can write something really good, but then can slip into something so tedious and boring to read. In this combination of multiple collections, "A Christmas Carol" stands out as an enjoyable read and a good story. A couple of other short stories are good, but the majority are, basically, wandering messes. The story "The Haunted House", for example, to begin with made me think that I was reading something by Mark Twain, humorous, fun, intelligent, but then finished up with a tangled mess that didn't really contribute anything.
• 
  Kimberly

  I only read A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I am saving the next story for next year. I love this story so much. It's been a long time since I've read it and had forgotten so much. Most of the movies are about 75% direct from the book, with the other 25% screen adaptation. They do well to not stray off into weirdness. Recommended reading for all.
• 
  Aimee

  I enjoyed getting in the holiday spirit by reading Dicken’s classic tales for the Christmas season. A Christmas Carol is still the best.
• 
  Jim

  Kinda intersting, but missing pages in this antique book. I was a fun diversion.
• 
  Heather

  A wonderful collection of stories, including Dickens's big three Christmas stories (A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, and The Cricket on the Hearth), and a series of shorter stories. Some of the shorter stories aren't really related to Christmas, or any type of Christmas theme (maybe they were just published at Christmas-time?), but all are interesting reads, and some are especially compelling. I had never encountered The Chimes before, and it is one of the most powerful literary works I've read.
• 
  Beth Besso

  I have re-read this book three times now.
  My all time favourite Christmas story is A Christmas Carol. I grew up watching many different movie adaptations, a few years ago I was gifted this book and was thrilled, not only did it contain my favourite story, but it had other works by Charles Dickens too (which I've been curious to read). I love this book. Reading A Christmas Carol the way it was meant to be told, and discovering the other stories in it is beautiful. I think, though, you would have to be a fan of Charles Dickens to read through the book.
• 
  Tinquerbelle

  1) A Christmas Carol
  2) The Chimes
  3) The Cricket on the Hearth
  4) A Christmas Tree
  5) What Christmas Is as We Grow Older
  6) The Poor Relations Story
  7) The Child's Story
  8) The Schoolboy's Story
  9) Nobody's Story
  10) The Seven Poor Travellers
  11) The Holly Tree
  12) The Wreck of the Golden Mary
  13) The Perils of Certain ENglish Prisoners
  14) Going into Society
  15) The Haunted House
  16) A Message from the Sea
  17) Tom Tiddlers Ground
  18) Somebody's Luggage
• 
  Jessica Weinreich

  The first three books included in this volume are great and (except for The Chimes) fairly well known.
  
  The shorter works that follow are less known and become more rambling and less Christmas-related as they go.
  
  Disappointingly, at least three of these are incomplete. Two are clear as to why: they left out the chapters not written by Dickens. The other doesn't say why. In both, you feel like you've missed some major plot points.
  
  It took a lot of effort to push to had end of this book.
• 
  Nicole

  I feel like I should get a medal for reading more than 800 pages of Dickens before Christmas!
• 
  Elijah

  Cricket on the Hearth is my favorite. I love Tackleton.
• 
  Angel Scott

  I read this book during the holidays and snuggle up with a blanket, one of the best classics!
• 
  P.D.R. Lindsay

  Very Dickens. Charming, old fashioned, slow reading stories about Christmas and the Christmas spirit.
• 
  Catherine

  Some great, some "eh", but worth the read. Full of proper little chuckles.