I had hoped to get this posted before December was over. That didn't work. :P Then I was hoping to get it posted before the Twelve Days of Christmas were over. That didn't work, either. But, it's still the first week of the new year, so...have a post.
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| Beautiful picture (that has nothing to do with anything besides the fact that it's somewhat Christmas-y) courtesty of Clip Art. |
It's a tradition in our family now to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas eve, and this December was even more A Christmas Carol-y than usual, what with our going to see Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (which was amazing, by the way) and my deciding to read the book itself again because it's short and I can and it's written by one of my favorite authors. The funniest part is that I actually finished reading the book right after we finished watching the movie. :P
This is the part where, if I knew what I was doing, I would write a meaningful little review about the themes of the book and how powerful it is and how the thought that even someone as bad as Scrooge can repent and turn around should give us all hope for humanity.
Instead, I'll just do the thing that I'm actually good at and quote some dialogue and bits of prose that I found interesting/entertaining.
" 'A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
'Bah!' said Scrooge, 'Humbug!'
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
'Christmas a humbug, uncle!' said Scrooge's nephew. 'You don't mean that, I am sure?'
'I do,' said Scrooge. 'Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.'
'Come, then,' returned the nephew gaily, 'What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.'
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, 'Bah!' again; and followed it up with 'Humbug.' " -Pg. 9*
And another bit from a few sentences later:
" 'Why ever did you get married?' said Scrooge.
'Because I fell in love.'
'Because you fell in love!' growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. 'Good afternoon!'
'Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?'
'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
'I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?'
'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
'I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!'
'Good afternoon!' said Scrooge.
'And A Happy New Year!'
'Good afternoon!' said Scrooge." -Pg. 11
I don't think I've ever noticed before how wonderful Fred is in this part. I mean, he has every right to lose it, yell at his uncle, and storm out of the office--but he doesn't. He stays polite and cheerful to the end, and what's even more impressive is that he stays respectful.
And then there's Scrooge. "GOOD AFTERNOON." XD
And now here's a short bit of prose that has absolutely nothing to do with the two scenes I just quoted:
"They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying that it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again." -Pg. 15
And this is where anthropomorphizing becomes hilarious. XD *tries to picture a little house playing hide and seek and fails*
Anyway, if you haven't actually read A Christmas Carol, I highly recommend it. It's a good book to read around this time of the year, and like I said earlier, it isn't very long at all.
~Kellyn~
*Pages numbers are from my Kindle. We have the real book around here somewhere, but I didn't feel like going to the trouble of finding it. My Kindle is making me lazy, apparently. :P
