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Colind de Crăciun
Personajul principal al nuvelei este batranul Scrooge, un avar mizantrop care dispretuieste orice sarbatoare, un om insensibil la orice gest de afectiune pe care i-l arata cei din jurul sau. Colind de Craciun este o poveste despre speranta, despre bucuria adusa de sarbatoarea Craciunului si inaltatoarea forta a spiritului.
Volumul acesta contine urmatoarele nuvele: Colind de Craciun, Greierul casei, Clopotele, Lupta vietii si Omul bantuit si pactul cu fantoma.
Volumul acesta contine urmatoarele nuvele: Colind de Craciun, Greierul casei, Clopotele, Lupta vietii si Omul bantuit si pactul cu fantoma.
- GenresFiction
448 pages, Hardcover
First published December 19, 1843
5 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Charles Dickens
12.6k books31.3k followersCharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 19, 2012
I guess I am one of the few reading this collection of short stories in July, at the opposite side of the year than Christmas. But if you like motives, just think that I am experimenting how it is Christmas if I would have lived in a Tropical country.
I will write here reviews as I complete each short story from the book. My edition contains the following short stories, in this order: A Christmas Carol, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Chimes, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain.
A Christmas Carol - A definitively 5 star work. I have seen also some excerpts from this short story given as example in several Creative Writing books or courses. It is masterfully crafted, brilliantly written, has a strong point to prove and does all of that admirably. I cannot think of any flaw in this work and I cannot refrain from recommending it to anyone at Christmas time or when wanting to get into Christmas mood.
The Cricket on the Hearth - I am not able to give it more than 3 stars for this one. The reasons are because the characters are not memorable enough, maybe except Bertha, the passages with the cricket and the boiler are quite boring and the conflict is not too actual in today's society. Apart from these things, there are also good, positive things about this novella. The happy end is one of them, but we are all quite expecting this from other Dickens works and the attention and care given to the poor of the society is again catching.
The Chimes - In terms of rating, it cannot go in my opinion, beyond "it was ok" so this means 2 stars rating. The main reason is that I could not understand why the main character is scolded by the ghosts. I could not see any fault in his behavior. If it was to be someone scolded, the it should have been the 3 gentlemen that discouraged the young couple to marry plus the "Friend and Father of the poor". You see that even I cannot remember the character names!
In The Battle of Life things are getting slightly more interesting. Despite that statement, I cannot award it with more than 3 stars. And now the interesting part about it is that it tries to compare the life with a battle. And the comparison is not misplaced, but neither brilliantly made. Characters are a little better designed and the conflict is more clear.
And now the last one in the book, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain bored me because it is really not abandoning the line of the previous not so good novellas. So I award it a 3 star rating, just because is not as bad as The Chimes. Anyway, it is quite predictable and in the final pages, I just wished to finish faster.
One final point I award to Dickens for his humor and witty style, although this is not consistent in all 5 novellas. Another point I will give it for the happy endings which is always nice to have, especially when his predominant characters are so poor. Now, let's see if my 2nd grade math is still working: 5+3+2+3+3+1+1 means 18 points. Divided by 5 novellas we have in this collection it makes a fine average of 3.6. Rounding up, I say a 4 star rating is not at all undeserved, especially because it contains that masterpiece we all like to read during Christmas time A Christmas Carol.
I will write here reviews as I complete each short story from the book. My edition contains the following short stories, in this order: A Christmas Carol, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Chimes, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain.
A Christmas Carol - A definitively 5 star work. I have seen also some excerpts from this short story given as example in several Creative Writing books or courses. It is masterfully crafted, brilliantly written, has a strong point to prove and does all of that admirably. I cannot think of any flaw in this work and I cannot refrain from recommending it to anyone at Christmas time or when wanting to get into Christmas mood.
The Cricket on the Hearth - I am not able to give it more than 3 stars for this one. The reasons are because the characters are not memorable enough, maybe except Bertha, the passages with the cricket and the boiler are quite boring and the conflict is not too actual in today's society. Apart from these things, there are also good, positive things about this novella. The happy end is one of them, but we are all quite expecting this from other Dickens works and the attention and care given to the poor of the society is again catching.
The Chimes - In terms of rating, it cannot go in my opinion, beyond "it was ok" so this means 2 stars rating. The main reason is that I could not understand why the main character is scolded by the ghosts. I could not see any fault in his behavior. If it was to be someone scolded, the it should have been the 3 gentlemen that discouraged the young couple to marry plus the "Friend and Father of the poor". You see that even I cannot remember the character names!
In The Battle of Life things are getting slightly more interesting. Despite that statement, I cannot award it with more than 3 stars. And now the interesting part about it is that it tries to compare the life with a battle. And the comparison is not misplaced, but neither brilliantly made. Characters are a little better designed and the conflict is more clear.
And now the last one in the book, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain bored me because it is really not abandoning the line of the previous not so good novellas. So I award it a 3 star rating, just because is not as bad as The Chimes. Anyway, it is quite predictable and in the final pages, I just wished to finish faster.
One final point I award to Dickens for his humor and witty style, although this is not consistent in all 5 novellas. Another point I will give it for the happy endings which is always nice to have, especially when his predominant characters are so poor. Now, let's see if my 2nd grade math is still working: 5+3+2+3+3+1+1 means 18 points. Divided by 5 novellas we have in this collection it makes a fine average of 3.6. Rounding up, I say a 4 star rating is not at all undeserved, especially because it contains that masterpiece we all like to read during Christmas time A Christmas Carol.
November 29, 2024
O poveste foarte interesanta, moralizatoare despre Scrooge un batran suparat pe viata, care in ajunul Craciunului este vizitat de trei fantome, acestea schimbandu i perspectiva.
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