The Christmas Books, Vol 2: The Cricket on the Heart/The Battle of Life/The Haunted Man

by Charles Dickens, Michael Slater (Editor, Introduction, Notes), Stanfie (Illustrations)

The Cricket on the Hearth, Dickens's third, eagerly awaited Christmas book, was the most popular of all.

Set in a pantomime world of toys, it was acclaimed by an amused and delighted Thackeray as a fancy 'crammed with extra bonbons, French plums and sweetnesses...a Christmas pageant which you witness in the arm-chair -- your private box by the fireside'.

The Battle of Life, subtitled 'A Love Story', has little in common with the other Christmas books, although it does share the theme of the morally beneficial effects of memory, which runs throughout the genre and is central to The Haunted Man. This last Christmas book contains one of Dickens's greatest comic families -- the Tetterbys -- and a horrifying, concentrated poignancy in its depiction of the Hungry Forties which foreshadowed the achievement of Bleak House.

The Christmas Books, Volume 1, containing The Christmas Carol and The Chimes, is also published in Penguin Classics.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Christmas, Audiobook, Literature, Holiday

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Charles 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)

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2 of Charles Dickens' The Christmas Books is composed of three novellas: The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home; The Battle of Line: A Love Story; and The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain: A Fancy for Christmas-Time.

The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale at Home 4 STARS

If A Christmas Carol has Ebenezer Scrooge and The Chimes has Aldemar Cute, Cricket has Mr. Tackleton whose heart is softened in the end of the story Christmas or New Year. This is my third Christmas novella of Charles Dickens and I can now see the trend: there is redemption at the end of each to illustrate how a hard or cold heart can change by the spirit of forgiving, hope, peace or love.

The plot is all about two families whose lives are intertwined by the stern and ill-natured man Mr. Tackleton. This Scrooge-archetype is a rich man who is in love with a much younger woman, May who, in turn, is in love with another man Edward who is as poor as she. Mr. Tackleton maybe in love but he is so evil that he even tries to destroy the peace in the marital relationship of husband and wife, John and Mary Peerybingle by accusing Mary of infidelity. John is about to let go of Mary but Christmas intervenes by cleansing Mr. Tackleton's indifferent heart.

The cricket here is the symbol of peace in the dwelling of the Peerybingles. Its sound, the chirps, is used by Dickens to call each chapter in the book. This is similar to "quarters" in Chimes and "staves" in Carol. According to Wiki, the actual sound of the crickets inspired him to write this novel.

The Battle of Life: A Love Story 2 STARS

Just an okay book. Nothing really special compared to the earlier 3, Carol, Chimes and Cricket. In fact, the there are many similarities that differences among them: happy ending, resolution is through a love between two characters (like Chimes and Cricket). Like Cricket there is only one scene with Christmas or New Year as backdrop but unlike that story, the Christmas scene here is not at the end of the story. But still, Christmas seems to be material in the story's denouement.

However, the big difference in this story is that there seems to be no morality issue between rich and poor people here. This is basically a love story between Marion and Albert, Marion has an elder sister Grace who ends up as Albert's wife. How did this happen? Read this for you to find out.

The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain 4 STARS

The ghost to haunt the living is back. However, unlike the 3 ghosts in Carol, there is just one ghost here in Haunted and it looks like a exact image (conscience?) of the main protagonist Professor Redlaw. At the start of the story, like Scrooge in Carol, Redlaw is full of angst, indifference and pain about life. So, the ghost offers him the chance to forget all the wrongs done to him. Redlaw agrees. However, it does not make him a better person but it worsens everything in him: he became more bitter and the pain in his heart becomes denser. This story proves a thought-provoking point: "It is important to remember past sorrows and wrongs so that you can then forgive those responsible and, in doing so, unburden your soul and mature as a human being." We all need to undergo pain for us to experience happiness. It is in the dark, where you see the stars.

This last book deals more about the spirit of the holidays rather than the holidays themselves. It seems to remind us that we need to remember the not-so-good experiences that happened to us in the last 12 months to appreciate the merriment and joy that Christmas and New Year bring.

Five wonderful stories or novellas about Christmas. They really made this Christmas different for me since I got new perspectives about how to look at these festivities. I still appreciate the old traditions (the decors, food, carols, gifts, etc) but I will focus more on helping others and I hope to pass this attitude to my wife and daughter. It's never too late to change for the better. Thank you, Mr. Dickens.

Merry Christmas, everyone! ho ho ho

♪♫♪ Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? ♪♫♪

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something beautiful in how Dickens' writes, it's a quality of putting together words in just such a way that the most innocuous and mundane becomes something altogether new and different.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cricket On The Hearth [1845]

Michael Slater notes in his introduction that Charles Dickens had some trouble coming to grips with the writing of The Cricket On The Hearth [1845], mentioning twice to his editor subsequent of having broached the new idea for a new Christmas story, that he was still thinking about it, but hadn’t started writing yet: and when he finally did, was doing so with clenched teeth.

We might conclude from this false start that the piece didn’t flow for him, that it was a workmanlike task which, once the idea was sprung, had to be got out. Certainly the idea is nice, and it contains those characteristic stamps of the man's sentiment for good if poor folk, and that good shall triumph over bad, even if at times we're in the hands of the fairies - or wiser spirits. But the piece is also stamped with the marks of variable and at times bad punctuation, plus the superadded bonus of some of his characteristic words.

But as a piece? Well, Thackeray liked it - and yet he was always critical of Dickens's vocabulary; in his letters, he notes that Dickens would be a significantly greater writer if he just said it all more simply. I'm not sure I agree - except that I liked it, but did not love it. Yet, with Christmas stories, you simply have to be in the Christmas mood, I think. So perhaps I read it prematurely. Perhaps it might be best approached after a bit of Hardy, or even Thackeray? Since I'm reading Oliver Twist at the moment, I have no trouble with the language; and since Oliver Twist appeals because of its pathos rather than its sentimentality, perhaps I found too little of the former and all of the latter in this - and that is why I didn't take to it too well.

[24.12.2017]:

The Battle Of Life [1846]

The sweetest of the Christmas books, it is also the most fluently read, with as easy a style of writing as Craggs might have had it and Thackeray desired it. We are led to believe this was also Dickens's least well-received Christmas story - but who's to second-guess a public almost certainly bent on tales of depravity and criminality - as featured in most of the Dickens I have read - when here, it being an intended Christmas tale, Dickens even withheld his satire about lawyers, turning instead to his affectionate humour to remind us that... well, it is, after all Christmas.

The Haunted Man And The Ghost's Bargain [1848]

This was very difficult to get into. Firstly, the characterisation was not as strong as in any of the other Christmas stories. Secondly, Dickens got into one of his metaphysical interjection modes - often which you have to read a couple of times to unravel the meaning of, or, if not, the intent - right from the outset, and - when one of these things happens in isolation, the prose is still navigable; but when both of these things occur concurrently; when the mind first wonders where it is going and then just wanders; when the plot is not even yet developed after twenty pages - and this is a short story - well... you get the gist - and much more of it.

On top of this, the mood was sombre - at times, grotesque - from the outset, and although relieved momentarily by the Tetterbys, they soon became the same, because of the nature of the tale, Mrs. Tetterby complaining about her lot, her family, her husband, with eight children aged ten or less about her, Mr. Tetterby wondering what he ever saw in her, and concluding: "Poor people... ought not to have children at all."

Dickens's moral was as close to a religious one here as in any of the other Christmas stories. What differentiates angels from the human race? The infinite capacity for compassion, empathy and seeing the good in people. We ordinary folk, oppressed by our own faults, ill luck, or tragedy, tend to run out of empathy the more we are stressed and tested. Our opening principal, Redlaw, is morose years after his own loss; yet our closing principal is Dickens's very principle, his messenger and his message.

Michael Slater concludes his introduction to this story with the point that - even though the press had decried their disappointment with it - Dickens had delivered such successful Christmas stories over the past few years that he could have both profitably continued to release one a year, but was by now heavily into David Copperfield [1850], and had perhaps come either to the conclusion that it was really too much work to concurrently write a large demanding novel, plus a Christmas story, plus plan the serialisation of yet another novel - or had merely run out of further ideas - which, considering his portfolio after Copperfield, is the improbable conclusion. Whichever, Dickens never wrote another Christmas book after The Haunted Man.

Conclusion

This volume should not really be read alone in isolation from the Penguin Christmas Books Volume 1, which contains A Christmas Carol [1843] and The Chimes [1844]. Of this combined collection of 5 Christmas stories, my favourite of course follows general consensus. I recall being very impressed with The Chimes, yet it not really having much of a chance, being in the same volume as Dickens's most famous Christmas tale. But of the 3 in the second volume, The Battle Of Life [1846] is far and away the winner, since it simply flows. I struggled with The Haunted Man [1848], feeling more of Dickens's sentiment than pathos, and felt The Cricket [1845] too sentimental, without pathos. So, I conclude, that Dickens's best stories are those which overall invoke pathos over sentiment, but I'd rather be able to make that judgement with the accomplished feeling that I have indeed read all of his Christmas Books, and feel the better for it. On to his Ghost Stories, now.

[Kalmar Shuffler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man.... I never thought I'd read a Dickens I didn't like, but here we are. 😕😔
For being labeled as "Christmas books," only one of these novellas has anything to do with Christmas, which is just odd. The stories themselves kind of annoyed me and bored me some.
His novels are much better, in my opinion. 😅

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can always count on Dickens to have a hearth scene in his Christmas stories.

[Scott]

I read the first “book” within this book, “The Cricket in the Hearth,” and am ready to move on to something else without reading the other two. It’s a cop out within a cop out, since this book became my Dickens read for 2018 after I realized there wasn’t enough time left In the year to read “Dombey and Son.” So my plan to read one Dickens book a year until 1) I’ve read them all or 2) I’ve died is still intact, but on a technicality. I’m ok with it if you are.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donada Peters (aka Wanda McCaddon) does a marvelous narration of these 3 holiday stories by Dickens.

1) The Cricket on the Hearth - 4*
Sentimental but so enjoyable. This story was the only one of the 3 I remember reading before...

2) The Battle of Life - 3*
I can't decide if this story was a bit too melodramatic or just a tad predicatable... in either case, it seemed to have little to do with the Christmas season (except for the family sentiment).

3) The Haunted Man - 3.5*
Good story though I am not sure that I agree with the moral of the story...

[Pi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopiero co skończyłam TOM II „Opowieści wigilijnych. Świerszcz za kominem” Dickensa i jak to w przypadku tego autora bywa, jestem głęboko wzruszona. Przepiękne opowieści, które dotykają najdelikatniejszych strun duszy. Nikt, tak jak Dickens, nie potrafi pisać o ludzkich sprawach, o kłopotach, nieszczęściach, radościach, poświęceniu i miłości.
TOM II zawiera trzy opowieści i każda z nich jest doskonała, zachwyca stylem, bohaterami, opisami, dialogami i oczywiście historią, całokształtem emocji. Dickens posiadał „złote pióro”, wielki talent i jak to dobrze, że był tak płodnym pisarzem, że mam jeszcze tyle jego dzieł przed sobą.
W TOMIE II znajdziemy, jak już wspomniałam, trzy opowieści. Pozwólcie, że o każdej napiszę parę słów… choć pisać bym mogła o nich o wiele więcej.
„Świerszcz za kominem. Baśniowa opowieść o domowym ognisku”, jest historią, która skupia się wokół pewnego małżeństwa. Ona młoda, on znacznie od niej starszy, ale oboje bardzo szczęśliwi i na dodatek posiadają świerszcza za kominem. To nie jest jakiś tam sobie świerszcz, ale prawdziwy dobry duszek, który opiekuje się domownikami. Jak to u Dickensa bywa i tutaj najważniejsze jest motto, przestroga, by nie dawać wiary złym słowom, by nie ufać plotkom, zaś by ufać sobie i zawsze cenić ciepło domowego ogniska. Opowieść ta potrafi wycisnąć łezkę, nie jedną…
„Życiowa batalia. Historia miłosna” jest chyba moją faworytką w tym zestawieniu. Dickens mnie totalnie zaskoczył, zmiażdżył i poruszył jednocześnie. Takiego biegu zdarzeń w życiu bym się nie spodziewała, a postawa jednej z sióstr sprawia, iż w moim sercu otwiera się komnata delikatności i czułości. Bo tak, to historia wielkiej miłości, siostrzanej miłości, to taka „Kraina Lodu” tylko w o wiele, wiele lepszym wydaniu. Mamy tu bowiem do czynienia z ogromnym poświęceniem i z ostrzeżeniem, by nie oceniać za wcześnie, a może by nie oceniać w ogóle…
„Sygnaturki. Opowieść o duszkach, za sprawą których jedne dzwony wyganiają stary rok, a inne przyzywają nowy” i tutaj mamy do czynienia z historią najbardziej zbliżoną formą i stylem do „Kolędy prozą”, lepiej znaną jako „Opowieść wigilijna”. Poznajemy pewnego gońca, biednego, starego człowieka, którego jedyną radością jest córka, a który uważa, że bieda dotyka złych ludzi więc i on czuje się zły, choć wcale taki nie jest. Tytułowe Sygnaturki są zaś duszkami dzwonów kościelnych, które zwiastują odejście starego i przyjście nowego. Trudno nie zakochać się w tej opowieści, trudno nie poczuć grudniowego chłodu i przenikliwego wiatru, trudno też nie usłyszeć dzwonów, a dzwony mówią, a dzwony pokazują, a dzwony uczą i przestrzegają… ale dzwony dają też szansnę, szansę na lepsze życie. To pieśń wzywająca nas do radości, nawet jeśli w butach dziury, a w garnku pustki.
Byłabym okrutna, gdybym nie wspomniała o cudownym wydaniu, o wspaniałych ilustracjach i o tym, że spokojnie możecie kupować tę książkę na prezent!
Z całą stanowczością POLECAM i NAMAWIAM – 10/10 inaczej być nie może!


LINK do recenzji TOMU I "Opowieści wigilijne. Kolęda prozą": https://portretyswiata.blogspot.com/2...

[David Fulmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cricket on the Hearth
The story is about a deliveryman with a doting young wife (Dot), a toymaker, Caleb, with a blind daughter and long lost son, and the surly Toy merchant for whom Caleb works, Tackleton. Caleb uses his imagination to disguise the poor circumstances in which he lives with his daughter in his descriptions of their home and clothing to her until he snaps. Tackleton is about to get married for reasons other than love until Caleb’s son makes an unbelievably surprising reappearance, and the marriage of the deliveryman and Dot undergoes a stress that merely reinforces how loving and perfect their marriage and home are. This reboot of a Christmas Carol, with a few magical elements and similarly pathos-inducing characters ranged against a villainous rich guy, has only a sliver of the pleasure and joyousness of that timeless classic.

The Battle of Life
Two sisters. One, practically engaged, senses her sister's affection for the man she is about to marry so she leaves town to clear the way for their engagement. Six years later she returns and everything is ironed out.

The Haunted Man
A ghost offers the chemist, Redlaw, the opportunity to forget all his sorrow, wrong, and trouble. Afterwards he’s apparently angry and unaware of the cause and everyone he goes near suffers this inexplicable anger. That’s the whole book. The lesson is that you need to remember wrong that has been done us, “That we may forgive it.”

Judging by some of the information in the introductions, it seems as though Dickens was writing for the stage in these books, as he contracted with theater groups to put on multiple stage adaptations and even shared his manuscript before publication so they could get the plays out almost simultaneously with the books. So I think that these “Christmas Books” were really written to capitalize on the success of “A Christmas Carol” and feed a public hunger for more of the same.

[Anna Shiverdecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, it's difficult to rate a volume that contains multiple stories. I went into these knowing basically nothing since they are completely overshadowed by A Christmas Carol, which after reading these is clearly the better story. However there is some merit in these.

The Cricket on the Hearth was my middle favorite of the three. I really liked parts, but it felt drawn out and not really all that christmas-y.

The Battle of Life was my least favorite. I really struggled to get through it. This too was drawn out and not very relevant to Christmas.

The Haunted Man was my favorite but also difficult to get into and long-winded. However, I really found the idea very interesting and provoking. It tied in well with Christmas (though not as much as Carol). I think I want to reread this one in future to really sink into it and explore it deeply. This time I was worried it would be like the previous two, but in the end it surprised me, so I think I could get a lot more out of it upon a second read. Of them all, I'd say this is the one you should read. It's almost a mix of A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life (which I hear the Chimes is similar to and the next and last Dickins Christmas book I need to read).

I also love this edition I have a it had the original illustrations which are so lovely.

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read The Cricket on the Hearth from this collection by Charles Dickens. I am a Dickens fan from long ago. I had forgotten how verbose authors of that time were. In spite of its twists and turns, the story ended happily. Overall, it was much more about the human characters than the cricket though the cricket certainly paid a part in the happenings.

[Jean Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories have many of the strengths of Dickens' longer works, the humour, the facility with language, the creation of strong characters. But they also bear the stigma of his inevitable reliance on maudlin endings.

[James Hauenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find his writing inspiring at times. He weaves these stories from bleakness to having faith in humanity

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst somewhat different to A Christmas Carol, I did enjoy these short stories - The Cricket 🦗 on the Hearth being my favourite - definitely worth a read if you want some classic literature.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read A Christmas Carol numerous times but it’s been a while since I read the books in this collection.

There something about reading Dickens at Christmas. Whichever book you choose Christmas enhances the experience, and a hot toddy enhances both! The top of the tree for a festive Dickens read is obviously A Christmas Carol but The Cricket in the Hearth published two years after Carol was also hugely popular.

It is a classic Dickens Christmas story and in the miser Tackleton it has a character to rival Scrooge. Also the inclusion of Bertha, a blind girl, provides enough pathos to rival that of Tiny Tim.

The second story here and Dickens’ fourth Christmas novel is The Battle of Life. It is the only one of his five Christmas books not to have a supernatural element, however, like Cricket it has a romantic twist. It never attained the popularity of the other Christmas books and is the least interesting of the three books in this collection. But despite not being up to the standards of the others it is however still an entertaining read.

The final book is The Haunted Man and The Ghosts Bargain. Dickens didn’t publish anymore Christmas books after this, however he did keep up his tradition of publishing a Christmas story every year in the journal ‘Household Words’, I love The Haunted Man, it has more similarities to A Christmas Carol than the others, it also has a man who is visited by a ghost due to his behavoiur. It has one of Dickens best comic families in the Tetterby’s, especially Johnny and Little Moloch.

All three stories have elements of concealed secrets due to an act of love.

The Christmas Books Volume 2, published by Penguin Classics, is a nice collection of Dickens’s lesser known Christmas stories and although The battle of Life is below par for him it does in my opinion contain two classic Christmas stories.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

These three short stories are good, but Dickens does a much better novel than a short story. The Cricket on the Hearth is particularly sentimental, but I did like it - mostly because I love the concept of the great importance of giving people (especially your spouse and others you love) the benefit of the doubt. The other two stories are The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man. I had a very, very difficult time with the concepts and themes in The Battle of Life and do not recommend it to any single woman who has sisters. I'm certainly glad I didn't read it at Christmas time (this is one of Dickens' Christmas novellas), as it would have made me want to kill myself. The Haunted Man was good, but a bit too much was recycled from A Christmas Carol, I thought. The narrating is excellent on this collection.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read Dickens' A Christmas Carol, I'd hoped his other Christmas books might be equally as rewarding. Having now completed all five in two volumes it's easy to see why A Christmas Carol remains the most celebrated. I found the other four difficult, ponderous and often nauseatingly sentimental with a tenuous connection to Christmas at best. That said, if you're only familiar with film versions of A Christmas Carol, do read the original, it is indeed a classic, and with all due respect to Alastair Sim, the book is definitely better.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not surprising that Christmas Carol became a classic in a way that none of these three books ever did, but the first two do offer some lovely passages and the third, A Haunted Man, is an inventive and compelling idea that probably could have been a classic, but it's execution isn't as memorable. Still, on the whole the book is a good read, and I found the information in the introductions to this version fascinating enough for me to add a Dickens bio to my reading list.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dickens wrote 4 other Christmas books after A Christmas carol. This volume has 3, and although they are beautifully written in places and deal with similar themes, the plots are a bit contrived and overly sentimental. Still worth reading, though not overtly Christmassy!

[Jeroen Berndsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as volume I in my humble opinion, but still good!

[Mike Moskos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really hard to follow on audiobook: the narrator's voice is muddled and she speaks rapidly.

I didn't get much more from it than a lot of detail about not too much.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dickens is a great writer.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cricket on the hearth, The battle of life, The haunted man,

[Seth Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the plus side of good.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I like Dickens but found these stories...meh