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Christmas Classics
The six volumes in the Penguin Christmas Classics are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope, brought together in Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories, popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott, collected in A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories, shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. Nikolai Gogol's The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.
Beautifully designed hardcovers-with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalization-in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honoured stories about the holiday.
Beautifully designed hardcovers-with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalization-in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honoured stories about the holiday.
912 pages, Hardcover
First published December 16, 2010
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About the author
Charles Dickens
12.7k books31.4k 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2022
You can't go wrong with the selection of classic stories included in this set. I gave all six books in this set the same rating (★★★★☆) which will be individually reviewed in the future.
In terms of my personal favourites, these are the ranks from my most to least favourite in this set:
1. A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
2. The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4. The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
5. Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope
6. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
As for this whole set, I gave it a ★★★★★ rating because the way everything is nicely put together:
- the hardcover editions of each book that comes in a festive little red box
- the matching winter theme with lovely red cardinals on the book covers
- the books can also be individual gifts thanks to the perfect size for stockings
Needless to say, it's easily become one of the choices for yearly Christmas reads in the family.
Picture credit: unsplash.com
abandoned
December 15, 2018Oh, hell no.
I might try text to speech on this (that's sort of like having Google Maps read to you), but there's no way I can read this book.
The text is centered. Even when you tell your Kindle to align-left, the text is centered.
There's a reason sane books aren't published with centered text. Readers follow along a line of text, but at the end, their eyes go back as far left as they started. When the text they want to read doesn't start at that point, it makes many readers (including this one) abso-f**ing-lutely crazy.
And you can't tell where paragraphs begin and end because a short line doesn't signal the end of one paragraph or herald the beginning of the next. A short line is just a short line and it means nothing.
There are some lovely classic stories in this book: Dickens, Twain, Moore, Scott. I know I have a couple as readable Kindle books (and/or Audible books), and the ones I'm missing I'll have to find in a more readable format.
I might try text to speech on this (that's sort of like having Google Maps read to you), but there's no way I can read this book.
The text is centered. Even when you tell your Kindle to align-left, the text is centered.
There's a reason sane books aren't published with centered text. Readers follow along a line of text, but at the end, their eyes go back as far left as they started. When the text they want to read doesn't start at that point, it makes many readers (including this one) abso-f**ing-lutely crazy.
And you can't tell where paragraphs begin and end because a short line doesn't signal the end of one paragraph or herald the beginning of the next. A short line is just a short line and it means nothing.
There are some lovely classic stories in this book: Dickens, Twain, Moore, Scott. I know I have a couple as readable Kindle books (and/or Audible books), and the ones I'm missing I'll have to find in a more readable format.
February 20, 2017
I love this little hard covered set. So adorable! Such a nice set to add to my book collection.
January 1, 2019
A great collection of classic Christmas stories.
December 1, 2024
Short stories, some okay, some boring
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews