christmas carol

Its been a while since I've read me some Charles Dickens, and I've never read A Christmas Carol before, so I decided to give this one a go. Its been on my shelf for years; is a good looking hardcover published by Reader's Digest in 1988. The title of the volume is actually A Christmas Carol and Other Stories, and includes two other short stories: The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth. This site describes a copy of this hard cover for sale this way:

No DJ. burgundy leatherette bound HB spine with large gilt stamped titling and boards a bright green leatherette with intricate frame surrounding titles. Sharply cornered with tightly bound interior textblock.

According to Abe Books glossary of book terms:
DJ = Dust Jacket, HB spine = Half bound, and sharply cornered refers to the corners of the covers no being bent or blunted.

I don't think I've ever read A Christmas Carol because I've seen so many versions, from old black and white movies, to cartoons, to 'Scrooged,' with Bill Murray, to school plays. The story holds up; its wonderfully written, the pacing and the set up are great. There's just enough to let you know how much of a heel Scrooge is before he gets his intervention. Dickens also gives us just enough horror to keep the story spine chilling without going over the top and spoiling what is clearly intended to be a Christmas story. This one is worth the price of admission.

In fact don't bother with the other two. Between them, The Cricket is a better story, The Chimes just stinks. Its a mess, from beginning to end.