A Christmas Carol in Prose

When Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, he created a story that will live for centuries—a story for which there are no boundaries of time. His description of a miserly, cold-hearted businessman who learns to feel the joy of Christmas became so firmly established that the very name “Scrooge” has turned into a household word, referring to someone greedy and cruel. More than one hundred and fifty years have passed, but to this day no one would want to try on the name of Scrooge.

The work that came from Dickens’s pen combines fun, nightmare, and the sublime—yet it is in no way preachy or sentimental. “A Christmas Carol” is above all a fantasy. But a fantasy based on reality. Dickens created something truly life-like and unforgettable, because his tale is truly the best description of human nature.