A Christmas Carol

October 1, 2003
Bah, humbug! Just in time for the holidays, actor Jim Dale reads a new, unabridged version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It's a natural extension for Dale, who is the voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks and who also takes the stage in New York City later this month as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol: The Musical. The audiobook, for which Dale created 23 voices, is available on both CD and cassette. Watch for Dale as Scrooge on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, too.

A perennial holiday favorite is immortalized with a singular trade edition of the original manuscript.In association with the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan, which places the original manuscript of Charles Dickens' timeless Christmas classic on public display each holiday season, this collectible reprint "represents the most faithful transcription to date." The edition includes a foreword by acclaimed author Colm Toibin, who adds factual commentary about Dickens' writing inspiration and how the author designated the past, the present, and the future as the "unearthly protagonists" in his redemptive and morally purposeful story of Scrooge. Toibin believes the tale itself, a "dark journey of the soul," derives much of its power from its grim portrait of London. The book is introduced by the Morgan Library's chief literary curator Declan Kiely, who explores Dickens' determination in writing the story--while he suffered through a miserable cold--and the many pivotal personal (financial anxiety), professional (prior book sales), and political issues (his advocacy for social reform) affecting his life of "ecstatic restlessness" leading up to the drafting of the story in the fall of 1843. Kiely artfully describes the tale's five theatrical "staves" and scrutinizes the author's creative process and heavily edited composition. He also notes several minute details in Dickens' writing style, the original manuscript's trail of sale, and the intricate disbinding and preparatory processes taken to produce this special volume. Dickens' original manuscript in his cursive penmanship--with some of the author's spelling "peculiarities" corrected)--is featured opposite its verbatim translation. The storybook, impressively produced and crisply analyzed by both Toibin and Kiely, harbors the potential to joyfully transform a burdensome year of "misery to merriness." A unique, ageless Yuletide treasure for fans and collectors alike. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2016

Each holiday season, Manhattan's famed Morgan Library & Museum displays one of its most important documents: the original manuscript of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, with corrections, deletions, and insertions all in Dickens's own hand. Since I can practically recite this entire work by heart, I will be interested to see this first-ever trade edition facsimile of the manuscript. .

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.