Ok, I guess I'll start off leading this discussion, since I'm the first done reading. By this Friday let's all have read the first two sections, ending with the departure of the first spirit. By next Friday, we'll finish the book and have a break for the holidays, and then we can start on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow in the new year.
For the first discussion, and probably for the later one as well, let's focus on the choices of events the spirits choose for Scrooge, and the details of their descriptions as well. The symbolism of what they represent and how they are portrayed should lend itself well to discussion. Let's also look at the same thing with the appearance of Jacob Marley, and the descriptive words used for Scrooge and his surroundings. Dickens uses a wide variety of adjectives to create very real and vivid surroundings and characters.
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I'm not going to make a new post tonight, since I'm going to my parents' company Christmas party, and I've outlined my thoughts for discussion here already, so whenever anyone is ready to start, let the discussion begin.
I am so glad that we are reading this one. When I was a kid my mom read this to us, sort of a tradition. But it scared me a little so that I sort of forgot about it.
The plays I've seen really can't do justice to the story. I'd forgotten all the rich detail that Dickens puts into his stories. I love Dickens so I was very disappointed when my oldest daughter said she didn't like him. I think she dislikes all the words Dickens uses to describe one simple thing. If I remember correctly he was paid by the word so it made sense to use as many as he could.
Wow...if only Tolkien could have sealed that kind of deal...
I was never scared of this one, because my earliest memories of the story were from the Mickey's Christmas Carol that my dad recorded for me one Christmas. The Ghosts were Jiminy Cricket, the Giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk, and Pete. Goofy was Jacob Marley.
By Friday my library book still hadn't come in yet, but I went to a bookstore and read the first half of our reading while there. Then this morning I got a call telling me the book is in. So I'm going to pick it up today and try to finish the reading.
I was also really impressed at how descriptive Dickens wrote. It's something that productions just can't convey. I didn't realize he had more Christmas stories. Maybe we could read a different one next year. But that jumping way ahead.
Hope to be back soon with a copy in my hand.
I didn't realize Dickens had written other Christmas stories, either, but the volume I got from the library is a compilation of his Christmas works, and I thought that I might read some of the other titles after we finish this one.
Anyway, to the discussion. I read by Friday, but then got distracted and forgot to check the discussion until today! Oops!
I love the descriptions that Dickens uses. I felt cold in his office while reading those pages, and I felt like I was there with him walking up the wide staircase to his rooms.
The first spirit is of Christmas past. We see Scrooge as a young and lonely child in school a couple of times, then as an apprentice, and then as a young man who lusts after lucre and loses a relationship in the process, and then we see this woman who did love him move on to a happy life full of children and a caring husband. Am I missing any of the events? I think the choice of the events is pretty clear with Scrooge's past. He seems to have been neglected as a child, which perhaps opened a void in his heart that he thought that by acquiring worldly wealth would fill. It might have also made him somewhat distrustful in relationships later in life, although we do see that he is capable of love and warmth. I liked that we saw Scrooge soften and warm a bit as he saw these visions of his past.
The description of the Ghost of Christmas Past interesting, how the form varied or fluctuated at times such that only a limb was visible or then a variety of limbs. It's an eerie description. I've wondered why at times the ghost fluctuates like that, and perhaps it's symbolic of how our memories can also fluctuate, or how some events stand out more clearer in our minds than others - for example, I can remember the day I was married and the days that my children were born very clearly, including the time and place of various events during those days, but I could not tell you with as much accuracy a regular day last month which happened merely days ago whereas some of these events happened years ago. So, my entire recollection is not clear, but some aspects of my past are as clear in my mind as my recollection of what I did this morning.
As for the light that comes out of the spirit's head...I thought it interesting that the spirit mentioned that Scrooge had made the spirit wear the extinguisher these many long years. Perhaps the light represents a willingness to remember. Scrooge had not forgotten those days, but as he watched the events unfold, he became more and more lost in their memories. At the end, though, he could no longer take reliving any more, and extinguished the light and extinguished the vision.
I've always found the Ghost of Christmas Past one of the more intriguing of the spirits. I'd love to see what others have to say about their thoughts on the symbolism and the choice of events that we saw.
Okay, I've only JUST finished reading this assignment and really enjoyed it.
I too was really fascinated by the vivid descriptions, and like Kate also mentioned, the description of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Kate, I love your interpretation of the symbolism. I think you are right on.
I loved how warm and loving and so full of life the home of the ex-lover was described. The descriptions of the children and love was so heart-warming.
I enjoyed reading how loving his sister is, but was saddened by the brief indication that his father was not so loving.
I found it very interesting that Marley's "headscarf" served the purpose of holding his jaw up to his face and that when untied, his jaw dropped down to his chest. Why would Dickens give this ghost that characteristic?
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