This is the final week of The Christmas Carol. Great comments, everyone! I hope you have enjoyed the novel! If you are behind, you still can make comments if you would like. The next reading that we will start on January 4th is Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. If you would like to know what the novel is about, look under Future Readings below. If you have any suggestions for a novel, please list it under Future Readings.
Have a happy new year!
This Week's Reading: Chapter 5 by January 3
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Ok, last chapter. I read it over a week ago, but I will try to do my best! I loved how Scrooge is almost crazy now that he is back in the safety of his home and he is alive and well. I think I would be a little histerical too! It is like he is reborn, a little kid again. It is the first day of the rest of his life! YAY! I loved how good it felt for him to laugh again. I think it was the first time in a very long time he felt alive. It made me think of how easily we let things get in the way of our happiness and how easy it can put us in a mood that is hard to shake. Unfortunately Scrooge was in "a mood" for a long time. Sometimes it is hard to change because people expect you to stay the same. You are afraid they will laugh at you. I liked at the end of this chapter how "some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh." What a great attitude. Who cares what other people think - though a hard thing to learn. I know I struggle with that sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how Scrooge was a bit ornery at the end and made Cratchit think he was going to fire him. Sounds like something I'd do. It was playful.
My favorite part of the last chapter was the very end, "and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!" What a great way to end the story. Something for all of us to keep in mind everyday, not just Christmas!
I couldn't put this book down after I read the last chapter, so I ended up reading on to the end. To imagine the horror that Scrooge was left in when the last ghost was disappearing I could easily imagine the feeling of joy and relief that he was feeling to find himself back at home. I'm with Elisa, I loved the way that he was almost crazy with that joy, drunk on the pleasure of not only finding himself alive, but also finding that it was christmas day, that he wasn't 'too late' for making the changes that the ghosts showed him needed to be made.
ReplyDeleteScrooge made such a change that you wouldn't recognize him anymore. It was like a second chance for the man that he never knew he was going to get. Just imagine what it would be like to have a new chance? To be able to change in one night everything about your life and fix things that you ruined before??
I love how he teased Cratchit, making the man think he was the same old scrooge at first and scaring the poor man before saying he was teasing. Just imagine what poor Cratchit was thinking?? He had no idea that Scrooge was no longer a scrooge, or that the marvelous turkey was sent by that very same man who was once so ugly.
All together this was an amazing book. I was so glad to be able to read it with you all! Happy New Year Everyone!
I was a good girl and only read the last chapter last night even though I knew how it ended. What a good time to read the last chapter---just before New Years when everyone is making New Years resolutions. We all see things in our lives that we would like to change. Each year we make resolutions to make those changes and yet it seems that each year our resolutions are pretty much the same. Scrooge made dramatic changes and they took. He didn't have to see the spirits again to keep him motivated. As we said last week he needed all three spirits to help him make this dramatic change. As to what I can learn from this, I think it is that we need to be fully committed to any change we want to make. It has to be more than a recognition of our fault. We must truly commit ourselves to it. Also, it is never too late as long as we still have another day. We don't know how many days we have but should take advantage of each of them. Also I was reminded that our lives shouldn't be self -consumed but filled with interaction and concern for others.
ReplyDeleteI too loved how he was so overwhelmed with joy to realize that the spirits were gone and he was alive and still had a chance to become what he now realized he wanted to be. He saw what he had shut out of his life day by day and was now excited to let love and joy back in. He was so comfortable with the change. I liked his comment about not worrying that others were laughing, that it was better that they laughed at him than talk about how miserly he was. If we are making positive changed we shouldn't let pride get in the way.
I too like the fun he had with Bob Cratchit. He must have been weak with relief when he realize that Scrooge was just kidding and wasn't loosing his mind. I wonder if he was waiting for "the other shoe to drop". To see such a change take place in one day would be hard grasp and trust.
I can see why this is a classic. I enjoyed it so much more this time and the spirits will be haunting me all year. I am really having fun discussing what I read. I am looking forward to the next book.
I was asked about one of the words in the book and I remembered looking up a few other so I thought I'd pull them out of the back and put them up here. So if you had questions here you go!
ReplyDeleteWalk-ER! -- a cockney expression ued in Victorian times to show astonishment
Joe Miller -- A Drury Lane comic actor
Blithe -- Jolly ((for some reason I always think quite the opposit))
Bishop -- A drink similar to mulled wine, purple in colour like a bishop's cassock
Comforter -- old-fashioned word for a scarf ((I'm sure by now we've figured this one out but I thought I'd drop it in here, having thought through the first chapter that everyone was wearing blankets as they walked around))
((this is a little something I found interesting so I thought I'd share))
Turkey -- beef or goose were the mainstay of Christmas dinner as they were cheaper and more widely available than turkeys. The poorer families did not own an oven and so would have their Christmas meat cooked at the local bakery; if they could not afford beef or goose they would make do with rabbit...The Queen herself would no doubt have feasted on turkey, but she was also rumoured to eat roasted royal swan on Christmas Day!
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ReplyDeleteI just Love the ending. It is so well written that you can almost feel the blissful joy that Scrooge is feeling. There has been times in my life when I know what I know and I feel so much joy built up inside that I feel like I'm going to bust at the seems. It is the greatest sensation and is quite the driving force.
ReplyDeleteI like how Scrooge passed back and forth in front of Fred's door when he was deciding weather or not he had enough courage to dine with him. Then he ran to the door without another moments thought. This is so me. Sometimes I get an impression that I need to do something, but it is so hard to be brave enough to do it and I start doubting myself because of fear. Like Scrooge, I find that the best thing to do is to quickly act without another thought and not let fear paralyze me.
What a delightful book! Thanks Emily! I don’t know about the rest of you. But I have decided to be like Scrooge. This can be just another great book with a great message, or it can be a defining moment of change. I know what I need to change and starting today I am no longer the old Lana. I know at first it will be a struggle, but a worthwhile one. Unlike Scrooge, it is a change that perhaps no one will notice, but I will be a better person—a stronger person and *I* will know it. HAVE AN AMAZING YEAR! I know I will.
Wow...great comments, everyone! I just barely finished chapter four and five. I do not know what to add for these two chapters because everyone has either addressed my questions or posted my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I finished the last chapter, I too felt such excitement, like I ( or all of us) still have a chance to become a better person. I couldn't help but smile and chuckle as Scrooge is "dancing" in merriment around his rooms as he realizes that he has a chance to change the future if he changes himself in the present.
I am so glad that you all have enjoyed the novel. I have seen this movie almost every christmas and have now read it twice, but I have never got so much out of it as I did this time. I have learned so much! Thank you for your participation!