I'm not sure how I've gone all these years and never actually read the book, yet I know and love the story and have seen numerous movie and theater versions of it. However, when I received my latest free (in exchange for an honest review) book from Booklook Bloggers, it occurred to me that I should start by reading A Christmas Carol.
I found our copy of this delightful book on the paperback bookshelf and thoroughly enjoyed the read. Robbie and I also watched the 1938 movie version of A Christmas Carol, which we have in our DVD collection but had never watched. It's a wonderful version!
Did y'all know there have been 20 different movie versions based on this book? [One FUN piece of trivia that I learned from the book I'm reviewing today is that Lionel Barrymore, known for his portrayal of Old Man Potter in the 1946 version of It's a Wonderful Life, was originally cast as Scrooge for the movie version that we watched this year, however he gave way to Reginald Owen for health reasons.]
After reading the book and watching the movie, I was able to give my full attention to 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol by Bob Welch. This book is the third (I believe) in a series of 52 Lessons books that share Bible-based lessons from popular books and movies. This small book is very well written as it works through the story of A Christmas Carol sharing lessons like "Everyone Has Value" and "Don't Give Expecting To Receive." The author follows the novel's story line and also brings in additional scenes or quotes from the various movie versions.
I enjoyed the book, although it was somewhat choppy reading, I think partly due to the idea of choosing 52 lessons. Quite a few of the lessons overlapped and (in my opinion) the book would have been an easier read if there had been more in-depth lessons (and thus less chapters) rather than it all broken out into lessons that sometimes only covered one or two pages. Obviously as this is a series of books, the author was working within the requirement of finding the larger number of lessons.
I have to admit that many of the lessons were quite thought-provoking. In the chapter on the lesson "Dying Lonely Is The Result Of Living Lonely," the author points out that despite (or because of) all the social media connections we have today, more people report being chronically lonely then they did a decade ago. Near the end of the book on the lesson "It Is Never Too Late To Change," the author lists the choices Scrooge makes after his visits from the ghosts: (1) He chooses generosity over selfishness. (2) He chooses people and relationships over money and materialism. (3) He chooses joy over bitterness. Great reminders that we make choices that affect our lives every day.
Have you read this Christmas classic? Do you have a favorite movie version?
I've read it, watched several other versions. Our favourite version is the Muppet version - which oddly, is the most accurate according to text reusage.
ReplyDeleteNot seen the 52 lessons series but that sounds interesting.
Yes I've read it. I think it has one of the best opening sentences of any book ever. Our favourite version is the Bob Zemeckis one with the amazing flying over London scene at the beginning
ReplyDeleteI read it for the first time last year. I do hope you have a lovely Christmas x
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