A Christmas Carol Resources

Websites

In All Its Glory

The full text of the novel is always handy to have in e-format so you don't have to type out long quotations.

The Original

Check out Dickens's fun loopy handwriting, and the way he revised sections by inserting way more active verbs and by shortening sections that were too long. Hey, you know what, those are both pretty good tips for when you're revising your own writing.

Victorian Web

All the context you ever wanted to know about anything to do with Dickens. Ever. And then a lot of context you didn't even know you wanted to know. And some more context that you definitely didn't want to know at all.

AV Club Inventory

Here are twenty-three TV episodes based on A Christmas Carol, for you lovers of the small screen.

Movies and TV

The Scrooge Greatest Hits from 1901 to 2009

Here's a page that gives a lot of synopses of the various Scrooge adaptations there have been. And there have been a ton.

The AARP's Scrooge List

The AARP attempts to make a definitive list of the best movie Scrooges so far. And, you know, they're the AARP, so they know all about old people.

Historical Documents

Description of Dickens Performing A Christmas Carol

Dickens would travel around giving dramatic readings of his many works—and this lady wrote a long book in 1871 describing what these readings looked like and what Dickens was like as a performer. Hint: he was awesome.

Dickens's Letter About A Christmas Carol

It's kind of a weird letter to his friend, in which Dickens refers to himself in the third person and has a kind of an out-of-body relationship to the novella.

Video

Oscar-Winning Cartoon

Richard Williams's amazing cartoon version of A Christmas Carol, in four parts. It's pretty awesome, so you guys should really check it out. Shmoop would never lead you astray.

Marley's Ghost

George C. Scott encounters Marley's ghost. It's, um, terrifying. Don't watch alone, and don't say we didn't warn you.

Sony Commercial

Dudes, Scrooge's story is so famous that it's even made its way into commercials. Featuring a pretty famous actor, too.

Audio

Hear Dickens Read!

Okay, so it's not Charles Dickens, but it is his great grand-daughter, Monica. Apparently she sounds a bit like her ancestor.

Images

Ignorance and Want

John Leech illustrated the first edition, and Dickens worked really closely with all of his illustrators, so you know this is how Dickens was picturing it in his mind. Here's the scene starring Ignorance and Want.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Or at least, what was the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Reformed and Redeemed

Here's ol' Ebenezer, chatting it up with his new bestie Bob.

Mr. Dickens

What. A. Beard.