To try out my new Kindle, I decided to download and read the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I’d never read any Dickens novels before, and this one fit the season. Besides, since the book is in the public domain, it was available for free from the Kindle Store.

A Christmas Carol was a fast read, and I was surprised to find that it was immensely enjoyable. Expecting to find outdated Victorian-era prose that was hard to understand, Dickens’s writing was actually accessible and engaging. I admit picturing many of the characters as Muppets while I read, but it was interesting to discover that each character has more depth and complexity than most screen or stage versions are able to show.

The thing that really struck me was that Scrooge’s transformation is much more believable in book form. For some reason, every adaptation of A Christmas Carol that I’ve seen leaves wondering if Ebenezer is truly a changed man. Reading Dickens’s words, there is no doubt. “Bah! Humbug!” no more!

Reading A Christmas Carol was so fun that I’m motivated to read other literary classics. Any suggestions regarding what I should start next? Leave a comment.