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4.5
The story is a classic by Dickens, so the silly four questions I answered doesn't do the book service. If you know the story, then the plot is predictable. What mood is the book? Well it could be hopeful, dark, nostalgic, suspenseful, thoughtful, and yes even light-hearted. The pace depends on the reader, so I say steady. The characters are the characters.As stated in the first sentence, this is a classic by Dickens. The end remains the same for Scrooge, and poor Marley still suffers for his sins. Tim gets a reprieve on life while the Ghost of Christmas Present dies, whoops I gave a little of it away. Yes Virginia, I guess Christmas died. We all love Fezziwig as a boss, but does Scrooge's comments about him tell us something different about this man; something sinister and evil? What did he mean when Scrooge stated, "He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil." Sounds like a twisted eeeevil man who delighted in mentally torturing people. We find that these gentlemen looking for donations from Scrooge are not into health. They disdain treadmills and health for people and want money to buy people meat and other food items. What is going on here, I wonder. Are these men looking to insure these people in the hopes of an early death in order to collect the insurance? What about this Cratchit guy? His wife believes he should be paid more money because the two do not practice birth control. Whose responsibility is it for their numerous children? We see that Cratchit and family can't be trusted with money since he is willing to use Scrooge's resources without any consideration to cost. Just throw more coal into the fire Bob! You're not paying for it. Scrooge’s nephew. There's a socialist if there ever was one. Spend money you don't have and party all of the time even though you are in debt and poor. Oh, expect the government to take care of you. Scrooge knows what really goes on during the "Christmas Party" of his nephew's. Just take a look at Topper. This lecherous man “had clearly got his eyes upon one of Scrooge’s niece’s sisters.” I bet he did. During blind-man’s bluff, ole Topper is trying to cop a feel from this girl in the feigned attempt of being “blind”. Heck everyone was in on it except for the poor girl, even the Ghost of Christmas Present knows what is going on. Let’s go back to the beginning with Marley. Why would Marley haunt Scrooge? Well, the bloody ghost was jealous of Scrooge’s success, that’s why. He even states it so when he references the chain that represented the successful work each has done. What about the poor? They are nothing but thieves. They feel justified in stealing because they want to profit by stealing Scrooges items. We are to feel compassion for these nasty people? I say send them to jail and throw away the key. All of this conspiracy is to get Scrooge's wealth that these people feel they deserve even though they have not earned it. They breed like rabbits, participate in carnal desires, spend beyond their means and basically live a life of excess and without fiscal restraint but expect the conservative, hard working, and successful Scrooge to give up what he earned and saved for their pleasures. Sounds like the story of the ant and grasshopper to me. This is a socialists dream come true. Steal from those that deserve it and give to the frivolous entitlement actions of lazy, people.In summation, this is a socialist conspiracy to steal from those that earn wealth through hard work by manipulating a man's feelings through deceit and deception. He is threatened with death if he does not capitulate. These people are considered the heroes! Throw in the idea that exercise and health should not be maintained for the poor so wealth can be gained from them by exploiting them with entitlements as if these entitlements were a drug. The story explains the downfall of one man in order that many can continue their life of excess until they have drained this poor man's sources. I wept for this man at the end.Now to the annotated section. The way the annotation is laid out, the story is broken up. The reason for this is the annotation is very in depth thus providing the reader a background to what Dickens was writing. Yes, you may have to turn a page or two to continue with the story, but you did buy the annotated version. The annotated section provides an excellent way to understand not only Victorian society but also what some of the hidden meanings to Dicken’s phrases. A very nice book for that reason.If you want to just read the story, buy another book or read it online.
