RAR #254: What’s So Great About A Christmas Carol?
Read-Aloud Revival ®
Sarah Mackenzie
4.9 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2024
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"Marley was dead, to begin with."
That is one of the most famous first lines in English literature. It comes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is perhaps the greatest Christmas ghost story ever told.
What is it that speaks to so many of us about this story of Scrooge and his ghosts?
Today I want to talk about what makes this story so beloved and enduring–from its original bestselling release in 1843 through countless adaptations–to the place of fondness and tradition it has in so many of our homes today.
In this episode, you’ll hear from RAR Premium members; Joe Sutphin, who did the beautiful illustrations for Little Christmas Carol; Samantha Silva, author of Mr. Dickens and His Carol; and some RAR kids on the lasting impact of Dickens’s tale and what they love so much about A Christmas Carol.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Why we love A Christmas Carol as a read-aloud for the whole family
- How Joe Sutphin illustrated and populated Scrooge’s world for Little Christmas Carol
- The real backstory of why Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, which inspired Samantha Silva’s novel
Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:
Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/all-about-a-christmas-carol
- Get Christmas School
- Order a copy of Beyond Mulberry Glen by January 7, 2025 to get your free gifts!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Most of us have too much on our plates before the busy holiday season begins, right? |
| 0:08.2 | And then December hits, and we feel behind on, well, sort of everything. |
| 0:12.6 | But for homeschoolers, especially for Christian homeschoolers, December should be the best month of our entire year. |
| 0:21.0 | That's what Christmas School is for. |
| 0:23.9 | Christmas School is a whole family curriculum from Read Aloud Revival |
| 0:27.3 | that helps your family slow down, savor the season, and wait in joyful hope. |
| 0:33.2 | Join thousands of families and replace your normal curriculum with a month of Christmas school to make December a different kind of learning in your year. |
| 0:41.7 | A better one. |
| 0:42.8 | Text the word Christmas to the number 33777 or head to read aloud revival.com slash Christmas school to join us. |
| 1:08.0 | Marley was dead to begin with. That's one of the most famous first lines in literature. |
| 1:13.1 | It comes from a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is perhaps the greatest Christmas ghost story ever told. And today we're going to talk about why. |
| 1:25.2 | I'm Sarah McKenzie, and this is the Read Aloud Revival Podcast. Oh, and hey, did you know this episode is also a video? |
| 1:34.1 | It's true. Head to readaloudrevival.com slash video to watch this and other episodes of the podcast. |
| 1:42.1 | Now, I'm willing to bet that you're familiar with this story of a Christmas Carol. |
| 1:48.0 | It's the story, of course, of Ebenezer Scrooge, that miserly, stingy, curmudgeonly, |
| 1:54.0 | bitter man who despises Christmas shuns human kindness, and one Christmas Eve, he's visited by the ghost of his former business |
| 2:03.4 | partner, Jacob Marley. He's dead to begin with, and he now lives eternally in chains. And he tells |
| 2:10.4 | Scrooge that Scrooge himself is doomed to that same fate of eternity in chains if he doesn't |
| 2:16.8 | change his ways. So to that end, Scrooge |
| 2:19.8 | will be visited that very night by three spirits. And those three spirits reveal to Scrooge |
| 2:26.8 | the impact of his cold-heartedness on his own life and on the lives of others. Now, this story |
| 2:32.7 | has been beloved since its release in 1843. And amazingly, |
... |
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