A Christmas Carol in Prose; The Chimes; The Cricket on the Hearth

342 pp. A Christmas Carol, in full A Christmas Carol, in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, short novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1843. The story, suddenly conceived and written in a few weeks, is one of the outstanding Christmas stories of modern literature. Through a series of spectral visions, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is allowed to review his life and to change its outcome. The Ghost of Christmas Past reveals vignettes of Scrooge's early life as a schoolboy, an apprentice, and a young man in love. The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals to Scrooge that joy has little to do with wealth; together they visit the homes of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's much-abused clerk, and of his generous nephew Fred, who has married for love. Finally the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come allows Scrooge a vision of what his end will be like if he continues on his present course—he will die despised and unmourned. After witnessing these scenes, Scrooge is a changed man. He immediately sets about mending his ways, becoming generous and thoughtful and thereby finding redemption and joy.--Britannica. The story of The Chimes concerns a working-class man who comes to believe that he is worthless and worries that working-class people are wicked by nature. On New Year's Eve, some goblins show him visions of what will become of his loved ones if they can continue believing that they are worthless and wicked. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, commonly referred to as The Chimes, is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol. This is one among the novels in his Christmas Series, which spreads out a strong moral and social message. The Cricket on the Hearth, in full The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home, short tale written by Charles Dickens as a Christmas book for 1845 but published in 1846. The title creature is a sort of barometer of life at the home of John Peerybingle and his much younger wife Dot. When things go well, the cricket on the hearth chirps; it is silent when there is sorrow. Tackleton, a jealous old man, poisons John's mind about Dot, but the cricket through its supernatural powers restores John's confidence and all ends happily.--Britannica