After experiencing near non-stop rain for the past week, we’re finally blessed with sunshine today on the eve of Christmas Eve. LOVE it!
Perhaps it’s the Christmas carols, the foggy nights, snuggling with my man and our mugs of hot chocolate–or all of the above–but it’s all got me thinking about the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, and about how many lives this iconic story has touched since its publication by Bantam in 1843.
As you know, the story of a hardened man–Ebenezer Scrooge–being whisked through Christmases past, present, and future on Christmas Eve by spirit guides, opens his eyes and heart and changes him forever. Like many things in life, books come and go. Some are destined to become bestsellers, while some sink and others barely swim. Then there are those that remain in the ranks of great literature forever. A Christmas Carol is one of them.
So, what makes this classic a classic?
Although there are many reasons, I’d like to cover two here.
First: Charles Dickens pioneered the Christmas writing genre.
Many classics include an element of novelty–the first time a certain writing technique has been experimented with, or the first time an author has discussed an important topic. Charles Dickens was the first author to bring Christmas into the world of literature, and the book’s critical success forever carries the torch. Dickens wrote the novel in honor of the Christmastime tradition of his old England, and completed the book in remarkably quick time–starting in October 1843 and self-publishing in time for Christmas that same year! Apparently, he and his publisher didn’t see eye to eye and he went out on his own. (Even Dickens self-published!) The book sold 6,000 copies—the entire initial print run—in its first few days, and is considered Dickens’ best known work. This Christmas tale has been interpreted into countless publications, plays, and big and little screen adaptations. There have been about twenty film versions, both on and off television since 1908, and I’m sure there will be more to come. Dickens’s idea of blending story with this season had yet to be done before 1843, but is certainly part of why it’s become a perennial classic.
Second: Themes.
Classic books often cover humanistic themes in a timelessness way that people of all eras can relate to. Readers stop, think, laugh, cry, and ask questions of themselves as they dig deep into their own experience against the backdrop of the drama on the page. Dickens brought to life quirky characters who feel real over the course of the novel—Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Crachit, Tiny Tim, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come—emphasizing universal themes like family challenges, greed, financial struggle, and selflessness. In this case, Dickens also tapped into a gut-wrenching concern of his era–childhood illness and poverty. Back in 1839, it was estimated that nearly half of all funerals in London were for children under the age of ten. The way in which Dickens masterfully shed light on these pressing issues, against the backdrop of a magical setting like Christmastime, created a unique experience for the reader that was unprecedented, and has stayed very much alive from generation to generation.
Dickens has never, to this day, gone out of print. He was a master at creating cliffhangers that left his readers on the edge of their seats until his next installment.
Think about how you can add universal themes to your writing. That might be something to add to your Christmas list.
May your holiday season be one for the books. A classic in its own right.
“I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C. D.
December, 1843.
Boundless Christmas love, from our house to yours.
Lindagrateful
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