Boekverslag Charles Dickens

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Geschreven door:	Kris [meer]
Datum ingestuurd:	16 mei 2007
Taal:
Woorden:	1448
Opvragingen:	895 (27 deze maand)
Waardering:	Currently 1.67/5 1 2 3 4 5 1.7/5 (6 stemmen)

Titel:	A Christmas carol
Auteur:	Dickens, Charles
Jaar van uitgave:	1843
Moeilijkheidsgraad:	bovenbouw havo

Auteur:	Dickens, Charles
Geslacht:	man
Nationaliteit:	Engels
Geboren:	7 februari 1812
Overleden:	01 januari 1970
Informatie:	http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
Populaire titels:	1837Oliver Twist (19) 1843A Christmas carol (22) 1849David Copperfield (15) 1861Great expectations (10) 1853Bleak house (8) 1859A tale of two cities (5) 1854Hard Times (1) 1865Our mutual friend (3) 1845The cricket on the hearth (3) 1841The old curiosity shop (2) 1839Nicholas Nickleby (1) ... meer

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3. PLOT (+EXCERPT) / 14
- Photocopy p. 56 of the book and add it to your book review.
- Write your name and class in the left-hand corner of the photocopy. In the right-hand corner you put : OUT OF + the title of the book (and the name of its author between brackets).
- Summarize the plot of the book and situate p. 56 in the summary.

The story is about an old man, named Scrooge. He doesn’t care about other people’s feelings and as a result he’s very lonely, but he doesn’t care.
Scrooge used to have a partner, called Marley, regarding his business affairs but unfortunately for him he died seven years before the story begins. The book begins at Christmas Eve when old Scrooge is working at his desk along with his poor clerk, when suddenly Scrooge’s nephew (Fred) enters the room and invites Scrooge for dinner. Scrooge, bitter as he is, refuses the proposal and requests Fred to leave. After the incident with Fred, two other men came to visit the bitter old man. Their goal was to raise some money to occur poverty. But a ticked off Scrooge refuses the offer and requests the two gentlemen to leave. Yet again Scrooge isn’t released from the dreadful customs of the holiday period, a little boy decides to sing some Christmas carols in front of the old man’s house. Of course Scrooge isn’t delighted with the little boy’s chanting and he cases him off.
A furious Scrooge than decides to go home to forget to whole thing. After locking the door and putting his sleep bonnet on, the lonely man is ready to go to bed, but again he’s disturbed, but this time not by a plain mortal but by the ghost of Marley, who had come to warn him that Scrooge will be obliged to wander around the planet if he doesn’t chance his way of handling people. He says that three other spirits will visit him in order to change his destiny. Scrooge is shaken but not entirely convinced that the foregoing wasn't an hallucination, and goes to bed thinking that a good night's sleep will make him feel better. At one o'clock in the morning the first spirit appears and introduces himself to Scrooge as the Ghost of “Christmas Past”. This spirit leads Scrooge on a journey into some of happiest and saddest moments of Scrooge's past. These include the loss of a great love sacrificed for his devotion to business, and the death of his sister, the only other person who ever showed love and compassion for him. The second spirit of the “Christmas Present” shows Scrooge the celebrations of the Crachit family and especially of heir crippled son Tiny Tim. The spirit also shows what will happen to his nephew when Scrooge will be more charitable. The third and final spirit from “Christmas now to come” shows an image that’s even more horrible than the other two. The family Crachit is bereft of Tiny Tim and he sees his own lonely death. After seeing all those images, Scrooge decides to better his life.

4. STYLE / 10
Write down at least 10 (and no more than 20) one-liners or other interesting quotes from the book. Don't forget to use inverted commas and don't forget to mention the page on which you found the one-liners, etc... as well!
“If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot.” (pg 1) In a humorous way Dickens indicates the importance of the death of Marley.
“If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” (pg12) Scrooge expresses his hate towards Christmas.
“The air filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went.” (pg 25) Great use of words by Dickens to
describe the wandering spirits.
“His heart and sole were in the scene and with his former self. He corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation.” (pg36) Scrooge is overwhelmed by the spirit’s visions.
“But Scrooge was all the worse for this It trilled him with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while be, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black.” (pg 63) Very nice sentence to describe the fear of Scrooge for the last and final spirit.
“He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind see.” (pg49) A quite humorous pronouncement by tiny Tim.
“It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it.” (pg61) The spirit doesn’t know exactly what he really is.
“I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future!” (pg76) The intervention of the three spirits had made quite an impression on old Scrooge and now he’s determined to better his life.
“The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs. (pg 77) The new lifestyle of Scrooge is so sincere that’s almost unbelievable.
“And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!” (pg82) A very nice ending by the hands of Charles Dickens.

If you can find any intelligent information on the author's style as used in this book, write it down here and mention the source of your information as well. Mention the author and title of the book you used as a reference and give the page on which you found your information. In case of a magazine, also add its title. Add the website and the title of the information used from the Internet as well.

Dickens' writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery — he calls one character the "Noble Refrigerator" — are often popular. Comparing orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner party guests to furniture are just some of Dickens' acclaimed flights of fancy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickens)

5. APPRECIATION / 10
Fill in your appreciation score of this book : 9 / 10
In a fluent text (in advanced English) of one page (of at least 200 words) state your value judgement of the book. What appealed to you most? What irritated you? Prove what you claim by referring to the book elaborately and by copying quotations (mention the page on which you found them and don't forget the inverted commas). Do not copy other people's points of view here!

I think the bestseller of Charles Dickens is a great book. Maybe the characters and the events are a little bit cliché. But I feel that this is necessary for this kind of story. I also believe that there are a lot of people like Scrooge in this world and that the book has an important lesson for everyone. I know that the book isn’t realistic at all. But I do think that people don’t care enough about each other enough and that they are often to selfish and maybe bad people will have to wander around the world when they are dead… who knows?!
One of the disadvantages of the book are the characters, they aren’t well described and you don’t get enough information about their characterisations. One of the many advantages is the plain and simple language used in the novel. The sentences aren’t too hard to understand but that doesn’t retain Charles Dickens of writing a masterpiece. I also believe that this book is a must for the whole family. Everyone can read it, from 7 to 99 years old. I even think that this book outclasses other masterpieces like “Oliver Twist” and “The Chimes”. Maybe literary it’s not as good bit the atmosphere around the tale is exceptional. So I think “A Christmas Carol” is a must for everyone who likes to read a simple but excellent book about the miracles of Christmas.