A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens

Read by: Patrick Stewart

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 1 hour and 47 minutes
Source: Simon & Schuster Digital Copy  - Purchased from Amazon.com

What can be better than A Christmas Carol read by Patrick Stewart aka Jean Luc Picard?  Nothing I say!  This riveting version of A Christmas Carol is vividly brought to life by Patrick Stewart.  He is a wonderful narrator giving great depth to each character and bringing them to life.  It makes the story fascinating having such a great character actor actually acting out the story using his voice rather than just reading it.  Having the story narrated with a British accent is a must.

The only downfall to this narration is that it is an abridged version of the tale.  I wish Patrick Stewart narrated an unabridged edition.  I recently pulled out my childhood copy of A Christmas Carol only to find out I’ve been reading an abridged version my entire life.  I should remedy that next Christmas!

A Christmas Carol is one of the quintessential tales of Christmas.  Scrooge is a miserly old man that learns through the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future the true meaning of Christmas.  I love how Dickens uses the names to really symbolize the characters such as Scrooge – it sounds like a miserly old man.  I also love how he used the tale to make money for himself, but also to bring back Christmas traditions that were starting to die away in England.  I just adore how the tale makes Scrooge think about how he was treated in his life and how he should treat his fellow man.  It’s a tale that all of us should heed – do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

Overall, Patrick Stewart’s rendition of A Christmas Carol is a not to miss audiobook.  I highly recommend it!