Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel
By: Samantha Silva / Narrated By: Euan Morton
Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
Heartwarming, but might as well listen to the Simon Vance version of A Christmas Carol…
Taken as a whole, I’ve gotta say that Mr. Dickens and His Carol is indeed rather heartwarming. There’s a bit at the end where Dickens opens his heart, and something really nice happens. But taken piece by piece, it kinda makes the listener suffer. It’s not Euan Morton’s fault—his narration is flawless, plus he can carry a tune in a decent sort of way. He does all characters well, never making them weird caricatures of people. And the writing is jolly good. The book is written in a classical style, close to that of Dickens himself.
No, rather it’s the scenes within the plot. Dickens goes to see an ex-flame, all whilst his wife is at home, suffering postpartum depression, trying to get his mojo back. Then, after his wife flips out when she finds out and takes herself and all the children to Scotland, Dickens flops about town until he finds a NEW woman, and he starts following her everywhere (creepy!). Then he violates her private space as he’s snuck into her abode (Creepy!). Then he professes undying affection even as he continues to stalk her, even into graveyards ‘cause he can’t believe that she’s not somehow screwing him over (CREEPY!). There are so many instances of Dickens doing unpardonable things, all because “he just couldn’t resist the temptation” that I spent a good deal of time disliking him.
Add to that, this is a Scrooge to warmhearted Dickens evolution sorta tale, and we wind up listening to Dickens as he whines and moans and complains about all the people in his life. He’s so surly and grouchy through most of the book that one starts to wonder where the warmth will come back in (in the beginning we see Dickens as a loving family man). And at the end when he’s totally absorbed by the wonder of Christmas, the text uses a LOT of quotes from the actual A Christmas Carol which are as touching and sweet as they ever were.
So there you have it. A nice beginning, great narration and writing, a nice twist at the end, and plenty of little clues where we get to see how he came up with names and characters. But a fair amount of the warmth at the end is lifted from Dickens, and there are the parts where he’s quite smarmy and in need of a whonk to the head.
If you want a story of coldness to redemption, try A Christmas Carol itself with the Simon Vance narration, or heck! Go for Jacob T. Marley, also with narration by Simon Vance.
‘Cause this warmed the heart… but only after quite a bit of creepiness…
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