A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Free ebook download: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, legally licensed and available in PDF, ePub, and Kindle formats.
A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Scrooge, the miserly old man who learns the true meaning of Christmas through a series of ghostly encounters. This free book will transport you to Victorian London, where captivating characters and a heartwarming story await. Join Scrooge on his transformative journey and rediscover the joy and generosity that define this special season. With engaging prose and memorable characters, A Christmas Carol is a must-read for book lovers of all ages. Download your free copy from Obooko now and let this timeless tale kindle the holiday magic in your heart.
A Christmas Carol is not simply a story about holiday cheer. Beneath its festive surface lies a profound exploration of redemption, compassion, and the power of self-reflection. As you delve deeper into the narrative, you can't help but reflect upon your own actions and contemplate the true meaning of the holiday season.
In addition to its powerful message, the story delivers an array of unforgettable characters that will stay with you long after you've finished the last page. From the charming and mysterious Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, to the lovable Cratchit family and the tormented Jacob Marley, each character adds depth and richness to the story. Dickens' character development is impeccable, creating relatable individuals that draw you into their lives with ease.
So, whether you're a fan of classic literature or simply looking for some holiday inspiration, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a must-read. Its free accessibility makes it an even more enticing choice, ensuring that everyone can indulge in this timeless tale of redemption. Let the spirit of Christmas permeate your soul as you embark on this heartwarming journey, page by page.
Excerpt:
MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.
The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. 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—say Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance— literally to astonish his son’s weak mind.
Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names. It was all the same to him.
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.
