Posted in A Christmas Carol

We’re finished with the book!  Once again, Dickens has totally amazed me.  He is easily on my top-ten authors list.  Maybe sometime we'll read another one of his books here on the SAYR.  It would definitely be fun to do it again.

Discussion Notes

To me, I see this story as one of the ultimate pictures of redemption.  I mean, look at Scrooge at the beginning of the story and at the end.  Can you imagine any more polar opposites? 

"Yes!  And the bedpost was his own.  The bed was his own, the room was his own.  Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!"

Oh, if we would only wake up each each morning in that way!  Looking forward to the time before us to make the best of while we have it.  Scrooge lingered in his greed, and look how he ended up.  He nearly spent all of his time.  Thankfully, he was warned before it was too late.  Can you imagine how he must have treasured his time after his conversion? 

Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times! ~ Psalm 106:3

Discussion Questions

1. Which visit from out of the 3 spirits (or 4 including Marley) spoke to you the most?
2. Why did Scrooge seem to delight in every little thing after he awoke on Christmas Day?
3. What would Scrooge have done if his nephew had not been so faithful in inviting him to Christmas dinner?  Would his Christmas have been as joyful?
4. What was something that you learned about the English culture from that time period? 

I think that next we'll be reading The Giver by Lois Lowry.  I've heard a lot of good things about it from different people.  We'll start up sometime in mid-January.  Until then, enjoy your Christmas break! 

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

We’re almost finished with the book!  I’m really glad that we went ahead and read this before Christmas.  I have absolutely loved it.

Discussion Notes

This is the most solemn and frightening of all the visits from the spirits.  This is where Scrooge really sees the consequences of the way he has lived his life--and they're certainly not comforting. 

Oh, cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!  But of the loved, revered, and honoured head, thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released; it is not that the heart and pulse are stilll; but that the hand WAS open, generous, and true; the heart brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse of man's.  Strike, Shadow, strike!  And see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal!

That last image is so awesome.  Death can't harm us when we have love.  In fact, the more death tries to hurt us, the more fruit our good deeds bring.  When it seemed that death had had the ultimate victory--His good deeds sprung up from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal. 

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O Death, where is your sting?  O Hades, where is your victory?  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 NKJV

Discussion Questions

1. How did Scrooge's reaction to the spirit show how much he had changed?
2. The spirit showed Scrooge what kinds of effects his actions had on other people surrounding him.  How do you think our actions affect others (even when we don't know it)?
3. How did Tiny Tim's death contrast to Scrooge's death?  What did they both leave behind? 

We'll finish up the book with Stave V: "The End of It."  The last discussion post will be on Saturday.  After that--I hope we'll all enjoy our Christmas break!

Regards,
Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

It’s the sixth day, and we're into the third stave.  What a great book so far!  I apologize if I post the discussions a little late; I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed with midterms and stuff, but I will still keep this going as best I can. 

Discussion Notes

The thing that struck me about this reading is how happy the Cratchits were even though they had so little.  The children were forced to work to supply for the family.  And not only the Cratchits, but also the peasants and the sailors, and even Scrooge's young nephew.  None of them had wealth, yet they were all content, full of joy and Christmas spirit. 

Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.  There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches. ~ Proverbs 13:6-7

Scrooge made himself rich, but in that, he lost all of the things that were important in life.  The Cratchits could certainly have been called poor, but they were happy because they had love in their lives. 

Discussion Questions

1. Both at the Cratchit house and at Scrooge's nephew's, when Scrooge's name was mentioned, it cast a shadow on their former happiness.  How do you think this affected him when he saw it?
2. What significance did the children Ignorance and Want have? 
3. How have Scrooge's eyes opened to his own sinfulness?  How has he changed so far?  What about him is different than he was before?

Sorry the discussion for today is so short!  Tomorrow begins my Christmas break, so I will have more time to update the blog.  Make sure to read Stave IV: "The Last of the Spirits," and come back for discussion on Thursday.

Regards,
Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

I am curious to find out how many of you have read any of Dicken’s works before.  I have only read David Copperfield, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and A Tale of Two Cities.   Which ones have you read (if any)?

Discussion Notes

We read the part where the Ghost takes Scrooge back to his past.  The experience seems to really affect Scrooge emotionally.  It's strange to see him get so emotional about things when he's already been portrayed as a miserly and un-feeling old crab. 

Here is one of the passages from the reading that struck me as important:

   "'Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve.'
   'What Idol has displaced you?' he rejoined.
   'A golden one.'
   'This is the even-handed dealing of the world!' he said.  'There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!'"

I think this is the answer to the first discussion question from Stave I ("Why is Scrooge so 'scroogy?'").  Belle says that he has found another "idol" in his life.  What is it?  Money. 

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. ~ 1 Timothy 6:9-10 NKJV

Greed and selfishness began to consume him so much that he couldn't even appreciate the good things in his life.  I think that, to an extent, something like that has probably happened to all of us at some point.  We get caught up in our own affairs and ignore the people who are closest to us--like our family.  It's a huge temptation for me to do my own thing and get irritated at my family when they get in the way of my instant gratification.  I think that was what happened to Scrooge in a more serious way.  Money started taking precedent in his life, and he lost what was really important.

Discussion Questions

1. How did Scrooge's childhood shape him into the man that he became?
2. Why do you think that Scrooge wished he had given something to the boy at his door?  Why did he want to "say a few words" to his clerk?

Tomorrow, make sure to read Stave III: "The Second of the Three Spirits," and then come back on Tuesday to post in the discussion.

Enjoy the Lord's Day!
~Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

I hope you are all enjoying the book so far!  Though I’ve never read it before, it’s been a family tradition to watch the movie every December, so I am very familiar with the story. 

**Please read Stave I before you read the discussion notes and questions (they will contain spoilers).  Come back and post your own discussion when you're done.**

Discussion Notes

There are so many things that we could talk about, even in this first stave!  Basically, what we've read so far, though, is development of Scrooge's character.  Dickens does this masterfully. 

"Oh!  But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, 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."

I'll have to restrain myself from quoting every single sentence from the book.  Dickens is absolutely brilliant.  I know few authors that affect me the way that he does! 

Okay, so what do we think of Scrooge?  Well, he's obviously the greediest miser that ever walked the planet.  Can you even imagine more of a grouch?  What a pitiful character!  His absolute misery is even more evident when contrasted with the jolly disposition of his nephew.  Here's a character that will make a good redemption story. ;-)

I think this is one of the most interesting quotes from Jacob Marley (who, you must remember, was dead as a doornail):

"'At this time of the rolling year,' the spectre said, 'I suffer most.  Why did I walk through the crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode?  Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!'"

Why did Marley suffer?  Because he had ignored his fellow men.  His interest had been all to himself, and his efforts for his own comfort. 

Then He [the Son of Man] will also say to those on His left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. ~ Matthew 25:41-46 NKJV

We should take Marley's warning to ourselves.  What compassion have we had on our fellow men?  Have we passed them up with our "eyes turned down" like Marley and Scrooge? 

"He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a doorstep.  The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever."

We only have one life to live!  We won't get a chance to help others after we die.  We have to take advantage of the time that is given to us. 

Discussion Questions

1. Why is Scrooge so "scroogy?"
2. What do you think Marley meant when he said that he "girded it [his chain] on of [his] own free will?"
3. What is your favorite descriptive passage from the reading?

Tomorrow we will read Stave II: "The First of the Three Spirits," and on Sunday I will post a discussion. 

Happy reading,
Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

We begin Stave I: "Marley's Ghost" today.  Tomorrow, I will post discussion notes and questions.  

If you didn't manage to get a copy, sweetpotato mentioned that the book is downloadable from gutenberg.org.  Simply click on this link. 

Happy reading!

~Sylvia

Posted in A Christmas Carol

We will be starting A Christmas Carol on Thursday, December 13.  That means we'll be finishing on December 22--only three days before Christmas!  I can't believe it has crept up on us so fast!  Hopefully, everyone will have enough time to get a copy before Thursday.  If not, the book is fairly short, and it shouldn't be too hard to catch up.  After we're done, we'll take a bit of a longer break and start up some time in mid or late January. 

List of participants:

sweetpotato
Altariel
totustuus
Tinuviel
ElvishMaiden14
Eyebright
Godzgirl

**I will keep this list updated as people join**

Regards,
Sylvia