I actually love Dickens and this story in particular. However, I did not enjoy this edition of the book. Picked it up thinking it would give me lots of interesting info for our book group discussion. Mostly just found it annoying. Skip all the notes, or read them at a separate sitting from the story itself and you will enjoy it far more. ( )

I would be willing to be that while you know the story of The Christmas Carol from watching any number of film adaptations, that most haven't ever read the story that Dickens wrote in 1843. I am an unrepentent fan of Dickens. I've read several of his novels and enjoy them. I do tend to get a bit confused at times during the novels as some of the references are quite dated. This makes sense as these were mostly written during the Victorian Era (19th Century) and that was a heckuva long time ago.

That said, The Annotated Christmas Carol: A Christmas Carol in Prose is well worth reading. Hearn republishes his book from 1976 with more research materials available to him which brings so much more to the reader's enjoyment. Little entries about outdated words or word uses, common slang of the time is explained, and notes about possible locations used and sources for the scenes themselves as well as Dickens motivation behind them.

I found that even knowing the story so well, that I took great pleasure in reading Dickens words, his pacing, his sense of the time and of Scrooge. There are bits of Scrooge in all of the film adaptations, yet none capture him completely as Dickens wrote him. That's not a criticism, just an observation as film adaptations always differ in small ways from books. Different medium and all.

Even if you know the story forwards and backwards, it would behoove you to read Dickens tale as he originally invisioned it. Also included in the book is the Public Reading Copy Dickens employed in the last years of his life. That hasn't been available for over a century. Well worth the perusing in and of itself. ( )

The classic Christmas story first written in 1843 when Dickens was still early in his career it was an instant success that allowed him to break out of debt. A richly detailed short story that requires annotations to fully appreciate the mid-19th century terms and venacular. It can be read over multiple times without tireing in its densely woven and richly described atmosphere. I plan to read it again next Christmas. The Norton Annotated is so well done it is hard to imagine anything better, a great piece of artwork in its own right. ( )